Barbara Fris
Barbara Fris (May 10, 1956) is a Canadian soprano.
Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she studied at the Nova Scotia Teachers College, Truro NS where she obtained a teaching diploma and licentiate. She later graduated from Dalhousie University Faculty of Music (1980) and the University of Toronto Opera Division (1983) as a scholarship student of Bernard Diamant. Subsequent studies led her to study in Milan and New York City with Rita Patané.
Fris made her opera debut in 1981 as Mimi in La bohème at the Courtney Summer Music Festival, Canada. Her professional career was launched in 1984 as Clorinda in Rosinni's La Cenerentola with the Calgary Opera. In 1988, she became the first Canadian to win the International Bel Canto Voice competition and that same year was a Canadian winner and international finalist in the 3rd annual Luciano Pavarotti Voice competition held in Montreal, CA and Philadephia PA. Performances in Siena and Florence, Italy, Chicago, IL, Philadelphia, PA, and New York City, NY followed.
Career: Fris has appeared on many of the major opera stages throughout Canada, including the Canadian Opera Company, Calgary Opera, Edmonton Opera, Opera Theatre of Alberta, and Manitoba Opera. As soloist, she has performed with orchestras across Canada in a wide array of oratorio and concert repertoire.
Roles she has played include Liù in Turandot, Norina in Don Pasquale, Zerlina and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, the title roles in Madama Butterfy and Suor Angelica, Violetta in La Traviata, Marguerite in Faust, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, and Mimi in La bohème.
Fris is an Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto where she is a vocal clinician and has an active teaching career.