Patricia Mary O'Callaghan (born October 2, 1970) is a classically trained Canadian singer. She is a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

who has built an international reputation as a performer of contemporary opera, early 20th-century

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

music and the songs of

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

. O'Callaghan trained as an opera singer after being unable as a teenager to decide whether to become a rockstar or a

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

and ''

JazzTimes ''JazzTimes'' was an American print magazine devoted to jazz. Published 10 times a year, it was founded in Washington, D.C., in 1970 by Ira Sabin as the newsletter ''Radio Free Jazz'' to complement his record store. Coverage After a decade ...

'' magazine has labelled her "the stunning Canadian chanteuse with the chilling soprano voice".

Early life

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

heritage, O'Callaghan was born in

Dryden, Ontario Dryden is the second-largest city in the Kenora District of northwestern Ontario, Canada, located on Wabigoon Lake. It is the least populous community in Ontario incorporated as a city. The City of Dryden had a population of 7,388 and its Census g ...

, and spent her childhood in

Iroquois Falls Iroquois Falls is a town in Northern Ontario, Canada, with a population of 4,418 at the 2021 census. The town centre lies 11 km east of Hwy 11 on the banks of the Abitibi River, west of Lake Abitibi. Timmins, one of the largest cities in ...

and other northern Canadian towns. She says that it was while she was an exchange student in Mexico that she decided that rather than becoming "either a rockstar or a nun" she would combine both these ambitions by becoming an opera singer. Her first voice teacher was Rosanne Simunovic of the

Timmins Timmins ( ) is a city in northeastern Ontario, Canada, located on the Mattagami River. The city is the fourth-largest city in the Northeastern Ontario region with a population of 41,145 at the 2021 Canadian census and an estimated population of ...

Youth Singers. She went on to study music at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and

The Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (formerly Banff Centre) is an arts and culture educational institution in Banff, Alberta. It offers arts programs in the performing and fine arts, as well as leadership training. It was established in 1933 ...

in Alberta.

Career

O’Callaghan's first recording, ''Youkali'', was released in 1997 and features cabaret songs by

Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...

Erik Satie Eric Alfred Leslie Satie (born 17 May 18661 July 1925), better known as Erik Satie, was a French composer and pianist. The son of a French father and a British mother, he studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, Paris Conservatoire but was an undi ...

and

Francis Poulenc Francis Jean Marcel Poulenc (; 7 January 189930 January 1963) was a French composer and pianist. His compositions include mélodie, songs, solo piano works, chamber music, choral pieces, operas, ballets, and orchestral concert music. Among th ...

. She followed it with ''Slow Fox'' (1999), which contains "

Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' (; , Modern ) is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four times in the Christ ...

", the first of her many interpretations of Leonard Cohen's songs. That year she performed in Toronto at Ted's Wrecking Yard, to an audience more accustomed to high energy rock music. O’Callaghan released ''

Real Emotional Girl ''Real Emotional Girl'' is the third solo album recorded by the Canadian singer Patricia O'Callaghan. Co-released by the Marquis and Teldec/Atlantic labels in March 2001, it features the classically trained soprano’s interpretations of several ...

'' (2001) and ''Naked Beauty'' (2004). But it was 2011–12 before her recording career appeared to hit its full stride. That year O’Callaghan sang on '' Broken Hearts & Madmen'' with the Canadian

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

ensemble the

Gryphon Trio The Gryphon Trio is a Canadian classical music ensemble that has been nominated for several and has won three Juno Awards for its classical recordings released by the Analekta label. Its members are Annalee Patipatanakoon (violin), Roman Borys ( ...

and released ''Matador: The Songs of Leonard Cohen'', which one critic pointed out was in several respects a better work than the 1987 Cohen

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

Famous Blue Raincoat "Famous Blue Raincoat" is a song by Leonard Cohen. It is the sixth track on his third album, '' Songs of Love and Hate'', released in 1971. The song is written in the form of a letter (many of the lines are written in amphibrachs). The lyric tell ...

'' recorded by

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet " Up Where We Belong", and in 1987 fo ...

. Another, Jon O’Brien, wrote in a review for the

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

website: “A graceful and respectful homage to a true musical icon, ''Matador: The Songs of Leonard Cohen'' cements O’Callaghan’s position as one of his most accomplished interpreters.” O’Callaghan was an artist in residence with

Soulpepper Theatre Company Soulpepper is a theatre company based in Toronto, Ontario.Keith Garebian"Soulpepper Theatre" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', November 4, 2010. History Soulpepper was founded in 1998 by twelve Toronto artists aiming to produce lesser-known theatri ...

in the

Distillery District The Distillery District is a commercial and residential district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, east of downtown, which contains numerous cafés, restaurants, and shops housed within heritage buildings of the former Gooderham and Worts Distillery. ...

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 ...

for six years where she worked "towards her heart's ambition to bring her distinctive brand of cabaret to a broad-based audience". O'Callaghan was featured as a singing character in the 1999

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

series '' Foolish Heart'' and in the 2003 Canadian TV movie ''

Youkali Hotel ''Youkali Hotel'' is a Canadian television musical drama film, directed by David Mortin and broadcast by CBC Television in 2003.Mandy Higgins, "TV special filmed here debuts in city: Youkali Hotel shot in former Grant Hall". '' Moose Jaw Times-Hera ...

'' produced by Enigmatico Films and WestWind Pictures. The singer is perhaps best known for her cover version of Cohen's "

", recorded in 1999 and reissued in 2001 and 2012, and her many live performances of the song.

Discography

Solo albums *1997 ''Youkali'' (Marquis Classics) *1999 ''Slow Fox'' (Marquis Classics) *2001 ''

'' (Marquis Classics) *2004 ''Naked Beauty'' (Marquis Classics) *2012 '' Matador: The Songs of Leonard Cohen'' (Marquis Classics) *2015 ''Deepest December: A Christmas Album'' (Roaring Girl Records) Collaborative albums *2000 ''A Fine Line: Arias and Lieder'' (

Don Byron Donald Byron (born November 8, 1958) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. He primarily plays clarinet but has also played bass clarinet and saxophone in a variety of genres that includes free jazz and klezmer. Biography His moth ...

) (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

) *2007 ''Constantinople'' (

Christos Hatzis Christos Hatzis (; born 1953) is a Juno Award-winning Greek-Canadian composer. Many of his compositions are performed internationally, and he is a professor at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. Early life and education Hatzis was bor ...

) (

Analekta Analekta is Canada's largest independent classical music recording label. The label, which takes its name from the Greek word ''analekta'' ("a collection of the finest works"), was founded in 1988 by the Canadian music industry manager and entrep ...

) *2011 '' Broken Hearts & Madmen'' (

) (

) *2013 ''Bohemians in Brooklyn'' (

Tom Allen Thomas Allen may refer to: Clergy * Thomas Allen (nonconformist) (1608–1673), Anglican/nonconformist priest in England and New England *Thomas Allen (dean of Chester) (died 1732) *Thomas Allen (scholar) (1681–1755), Anglican priest in England ...

/Bryce Kulak) *2017 ''Faster Still'' (Brian Current) (Centrediscs/Centredisques) *2018 ''Corona Divinae Misericordiae'' (David Braid) (K52 Music)

References

External links

Patricia O'Callaghan official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocallaghan, Patricia 1970 births Living people Canadian sopranos Canadian cabaret singers Canadian people of Irish descent People from Dryden, Ontario People from Iroquois Falls, Ontario Singers from Ontario University of Toronto alumni Canadian women pop singers 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian women singers