"Canadian soprano Othalie Graham lent her supple and beautiful voice to Aida, including gorgeous, delicate pianissimi."

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An Operatic Cinderella Story: An interview with Dramatic Soprano Othalie Graham

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Othalie featured in the December 2011 Classical Singer Magazine (PDF)

Othalie Graham conquista Álamos

Instituto Sonorense de Cultura

Álamos, Sonora; January 21, 2024.- A powerful voice runs through the walls of the Temple of the Purísima Concepción. It is a voice that seems to come out of another world, of an unusual beauty, of a power that borders on the supernatural. The people who have gathered in the Church hold their breath. In the central corridor of the chapel that leads to the pulpit or religious altar, is the Canadian soprano Othalie Graham.

To talk about the Night of Opera and Piano Song Concert, we should first take a biographical tour of the Canadian soprano: Wagnerian singer, performer of Puccini's Turandot and one of the most prominent voices in North America; Othalie Graham opens her performance with Dich Teure Halle of the work Tannhäuser by the German composer Richard Wagner. Much has been said about what the Wagnerian revolution meant in the world of opera - and in general European culture - but it is in this opera that you begin to see Wagner's true conceptual and stylistic intention to subvert the world of his time.

Der Männer Sippe sass hier im Saal of Wagner's opera The Valkyries, gives a continuity in the repertoire and allows us to continue rummaging through the vocal portal, which we presume infinite, by Othalie Graham. It is known to no one that interpreting the works of the German composer is one of the most demanding challenges for singers; Brigit Nilsson, perhaps the most important Wagnerian singer of the twentieth century, expressed that there were no more complex and titanic works than Wagner's. While the dramatic soprano sings above the orchestra, the Wagnerian soprano is usually described as a singer of heroic proportions and exceptional musicality. We feel that epic, that furious emotion of passion, of the tragedy, of the great sacrifices in the Temple of the Puriest Conception.

The concert continues, now it's the turn of another of the great iconic works: Aida, by Verdi. Here Graham's voice is nuanced and enveloped: Aída, the Ethiopian princess captured by the Egyptian empire, finds her mirror of flesh and blood in the voice of the Canadian soprano. It follows the turn of Liszt, of Ravel and concludes the concert, with another aria of Wagner's Valkyries. An end point of biblical proportions for a concert of such magnitude.

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Brampton arts walk of fame recipient Othalie Graham makes emotional return to childhood home

Jennifer Fowler · CBC News

As a child Othalie Graham thought she lived in paradise. The Brampton-born, internationally known opera singer spent her middle and high school years living next to the greenhouse in Etobicoke's Centennial Park, a magical place where her father was the greenhouse caretaker.
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Brampton soprano Othalie Graham’s powerful voice strikes the right note with audiences

Brampton Guardian By Radhika Panjwani

Before she slips into her stage persona, Othalie Graham, a Canadian-American soprano, performs a personal and heart-warming ritual for her father, Gifford Graham, who died of cancer.
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Othalie Graham in Opera Canada

Definitely the Opera

I wanted to share my conversation with the Ontario-born, US-based dramatic soprano Othalie Graham that just came out in Winter 2015-16 issue of Opera Canada. Some highlights: READ MORE

Edmonton Opera announces new season

Mark Morris, Edmonton Journal

The season opens on Oct 22 with one of the classics of the repertoire, Puccini’s last – and many would say greatest – opera, Turandot. That magnificent work, set in a mythical China dominated by the ice-cold princess Turandot, is on the grandest scale, and is always a major undertaking for any company.

Turandot will be played by Canadian-born Othalie Graham, making her Edmonton Opera debut. She has specialized in Wagnerian roles, but has also made Turandot her own, singing it with no fewer than 15 companies in the U.S. and Mexico.

Read the full article.

