Karina Gauvin

Celebrated Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin, “a soprano with true star quality” (Opera Today).

Recognized for her work in the baroque repertoire, Gauvin sings Mahler, Britten and the music of the late 20th and 21st centuries with equal success. She has received prestigious distinctions, including the title of “Soloist of the Year” awarded by the Communauté internationale des radios publiques de langue française, first prize in the CBC Radio competition for young performers the Virginia Parker and Maggie Teyte Memorial Prizes in London. 

Gauvin has sung with the world’s greatest symphony orchestras, including the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, San Francisco Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, as well as baroque orchestras such as the English Concert, Les Talens Lyriques, the Venice Baroque Orchestra, Accademia Bizantina, Il Complesso Barocco, the Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin, Musica Eterna, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Les Violons du Roy. She has performed under the direction of maestros Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Charles Dutoit, Michael Tilson Thomas, Teodor Currentzis, Matthew Halls, Bernard Labadie, Kent Nagano, Sir Roger Norrington, Masaaki Suzuki, Helmuth Rilling, Christophe Rousset and Alan Curtis. In addition, she has sung in recital with pianists Marc-André Hamelin, Angela Hewitt, Michael McMahon, and Roger Vignoles.

Notable opera successes include Vitellia in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and Teatro Real in Madrid; Vénus in Rameau’s Dardanus with Opéra National de Bordeaux; L’Eternità/Giunone in La Calisto with the Bayerische Staatsoper; the title role in Armide with De Nederlandse Opera; Armida in Handel’s Rinaldo at the Glyndebourne Festival; the title role of Handel’s Alcina in Versailles and Brno; and Ariadne in Georg Conradi’s Die Schöne und getreue Ariadne for the Boston Early Music Festival. She performed the title role in Vivaldi’s Tito Manlio in Brussels and at the Barbican in London; Fulvia in Handel’s Ezio in Paris and Vienna; Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare in Paris and Vienna; and Vagaus in Vivaldi’s Juditha Triumphans with Andrea Marcon at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. She has also sung Seleuce in Handel's Tolomeo with Alan Curtis, with whom she recorded Handel operas on ARCHIV/Deutsche Grammophon, Virgin, and Naïve labels, among others. Her recorded performances with the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra have earned her three nominations at the Grammy Awards.

Most recently, Gauvin made appearances in the United States and Canada as soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal and the National Arts Centre Orchestra, in Vaughan Williams’s A Sea Symphony with Colorado Symphony and Calgary Philharmonic. Past performances in the US and Canada have included Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Houston Symphony, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. She also toured widely in Europe, giving concerts and recitals in France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Britain, including recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London.

On the concert stage, memorable performances include the Princess in Ravel’s L'enfant et les sortilèges with the Rotterdam Philharmonic under Yannick Nézet-Séguin; Bach’s St. John Passion and Handel’s Alcina and Solomon with Les Violons du Roy; Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Debussy’s The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

Gauvin has an extensive discography- nearly 60 titles—and she has won numerous awards, including a Chamber Music America Award for Fête Galante with pianist Marc-André Hamelin and several Junos and Opus Prizes. Other recording projects include Britten’s Les Illuminations with Les Violons du Roy under the direction of Jean-Marie Zeitouni and most recently an important participation in the recording of the complete songs of Jules Massenet for the ATMA label.  

During the pandemic, Ms. Gauvin worked on a personal project; Marie Hubert, fille du Roy. The project tells the story of a group of young women sent by King Louis XIV to populate the new world in the 17th century. Among them, Marie Hubert, Karina’s ancestor. Using new and reworked harmonizations of French and French Canadian folk songs, Gauvin tells the story of the hardships of these pioneering women. The album received a 2025 Juno Award nomination.  

9/2026 – PLEASE DESTROY ANY PREVIOUSLY DATED MATERIALS.

February 21st, 2025: ‘Marie Hubert: Fille du Roy’ receives Juno nomination for Classical Album of the Year: Small Ensemble.
- Juno Awards

February 9th, 2023: Les Violons du Roy: Karina Gauvin featured in Alcina
- Le Journal de Quebec

February 1st, 2023: Classical Music At The 2023 JUNO Awards
- Ludwigvan Toronto’s The Scoop

January 14th, 2023: Make Way for the Classic
- La Presse

2022: Production of the Year
- Divadelní Novini

November 28, 2022: Karina Gauvin’s Performance of Messiah is Nominated for 2023 OPUS Album of the Year
- Le Canal Auditif

October 21, 2022: Karina Gauvin Releases Single ‘Massenet: Au tres aime’
- Spotify

August 8, 2020: Karina Gauvin Included in Album ‘Alan Curtis-Great Handel Operas’ Release
- Spotify

November 1, 2017: Karina Gauvin is Honored at the Opera Canada Awards A.KA. ‘The Rubies’
- Opera Canada

2015: Karina Gauvin’s Recording ‘Niobe, Regina Di Tebe’ is Nominated for Best Opera Recording for the Grammys
- Grammy

