Pauline Donalda

Pauline Donalda , born Pauline Lightstone, (March 5, 1882 – October 22, 1970) was a Canadian operatic soprano.

Early life and education Donalda was born Pauline Lightstone in Montreal, Quebec, the daughter of Jewish parents who changed their surname from Lichtenstein to Lightstone after immigrating from Russia and Poland. She was musical from an early age, playing the Queen in a children's production of Cinderella at age seven and winning her first singing prize at age ten from Royal Arthur School in Montréal. She studied with Clara Lichtenstein (no relation) at Royal Victoria College (RVC), part of McGill University.

In 1902, after being rebuffed by Metropolitan Opera Director Walter Damrosch, but encouraged by tenor Eustase Thomas-Salignac and others,

Career and legacy With the help of composer Jules Massenet, Donalda made her debut in 1904 in Nice, singing the title role in his opera Manon. The following year, she debuted in London, singing the role of Micaëla in Georges Bizet's Carmen. In November 1906, she returned to Montreal to sing in a recital at the Montreal Arena with her new husband, baritone Paul Seveilhac. The following month, she began a season with Oscar Hammerstein's new Manhattan Opera House.

In 1967, she was made one of the first Officers of the Order of Canada "for her contribution to the arts, especially opera, as a singer and founder of the Opera Guild in Montreal."

In 2025, a film of her life by a relative, University of Aberdeen Professor Alan Marcus won Best Documentary and Best Editing at the Experimental Dance and Music Film Festival 2024 in Toronto and Best Classical Music film at the Buenos Aires 11th Music Film Festival 2025 as well as showing at ten international film festivals. A street in Pointe Au Tremble in Montreal is named after her