When I met her at the CBC building for an interview, I found an attractive olive-skinned woman with long black hair. Just a wee touch of grey. While she was surprised to be chosen for Tempo, it was no surprise to me once I met her, even though radio is a new format for her. She is simply bubbling with excitement and exuberance. Julie’s parents are Christians from Lebanon, but she is Ottawa-born. While the family had an interest in classical music, it was a choir teacher in school who encouraged her to make music a career. By the time she was 13, she had taken leading roles in school performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and other similar light pieces. Her teacher urged her to apply for the opera children’s chorus, which she did and for which she was accepted. The woman also alerted the family to her talent and strongly suggested singing lessons, to which her parents agreed. Academically, Julie completed a bachelor’s degree in music at Ottawa’s Carleton University and then went on to get an artist’s diploma from McGill. She has had a singing career for the past ten years as a mezzo. When asked what her favorite operatic role is, she replied, “Carmen,” without hesitation. “I look the role and I have many of the same qualities she has. I don’t need a wig for it.” The role is appealing both vocally and dramatically. She has not had the opportunity yet but would also like to perform Amneris in “Aïda” and Delilah in “Sampson and Delilah” if given a chance. During the current Canadian political campaign—Canada is also going to the polls soon—Prime Minister Stephen Harper justified some cuts he made to support for culture by comments about expensive galas and élitists. While Julie Nesrallah was reluctant to comment, as she received a couple Canada Council grants to go to Paris and Vienna, she expressed the view that the government should be more transparent about where and why such cuts are made. “The poorest people I know are artists,” she said. In the near future, she will be performing in recitals in Ottawa and Paris and in an oratorio in Brussels. She has no plans to be in the Detroit area but would certainly be open to an invitation, especially if it meant doing a Carmen. With all of her classical European cultural career, there is still something very Lebanese about her. “I make a mean tabouli,” she declared. You can hear her daily on CBC at 89.9 on your FM dial.
The CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company) has just gone through a major shift in its focus. Its English language Radio Two has switched away from a classical music format to a more diverse approach, aiming at a wider audience. This is not the first switch I’ve lived through, as back in the ’60s when I was living in Detroit there was important traditional folk content, whose demise I still mourn. Will the switch attract the new listeners or simply lose the old ones? Time will tell.
In the meantime, there is a 10 to 3 classical music program on weekdays, Tempo, with hostess Julie Nesrallah. Julie is an operatic star who was headhunted for the position. Some critics of the shift in focus have complained that Tempo is too much fluff, short pieces one after another with spoken filler. Not fair, says Julie. “We have a longer piece, a symphony for example, each hour, along with the shorter pieces.” She says that the format is designed to encourage a new audience to come to classical music.
Julie Nesrallah
Lebanese-Canadian singer hosts on CBC
Posted: Saturday 10.04.2008 7:59 pm
Leave a Reply