2008: Karina Gauvin’s Recording ‘Lully: Psyché’ is Nominated for Best Opera Recording for the Grammys
- Grammy

2005: Karina Gauvin’s Reccording ‘Conradi: Ariadne’ is Nominated for Best Opera Recording for the Grammys
- Grammy

STELLAR “ALCINA”
” The digging of the pianissimo nuances in Alcina 's aria ‘Ah mio cor’ in Act II, literally sung in a daze by Karina Gauvin, left you speechless, as did the orchestral response of Les Violons du Roy at any moment of the evening.”
- Christophe Huss, Le Devoir

KARINA GAUVIN, OUT OF THE WORLD IN ALCINA
”Handel's Alcina conducted by Jonathan Cohen with an impressive line-up of singers, including a dazzling Karina Gauvin, will mark the history of the orchestra with a milestone.”
- Emmanuel Burnier, le Soleil

TAFELMUSIK DELIVERS MUSICAL THRILLS WITH BAROQUE DIVA KARINA GAUVIN
“The obvious thrill is Toronto-raised, Montreal-based soprano Karina Gauvin, who showed off her ever-deepening artistry, tremendous vocal range and technique, and considerable dramatic chops in opera arias by George Frideric Handel and a sacred work by Antonio Vivaldi.”
– John Terauds, Musical Toronto

PRO MUSICA, EARLY MUSIC VOICES, KARINA GAUVIN AND LES BOREADES DE MONTREAL A CAPTIVATING CONFECTION
“But the star of the evening was, of course, Gauvin herself, one of Canada’s best-known early music sopranos. Comfortably in her element, Gauvin was quicksilver or lamenting, depending upon the mood of the individual song, beautifully capturing the inner spirit of the different vocal numbers.”
– Kenneth Delong, Calgary Herald

THRILLING ECCENTRICITY IN CURRENTZIS’ DON GIOVANNI
“Karina Gauvin is a divine Elvira, making every word and note count–she’s a singer who has not yet made a poor recording.”
– Robert Levine, Classics Today

A SINGER’S INTERPRETATION OF A BAROQUE MASTERPIECE
“The Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin sang with serene ease and radiance.”
– Paul Griffiths, The New York Times

TWO WORKS OFFERED APPROPRIATELY FOR A TIME OF STRESS
“Karina Gauvin brought a bright, illuminating soprano to her solo lines throughout the work.”
– Allan Kozinn, The New York Times

LOS ANGELES OPERA IMPORTS A STARRY HANDEL EXTRAVAGANZA FROM LONDON
Soprano Karina Gauvin, who sang the part of Morgana a dozen years ago in arguably the finest recording of the opera, is now a hardened-voiced Alcina. Gauvin’s power lies in her capacity for demonstrating Alcina’s believably intense affection — however insincere — and stunningly sincere bitterness over rejection.
– Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times

Orchestral Repertoire

Bach
Cantatas
Christmas Oratorio
Magnificat
St. John Passion
St. Matthew Passion

Barber
Knoxville: Summer 1915

Beethoven
Symphony No. 9
Mass in C Major

Berlioz
Les nuits d'été

Britten
Les Illuminations
Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal

Brahms
Ein deutsches Requiem

Debussy
La damoiselle élue
Le martyre de Saint-Sébastien

Dupark
Mélodies diverses

Faure
Requiem
Mélodies diverses

Hahn
Mélodies diverses

Handel
Hercules
Messiah
Solomon
Clori, Tirsi e Fileno

Haydn
The Creation
The Seasons

Mahler
Symphony No. 2
Symphony No. 4

Mendelssohn
Elijah

Mozart
Coronation Mass
Exsultate Jubilate
Mass in C-minor
Requiem
Vesperae solennes de confessore

Pergolesi
Stabat Mater

Poulenc
Gloria
Mélodies diverses

Purcell
Ode to Saint Cecilia

Ravel
Shéhérazade

Vivaldi
Gloria
Magnificat
Senna Festeggiante

***

Opera Repertoire

Bizet
Les Pêcheurs de Perles (Leïla)

Chabrier
L'étoile (Princesse Laoula)

Conradi
Die Schöne und Getreue Ariadne (Ariadne)

Gluck
Orfeo ed Euridice (Euridice)

Handel
Alcina (Alcina)
Ariodante (Ginevra)
Agrippina (Poppea)
Ezio (Fulvia)
Flavio (Emilia)
Giulio Cesare (Cleopatra)
Orlando (Angelica)
Rodelinda (Rodelinda)
Tamerlano (Asteria)
Tolomeo (Seleuce)

Humperdink
Hänsel und Gretel (Gretel)

Leclair
Scylla et Glaucus (Circée)

Lully
Psyché (Vénus)

Mozart
La Clemenza di Tito (Vitellia)
Così Fan Tutte (Despina)
Don Giovanni (Donna Anna)
La Finta Giardiniera (Serpetta)
Le Nozze di Figaro (Countess)

*Updated August 2022