A dazzling evening of song and stories await attendees to the Sarnia Concert Association’s third performance of their 2022 season on April 13.
Mezzo Soprano and popular CBC broadcaster Julie Nesrallah will be performing at Sarnia’s Imperial Theatre, staging the show Opera, Operetta & Modern Musicals, a mix of contemporary and classical pieces designed to showcase the singer’s engaging voice.
Accompanied by Canadian pianist Robert Kortgaard, Nesrallah said her upcoming show will be an interactive affair, with audiences getting the opportunity to go on a musical journey of sorts, exploring pieces that are both familiar along with some rarer gems.
“What we’re trying to do and what I love to do the most is to combine storytelling with the music,” she said. “So what we’ve programmed are some crowd-pleasing hits with fabulous melodies and wonderful stories.
“I have Robert as the pianist, and he’ll be playing a few solos just to get people in the mood. So for instance he’ll be playing some solo as I tell a story and we’ll take everybody to Paris to a sidewalk café,” Nesrallah added. “It’s an evocative immersion that we’re trying to aim for.”
Engagement with the audience is a vitally important piece of her show, Nesrallah said.
“We’re trying to give something that is basically fun for the whole family with storytelling on the side,” she said. “It makes it more connective, which is the most fun for me – to have an audience, to speak with them and to share with them.”
Past Sarnia Concert Association president David Nichols said local music lovers will be delighted to have such a talented, charismatic and world renowned artist to grace the stage.
“She’s not just talented, but she’s got a wonderful knowledge of the music. And her ability to explain it – to give the whole synopsis of Carmen in three or four sentences and then you’re hearing the most famous song from the whole Opera,” he said. “What a wonderful voice – she’s just phenomenal.”
Even those with a passing knowledge of opera will be blown away by Nesrallah’s remarkable musical acumen, Nichols said.
“There are two selections especially that she’s doing in this program that are divine,” he said. “The first is probably her signature song, it’s a song I’ve heard her do so many times, is Habanera from Carmen. And she has such a fabulous flair that makes it so special. Then there’s another piece called Meditation from Thais by Jules Massenet … those two pieces are two of the most famous songs in all of opera.
“On top of that she will be performing a number of modern music pieces – a selection from A Chorus Line by Marin Hamlisch and she’ll be performing The Man That Got Away from A Star is Born by Gershwin,” Nichols continued. “The variety in this is just amazing, so I’m sure that anybody who likes and appreciates singing – and Sarnia has such a large number of choral groups – will absolutely love this show.”
For her part, Nesrallah said she is looking forward to finally performing in Sarnia after her first attempt at singing here in the spring of 2020 was canceled due to COVID.
Singing in front of live audiences is something she appreciates even more after the past two years, she said.
“I always tell people that nothing beats being there,” she said. “It’s fine doing things online…but nothing beats being there. It’s like seeing the Beatles on television versus seeing them in person – there’s just no comparison.
“In a way it’s been a great healing piece – here we are finally able to go back on stage, and for someone like me for whom singing is part of my elemental well-being – it’s a huge relief to be back. I always feel I’m at my most ‘normal’ when I’m standing on stage and singing my heart out in front of an audience. We’ve been trying to get to Sarnia for a couple of years, so I’m really looking forward to finally getting there.”
Nesrallah will perform at Sarnia’s Imperial Theater on Wednesday, April 13. Tickets are available at the Imperial Theater Box Office (168 Christina St. N.), online at www.imperialtheatre.net or by phone at 519-344-7649.