Heather Thomson (born December 7, 1940) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

soprano. Born in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Thomson studied from 1954 until 1961 with Phylis Inglis, in the latter year winning a prize at the CBC Talent Festival. She underwent further studies at the

Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM; ), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edwar ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, and debuted as the Dew Fairy in ''

Hansel and Gretel "Hansel and Gretel" (; ) is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 as part of ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). Hansel and Gretel are siblings who are abandoned in a forest and fall into the hands of a witch ...

'' with the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performin ...

in 1962. The following season she sang Mimi for the same company, with which she continued to appear throughout her career in roles such as Marguerite,

Tatiana Tatiana (or Tatianna, also romanized as Tatyana, Tatjana, Tatijana, etc.) is a female name of Sabine-Roman origin that became widespread in Eastern Europe. Origin Tatiana is a feminine, diminutive derivative of the Sabine—and later Latin� ...

, and Heloise in the premiere of Charles Wilson's ''Heloise and Abelard'' in 1973. She debuted at

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

in 1966. In 1969 she bowed at the

New York City Opera The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived. The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...

as Marguerite. A finalist in the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...

regional auditions in 1961, she was a winner at the 1964

San Francisco Opera The San Francisco Opera (SFO) is an American opera company founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola (1881–1953) based in San Francisco, California. History Gaetano Merola (1923–1953) Merola's road to prominence in the Bay Area began in 1906 wh ...

auditions. Later in her career Thomson lived in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and taught voice. She is married to the American tenor

Perry Price Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Australia ...

; their son, Stephen, is a

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

performer. She has also taught at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a Public university, public research university with campuses near University of British Columbia Vancouver, Vancouver and University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada ...

References

1940 births Living people Canadian operatic sopranos 20th-century Canadian women opera singers The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Singers from Vancouver Canadian expatriates in the United States {{Canada-opera-singer-stub