BIOGRAPHY
Métis soprano Melody Courage gained national attention as The Native Girl “...played with ethereal grace...” in the 2017 world premiere of Marie Clements and Brian Current’s opera Missing, coproduced by City Opera Vancouver and Pacific Opera Victoria. Missing gives voice, in English and Gitxsan, to the story of Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women. Melody debuted with Anchorage Opera in the US premiere of Missing in 2023.
Highlights for Melody in 2023/24 season are First Lady in The Magic Flute with Vancouver Opera, and performing opera hits with the newly created ensemble Indigidivas, with conductor Janna Sailor and Calgary Philharmonic. Melody also joins mezzo-soprano Marion Newman for Wreckonciliation, approaching opera repertoire through an Indigenous lens, with Opera Kelowna. In May, Melody is a guest artist with Vancouver’s Muzewest, performing the world premiere of works by Jesse Plessis and Patrick Carrabré.
Recent performances for Melody include Chrisann in Calgary Opera’s production of The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Messiah with Vancouver Bach Choir, and a recital with Marion Newman, Evan Korbut, and pianist Gordon Gerrard with Toronto’s Music in the Afternoon.
In Toronto, Melody starred in Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin/Gállábártnit, presented by Soundstreams Canada and Signal Theatre, directed by Michael Greyeyes/Cole Alvis, composed by Melissa Hui/Britta Byström. These two operas, sung in Cree and Sàmi, are rooted in traditional tales from Canada and Nordic countries.
During the pandemic, Melody performed Ian Cusson’s In Winter with the Canadian Opera Company in their digital concert series.
REVIEWS
Singing 'Dodo, mon tout petit' (Ian Cusson) with National Arts Centre Orchestra –
"Wearing a stunning scarlet Métis sash draped diagonally over her shoulder, Métis soprano Melody Courage’s gave a nuanced, sincere, deeply moving performance. She has a clear, powerful upper register, with beautifully floated piano notes.”
Natasha Gauthier, Artsfile
As Native Girl in Missing with City Opera Vancouver –
"The dead teenager, played with ethereal grace by coloratura soprano Melody Courage, has seemingly left an imprint that haunts the dark forest. In that moment, with her body broken, Ava somehow absorbs both the horror of the slaying and with it, the spirit of the murdered girl."
Roberta Staley, The Wholenote
“Soprano Melody Courage (Native Girl) had immense range and power as she sang first in Gitxsan, a whispery and vowel-heavy dialect, and then in English. Caitlin Wood (Ava) is also a powerful soprano with a deep, rich voice that filled the small hall, which doubles as a rehearsal space. Their huge voices together provided some of the most intense and gripping moments of the opera.”
Sarah Petrescu, Times Colonist
“...compelling Métis soprano Melody Courage...”
Opera Canada
Singing 'Dodo, mon tout petit' (Ian Cusson) with National Arts Centre Orchestra –
"Wearing a stunning scarlet Métis sash draped diagonally over her shoulder, Métis soprano Melody Courage’s gave a nuanced, sincere, deeply moving performance. She has a clear, powerful upper register, with beautifully floated piano notes.”
Natasha Gauthier, Artsfile
SELECTED ROLES
Chrisann | (R)evolution of Steve Jobs
Native Girl | Missing
First Lady | Die Zauberflöte
SELECTED REPERTOIRE
Cusson | In Winter
Handel | Messiah
Grieg | Peer Gynt Suite
