_{Artist of the Week} 16 Qs for Dominique Côté

Who inspired you to sing?
I have always sung. First with my mother who directed the choir of the church in my village. Then, after leaving drama school, I had vocal problems and I had the great fortune to meet Lucette Tremblay, an exceptional singing teacher who made me love classical singing and convinced me that I had what it took. She was incredibly generous with me and I owe her a lot. She will forever be a source of inspiration and motivation.

Drink of choice?
I love cocktails. I like to experiment and discover, but I always come back to my favourite classics which are the Vieux Carré and the Old Fashioned.

Heels or flats?
Well, you might be surprised, but I love heels! I’m talking about men’s heels, which exist in period shoes. They are not very high, maybe the equivalent of a cowboy boot heel, but they give great support and presence. So please, designers of this world, bring the men’s heel back into fashion!!!

Favorite place?
My boyfriend and I have a cottage in the Laurentians, on the edge of a lake, near Mont-Tremblant. It’s the place where I feel the best. I know I’m extremely privileged to be able to live in a place like this and I enjoy it as much as I can!

What’s the strangest/funniest thing that has happened to you on stage?
I was playing the title role in the new opera Nelligan at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde in Montreal just before the pandemic. It was a huge success, and we sang seven or eight performances a week for almost two months. It was great, but exhausting. At the beginning of the second act, I entered the stage and lay down on a velvet-covered church pew, very comfortable. I fell asleep!!! My stage partner, Marc Hervieux, realized that I was not reacting as usual and gently shook me to wake me up. I can’t describe the feeling of waking up on stage… but it’s definitely something I don’t hope to reproduce!

What are you afraid of?
Alzheimer’s. Many people I love suffer from it, unfortunately. My mother, my first singing teacher, an aunt, my friends’ parents… there are too many. It’s a horrible disease, and I hope that one day we will find an effective treatment to control it.

What’s your favourite movie?
I very rarely watch the same movie twice. Except for the Bourne movie series. I’ve watched them I don’t know how many times. I’m not a fan of violent movies in general, but these movies entertain me completely and I never get tired of them! I even re-watched the first two on the plane last week!

Where’s your favourite coffee shop?
Pourquoi Pas Epresso Bar on Atateken Street in Montreal. Their coffee is absolute perfection and I sincerely mean it, even though the owner is a friend. He’s the reason I’m now a coffee snob!

What’s the luckiest thing that has ever happened to you?
Meeting my boyfriend on a dating app that I didn’t believe in at all. We’ve been together for almost 14 years now. I’m very lucky to have him in my life. We are the very definition of the saying that “opposites attract.” He’s the rational one, I’m the emotional one. He’s the businessman, I’m the artist. He’s the worst singer I know and me, well, I hope I’m a little better!

Which album did you listen to last?
Tokyo from Ingrid St-Pierre. It’s not a new album, but I really love this artist and I very often listen her when I’m driving to the cottage. I would love to sing with her one day, even though our universes are far away!

What book are you reading at the moment?
I just started the great saga Les Rois Maudits by Maurice Druon. It begins in the 14th-century in France… It’s more then 1,500 pages in small print. But it is a very interesting universe.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?
To not always try to be strong, invincible, both in life and in work. An artist must cultivate and cherish his vulnerability if he wants to be able to touch the audience. If there is no vulnerability in a voice, it can be impressive, but rarely touching.

What is one very popular thing that you have no interest in?
Hockey. I don’t know any of the players. I never watch any of the games. I’ve never seen a professional game in my life… maybe a private box and champagne could convince me to go one day? But I think it’s more of a beer and hot dog thing? You see, I’m really not the right audience!

Favourite city that you’ve worked in?
I will choose the small town of Mancos, Colorado. It was in September and October 2020, in the middle of the pandemic… Since all the theaters were closed, Ryan Brown, the director of Opera Lafayette, had the audacity to present an opera on an outdoor stage, in a field, on the ranch belonging to his family. All the singers and artisans of the show had to live together, in a “bubble,” to prevent the risk of contamination with Covid. An absolutely unique experience. People attended the show sitting on their horses or on a bale of hay, the majority had never seen an opera in their lives. It was a bubble of happiness in this very difficult time for everyone.

Does performing in different locations impact your performance?
What impacts a performance the most for me from one place to another is the acoustics. Singing in a bad room is like playing on a bad piano for a pianist. You may have the best technique in the world, have worked on your music with passion and ardor, but if the sound of the room is dry, the music will not vibrate as it should and the artists on stage are all a little unhappy. Which obviously does not make for the best evenings.

Which opera role do you want to be singing right now?
A new role written for me! I have had the pleasure of participating in several creations, and this is what gives me the most pleasure as a performer. Being able to discuss the role and the music with the composer and the author, change a word, change a note, improve a line so that it is perfectly adapted to my voice, tell a story that touches me closely, play a character that I really feel like I know from the inside, it changes everything! Beautiful contemporary music is being written in Canada, we need to broadcast it more!