Fernande Chiocchio

Fernande Chiocchio (May 29, 1929 – September 27, 2021) was a Canadian mezzo-soprano, pianist and teacher. She performed numerous operatic roles on radio, stage and television across Canada and abroad. Chiocchio made her debut at Her Majesty's Theatre, London in 1952 and performed some 12 roles with the company as well as with Opéra de Québec, the Maurice Richard Arena and the Théâtre Graslin. She taught voice as a professor of music Conservatoire de musique de Hull between 1967 and 1978 and was the artistic director of the Opéra-Comique du Québec from 1984 to 1988. Chiocchio was an inductee of the Canadian Opera Hall of Fame.

Early life and education Chiocchio was born on May 29, 1929 in Montreal. She was of French-Italian descent; she was the daughter of the French-born Réjeanne Bastien and the Italian-born Michele Chiocchio. Chiocchio started to study the piano with the Sisters of Saint Anne at the age of 11, and later at the Lachine Superior School of Music, Lachine. She earned a Bachelor of Music degree in pianoforte from the piano class of the Université de Montréal in 1950, In September 1950, Chiocchio got a singing scholarship at the École Supérieure de Musique de Lachine and scholarships from Archamabault and the Club Musical Social de Montreal in 1951. and performed numerous operatic roles on radio, stage and television in Quebec, Canada and elsewhere. During the 1947–1951 concert seasons, Chiocchio was a winner in the Singing Stars of Tomorrow radio series, performed on Mondays on the CBC Radio-Canada opera series, and the Prix Archambault from the Ed. Archambault Company Inc. in January 1952.

Chiocchio performed at the Odeon Theatre, Sturgeon Falls in December 1951, and at the Jean-Deslauriers Theatre in December 1956. She performed parts in Lakmé, Rigoletto and Franz Schubert's Chansons d'Amour and with Pierrette Alarie, Nelly Mathot and Léopold Simoneau, In 1952, she made her debut at Her Majesty's Theatre, London in Sergei Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges with the Opera Guild of Montreal. played Charlotte in Jules Massenet's Werther for the Montreal Festivals Society, the titular role in the La Boutique d'Opera's premiere performance of Gian Carlo Menotti's The Medium in 1963 and the debut performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 at the Place des Arts in May 1964.

Choicchio was on a University recital concert tour of Canada under the auspices of the Canada Council, the Creative Arts Committee and in late 1963, lasting for almost a month. She took part in the Canadian and Quebec premiere of Gilbert Bécaud's Opéra d'Aran in the part of Mara in Montreal in 1965, the Hommage à l'Espagne at Maurice Richard Arena as well as the Nice Summer Festival in Nice, France in 1966. Choicchio was awarded a Canada Council grant in 1968. before she relocated to France in 1978, appearing in Gustave Charpentier's Louise and Jacques Bondon's I-330 at the Théâtre Graslin.

She taught voice as a professor of music Conservatoire de musique de Hull from 1967 to 1978. After Choicchio returned to Montreal in 1982, she provided private education. Choicchio was the artistic director of the Opéra-Comique du Québec from 1984 to 1988.

Personal life and death She was married and had a son. Choicchio died in Saint-Leonard, Quebec on September 27, 2021.

Recognition She was inducted into the Canadian Opera Hall of Fame in 2006.