A singer deemed “a treasure” by the Toronto Star, Canadian soprano Mireille Asselin enjoys a diverse, international career spanning concert, opera and recital work.
To date, Mireille has sung five seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, where she debuted as Poussette in MANON. She then made waves by jumping in as Adele for opening night of DIE FLEDERMAUS under the baton of James Levine, giving a performance that critics raved “stole the show”, hailing it as one of New York’s “most enchanting” of the season.
Up next…
This season Mireille appears with Opera Atelier (Eurydice in ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE), stars in Re:Naissance Opera and Vancouver Opera’s co-production of the World Premiere of Olson’s SANCTUARY AND STORM (role of Eleanor of Aquitaine), reprises her role of Zerlina in Edmonton Opera’s production of Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI, and returns to Garsington Opera in the UK in the show-stopping part of La Folie in Rameau’s PLATÉE. She also looks forward to a busy concert season, singing Handel’s MESSIAH with both the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra and appearing as a guest soloist with Symphony Nova Scotia (ROYAL HANDEL FIREWORKS), the Kingston Symphony (World Premiere of song cycle BREATH ALONE, by Cecilia Livingston), and with the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra on a holiday program of music by Vivaldi and Finzi.
Soprano Mireille Asselin stole the show. She sounded flawless, with seemingly endless creative possibilities in her voice.
Schmopera – Review, Morgana in Alcina
Recently…
In recent years, Mireille has made debuts with both the Champs-Elysées Theatre in Paris and the UK’s Garsington Opera, singing Zerlina in DON GIOVANNI, as well as with Vancouver Opera (Amore, ORFEO ED EURIDICE), Edmonton Opera (Pergolesi STABAT MATER), the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Minnesota, Milwaukee and Rhode Island Symphony Orchestras (Handel’s MESSIAH), the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris and Symphony North Carolina (Mozart’s REQUIEM) and with Toronto Summer Music and the Rockport Chamber Music Festivals. She also returned to Carnegie Hall in NYC (Bach’s CHRISTMAS ORATORIO), to Opera Atelier in Toronto (Zerlina, DON GIOVANNI; Belinda, DIDO AND AENEAS), and to the Canadian Opera Company (Barbarina, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO).
When the pandemic shuttered stages around the globe, she appeared on several filmed releases by Opera Atelier (SOMETHING RICH AND STRANGE & ANGEL), and Soundstreams Theatre (GARDEN OF VANISHED PLEASURES), created and sang OUR SONG D’HIVER with Tapestry Opera, and was seen on streams done by Boston Early Music Festival (ORFEO & LA DESCENTE D’ORPHÉE), the Mirror Visions Ensemble (MIDNIGHT MAGIC), and Thirteen Strings (DIES NATALIS), among others.
Opera…
In her five seasons at the Met, Mireille performed Adele in DIE FLEDERMAUS and Poussette in MANON, and covered Valencienne in THE MERRY WIDOW, Jemmy in GUILLAUME TELL and Rosina in IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA. As a respected interpreter of early music Mireille appears regularly with period groups such as the Boston Early Music Festival and Opera Atelier, where her most recent roles have included Susanna (MARRIAGE OF FIGARO), Créuse (MÉDÉE), Celia (LUCIO SILLA), Morgana (ALCINA), Galatea (ACIS AND GALATEA), Minerva (ULISSE), and La Musica/Euridice in ORFEO. She made her European opera debut as Princesse Andromède (PERSÉE) at Versailles in 2014, sang the title role in BERENICE at the 2016 Göttingen International Handel Festival, Germany, and worked at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Italy, covering the title role in RICCIARDO E ZORAIDE.
As a member of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio she performed Adele in FLEDERMAUS, Servilia in CLEMENZA DI TITO, and the title role in Handel’s SEMELE (studio performance). Her operatic credits elsewhere include Eurydice (Glück/Berlioz ORPHÉE), Despina (COSI FAN TUTTE), Thérèse (MAMELLES), Nannetta (FALSTAFF), Musetta (LA BOHÈME), the title role in Stravinsky’s ROSSIGNOL, Lauretta (GIANNI SCHICCHI), and Soeur Constance (DIALOGUES DES CARMÉLITES).
To resist being drawn deeper and deeper into Mireille Asselin’s extraordinarily expressive world is futile. Her artistry is irresistible.”
Ian Ritchie, Opera Going Toronto
In concert and in recording…
Mireille is an accomplished concert singer and recitalist and has appeared with many of North America’s major orchestras and festivals including the Minnesota Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary and Edmonton Symphony Orchestras, Les Violons du Roy, le Festival Lanaudière, the Ottawa Chamberfest and the Music & Beyond Festival. She is an acknowledged champion of contemporary music and has done a number of premieres and workshops of new compositions, in addition to participating in the ground-breaking development of VR techniques for opera by originating the role of Eurydice in ORPHEUS VR.
In April 2011, she made her Carnegie Hall debut singing Vaughan Williams’ DONA NOBIS PACEM and returned to Carnegie in January of 2012 to give a recital in Marilyn Horne’s “The Song Continues” series. She is an avid recitalist and is a core member of The Mirror Visions Ensemble, a vocal chamber music collective.
Her discography includes two albums of Canadian repertoire – “Ash Roses” of music by composer Derek Holman on the Centrediscs label, and “Inspired by Canada – Notre Pays” with Marquis Classics, the latter being a solo album of Canadian popular and traditional songs recorded alongside the legendary Amici Chamber Ensemble. She also appears on the CORO label for Handel and Haydn Society’s recording of Haydn’s HARMONIEMESSE. In addition, Mireille has done film work, starring as Pamina in the feature film Magic Flute Diaries at the age of 21.
A soprano that charms and brightens a room.
Opera Canada – Review, Adele in Die Fledermaus
Her training…
Mireille obtained her Master of Music from Yale University’s prestigious Opera Program in 2010 and was a member of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio (2011-2013). Prior to her studies at Yale, she completed a Bachelor of Music at the Glenn Gould School of The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (2007).
She was a Filene Artist with Wolf Trap Opera (2013 & 2014) and trained as a young artist with the Glimmerglass Festival (2012), Opera NUOVA (2008) and Centro Studi Lirica (2005). She studied art song at Toronto Summer Music (2011), Handel oratorio at the Britten-Pears Programme (2008 & 2010), baroque music at the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute (2007) and contemporary vocal music with Queen of Puddings Summer Music Theatre (2007).
The other things…
Mireille was born in Ottawa, Canada, and is both an American and Canadian citizen. She is a member of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association (CAEA) and a proud board member of Almonte in Concert as well as Farmer’s Abroad Canada, a charity supporting agricultural education programs in developing nations. In addition to her musical studies, she holds a Certificate in the Fundamentals of Biomedical Sciences I from The University of Toronto SCS.