Sharon Azrieli

Music

Sharon Azrieli

Sharon Azrieli’s rich spinto soprano has been heard to great acclaim across the globe, from New York to Tokyo, and from Tel Aviv to her native Montreal.
From her debut as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette to recent portrayals of Verdi heroines Aida and Leonora, (Il Trovatore) Azrieli has been deemed “utterly charming” (Sarasota Herald Tribune) and praised for her “exceedingly beautiful voice, full of feeling” (Ha’aretz).
Leading operatic roles have included Juliette in Roméo et Juliette and Mimi in La Bohème for the Canadian Opera Company; Susanna in Le Nozze di Figaro with Sarasota Opera; Nedda in I Pagliacci with the New York Opera Festival; Elvira in Don Giovanni with Vermont Opera Festival; and Liu in Turandot with the New Israel Opera.
Of her Laurette in Le Docteur Miracle with L’Opéra Français de New York, Andrew Porter of The New Yorker hailed her as a “mistress of merry inflections, piquant phrasing and pointed words.”
In 1994, she had the great honour of covering Mirella Freni as Adrienne Lecouvreur with L’Opéra Bastille in Paris.
The recipient of numerous awards including the Metropolitan Opera Competition District Winner and Study Grant, the Pavarotti Competition and the Jarmilla Novotna Competition, Sharon was honoured by the Apollo Agency in Montreal in 2012 for her contribution to the Canadian cultural and artistic world.
Sharon is a graduate of Vassar College, Parsons School of Design, the Juilliard School, and l’Université de Montréal. She speaks fluent French, Italian, Hebrew and Spanish. Her philanthropic work is varied. She has spent the past 4 years restoring a 1 star historic mansion in Westmount Quebec that was in a deplorable condition.
She is the President of the McGill Chamber orchestra and in charge of its fundraising and leadership. She created the Azrieli Music Prize within the Azrieli Foundation for the composition of new Jewish symphonic works. She is on the charitable organizations promoting arts, music and education for children. *Photo by Jeffrey Hornstein