Among other honors, Marie-Josée Lord won the Prix d’Excellence de la Culture, awarded by the Fondation de l’Opéra de Québec in 2005; the Public Prize at the Canadian Lyric Fund Competition in 2001, and the Raoul- Jobin Prize in 1998. She was chosen to represent Canada at two prestigious concerts during the Cardiff Singers of the World competition in 2005. Her first solo CD, recorded with the Orchestre Métropolitain and released on the ATMA label in 2010, has been a notable success. It won the Félix prize for best classical vocal album of 2011, was nominated for the JUNO prize in the same category in 2012, and has sold more than 30,000 copies to date.
Marie-Josée Lord made her professional debut in the Fall of 2003, singing Liù in Puccini’s Turandot at the Opéra de Québec. In February 2004, Montreal music lovers were enraptured by her rendition of Mimi in Puccini’s La Bohème at the Opéra de Montréal where, in October 2005, she also sang Laoula in Chabrier’s L’étoile.
In September 2006 she could be heard in the title role in in the Opéra de Montréal’s season-opening production of Suor Angelica (Puccini). She has also been heard as Marie-Jeanne in the world premiere of the operatic version of Starmania (Plamondon/ Berger) at the Opéra de Québec in May 2008 and at the Opéra de Montréal in March 2009. She brilliantly sang the role of Nedda (I Paggliacci) at the Opéra de Montréal in the Fall of 2009, and that of Meg Page in Falstaff (Verdi) at the Opéra de Québec in Spring, 2012.
In January 2014, she sang the role of Serena when, for the first time, the Opéra de Montréal mounted performances of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. More recently, in February 2017, the Montreal public was able to hear her again, singing the role of Mme. Lidoine in the first-ever production of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites in this city.
With her irresistible charisma, generosity, and passion for the lyric art, Marie-Josée Lord is a favorite guest on several television and radio shows (Tout le monde en parle, Studio 12, En direct de l’Univers, etc.). On October 28, 2012, Ms. Lord made her Toronto debut at the Royal Conservatory of Music’s prestigious Koerner Hall as part of the Montréal Toronto series. Marie-Josée Lord has performed several times with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and the Orchestre Métropolitain, under the direction of a number of conductors including Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Paul Nadler.
