_{Artist of the Week} 16 Qs for Odéi Bilodeau

When was your first singing lesson (and with whom)?
At 14 years old, I worked at the front desk of a private music school whose facilities were located in my high school. I welcomed students on Friday evenings in exchange for one private lesson per week. I chose to take classical voice lessons with Marie Coulombe. I never stop taking voice lessons after that first one.

What/who inspired you to sing?
As a kid, probably around 10 years old, I went to see Nathalie Choquette perform her show in Montmagny. I think that was the moment I first felt a spark for classical singing. She really showed how accessible and fun this art form could be.

Heels or flats?
Flats, but heels when it’s time to perform.

Favourite place?
Anywhere along the St. Lawrence River between Saint-Jean-Port-Joli and Le Bic.

What’s the strangest/funniest thing that has happened to you on stage?
In my first year at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, we performed Les mamelles de Tirésias. I sang the role of “Le Fils” (which is usually given to a tenor). During one of the performances, while I was singing my aria and saying the words “un grand incendie a détruit les chutes du Niagara,” a light actually caught fire to my left. I kept singing, but some people in the audience left. Fortunately, it was quickly brought under control and the show went on!

What’s your favourite thing about singing with an orchestra?
It’s to feel completely surrounded by the music; it’s incredibly powerful. Also, the colours of the orchestration really help to support and deepen the emotions of what I’m singing.

Which role do you wish you could sing, but is not in your voice type?
I would love to sing Dalila (Samson et Dalila, Saint-Saëns), just for her famous aria “Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix.”

Coffee or tea?
Coffee.

What was the first opera you ever saw?
Hänsel und Gretel at the Opéra de Québec in 2001. I was a young teenager. My cousin was dancing in the production, so the whole family went to see him. I remember really enjoying the evening.

Are there more musicians in your family? If yes, who and what do they play/sing?
My mom always sang in choirs, but never professionally. My dad has played guitar, violin, mandolin and banjo for years. He’s performed in various Celtic music groups and he founded Bourrasque celtique with my brother, who played electric guitar. I joined the group as a singer around 2006, staying until it ended about 10 years ago. Learning new reels is my dad’s passion — even at 70, he still spends hours a day playing the mandolin.

Where did you go to school?
École de musique Vincent-d’Indy and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.

What was your childhood dream job?
Teacher. I always loved all my elementary school teachers.

Are you happiest in the country or in the city?
Definitely the country. I grew up in the woods, and I still feel the need to be close to nature as much as possible.

What book are you reading at the moment?
L’étoile du matin by Karl Ove Knausgård.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?
Gabrielle Lavigne, who was my teacher at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, once told me that if I had the opportunity to have children and wanted to, I should go for it. That I shouldn’t choose my career over having kids, or the opposite, that I could have both.

What is something most people don’t know about you?
I learned to step dance and picked up the basics of traditional Québécois and Irish styles.