Internationally acclaimed bass-baritone opera singer, André Courville, returns home to perform an all-French concert celebrating Bastille Day, la Fête Nationale Française
LAFAYETTE, LA – André Courville was born in Cecilia, Louisiana on the banks of the Bayou Teche. He began studying piano and organ at the age of 8. By 12, he was a church organist. At 16, after hearing an opera brought to the Heymann Center by PASA, he decided he had to be an opera singer.
He enrolled as a voice major at Loyola University in New Orleans and went on to attend the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia—one of its kind, the top opera training program in the world, also known as “opera boot camp”. While there, he won top prizes in 8 national and international vocal competitions; including the grand prize of New York’s prestigious Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition. He has gone on to sing on some of the most celebrated stages of the world including Carnegie Hall in New York City, the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and other opera houses in the United States, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
André has been featured numerous times in Opera News magazine, as well as The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The New York Times; and critics have called his voice rich, lush, commanding, and jaw-dropping.
An exclusive, one time performance by André Courville is happening at the Acadiana Center for the Arts on July 14 at 7:30pm. Tickets are available online at acadianacenterforthearts.org and through the AcA’s Box Office 9am-5pm Tue-Sat (337-233-7060, 101 W. Vermilion Street, Downtown Lafayette).
Joined by one of Acadiana’s premiere collaborative pianists, Kevin Martin, the concert will highlight the evolution of French songs over the span of four centuries, with a focus on 19th century mélodies and popular hits of the 1940s and 1950s. Included are some of the most famous and beloved songs in their genre, such as Gabriel Fauré’s Claire de Lune, Reynaldo Hahn’s À Chloris, Edith Piaf’s immortal La vie en rose, and Charles Trenet’s Douce France, after which the program is named.
Also offered are the lesser known rarities of Cachez, beaux yeux, a sublime air du cour written for the court of Louis XIII, Fauré’s Opus 18 which is not often done in its entirety, Jacques Ibert’s poignant Chansons de Don Quichotte written for a 1933 film, and Ambroise Thomas’s show-stopping Drum Major’s aria from the 1849 opera Le caïd.
Bass-baritone André Courville is a star on opera stages throughout the world. His voice has been called “jaw-dropping”, “supercharged”, “splendid”, and “lush” by Opera News, “warm” and “rich” by The Washington Post, and “imposing” by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Recent and upcoming engagements with some of the most celebrated companies in Europe, Asia, and America include debuts at Zurich Opera in Switzerland; Opéra National de Bordeaux, Opéra de Rouen Normandie, and Opéra de Limoges in France; Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Italy; Karlsruhe’s Badisches Staatstheater in Germany; the Moscow Philharmonic at Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Russia; Guangzhou Opera in China; Houston Grand Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Dallas Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Arizona Opera, Kentucky Opera, Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Berkshire Opera Festival, Caramoor Music Festival, and Opera Lafayette in New York City and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, among others.
He has also appeared at Carnegie Hall numerous times since his debut there with Opera Orchestra of New York. Trained at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, the Cecilia, Louisiana native has been honored with the ABC Foundation’s Rising Star ICON Award.
He is also recipient of top awards in eight national and international vocal competitions, including First Prize in Los Angeles’s Loren L. Zachary National Vocal Competition and Top Prize in New York City’s Gerda Lissner Foundation International Vocal Competition.