Operagasm Exclusive Interview: Othalie Graham Could Punch You in the Face if She Wanted To, But She is a Nice Person So She Won’t

by Melissa Wimbish

Canadian American soprano Othalie Graham is receiving critical acclaim across the world … and Operagasm luuuurrves to talk to sopranos like that! Through determination and dedication, she lost a significant amount of weight for her vocal career-slash-health and continues to develop and maintain her strong body and strong instrument. Go. girl.

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Ode to Othalie: Brampton opera singer Othalie Graham receiving critical acclaim around the world

Laurie Wallace-Lynch

“I was in Grade 3 or 4 in Brampton and my music teacher Mrs. Wallace wore this gorgeous black mink coat and I would go to class early to watch her take the coat off,” explains Graham. “She was an opera singer and she said to me, ‘If you become an opera singer, you will have a coat like this.’ Of course, not many people wear fur anymore, but I always remembered her words. She was the one who suggested to my parents that they may want to consider signing me up for voice lessons.”

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Othalie Graham is #OPERATHLETIC

Kendra

With both an incredibly powerful voice and an absolutely inspiring weight loss story, Othalie Graham is a true operathlete. This Wagnerian soprano is taking her career to new heights through hard work, both vocally and physically. Through determination and dedication, Ms. Graham lost nearly 200 pounds, and works every day to continue to develop and maintain her strong body and strong instrument... READ MORE

Talking With Singers: Othalie Graham

Jenna Douglas

Canadian-American soprano Othalie Graham is currently in Nashville, TN, in rehearsals for Nashville Opera's upcoming Turandot. This will mark her eighteenth production as the Chinese princess over the last decade. Oddly enough, Graham has yet to bring her signature role to her home turf.

"I did my training in Canada, but I've never sung in my own country. Much to the shock and surprise of many, many people, I have never ever sung in Canada. And I think a lot of people probably don't know that."

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Northern Light

Michael J. Solender

Othalie Graham loves to the tell the story of how as a teen growing up in Brampton, Ontario an unlikely meeting with legendary African American soprano Leontyne Price all but cemented her own future path into the international musical arena and the operatic stage.

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An Operatic Cinderella Story: An interview with Dramatic Soprano Othalie Graham

sexisoprano.blogspot.com

Once upon a time in a far away land lived a budding Dramatic Soprano with heart, guts, tenacity and a dream. But just like every other fairy tale princess, she has an obstacle to overcome before she can reach her happily ever after... Read more

Othalie Graham: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Concierge

Canadian-American Soprano Othalie Graham is a critically acclaimed opera singer, and a proud graduate of Philadelphia's Academy of Vocal Arts. As Turandot, the Boston Globe says her timbre and power were thrilling steely ring from top to bottom and her path from imperiousness to passion was convincing. Most recent engagements have included Minnie in La Fanciulla del West with Nashville Opera, Turandot with Opera de Nuevo Leon in Monterrey, Mexico, an all Wagner program with the Washington Chorus at the Kennedy Center and in Lima, Peru, Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Mann Center, her Atlanta Symphony debut performing the Verdi Requiem, and a series of concerts with ProMusica, Festival Opera, and Opera Delaware. For her 2014-2015 season Ms. Graham will perform Minnie in La Fanciulla del West with Indianapolis Opera, the title role of Turandot with Michigan Opera Theater, a Wagner Gala with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Xalapa in Mexico, the Verdi Requiem with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven's 9th Symphony with Lima Symphony, and Verdi Requiem with The Handel Society at Dartmouth College. READ

Artist profile: A chat with soprano Othalie Graham

Examiner.com

This afternoon, the D. C. Performing Arts Examiner caught up with soprano Othalie Graham. Graham will perform among the guest soloists with The Washington Chorus on Sunday, May 20 at 5:00 p.m. at The Kennedy Center in The Essential Wagner. Ms. Graham chatted exclusively with the D. C. Performing Arts Examiner by phone from her Washington, D.C. hotel, ironically on the birthday of her favorite Wagnerian soprano, Birgit Nilsson.

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