Jingjing Xu, mezzo-soprano (Winner)
Where are you from, or where do you call home?
Wuhu, Anhui, China
What is an essential part of making music for you?
Communication is always the most important thing to me.
Learn more
When you’re not in preparation and practice mode, how do you disconnect?
I do a lot of cooking, and I always find it enjoyable .
What are some of the ways you build positive routines in your music-making?
I always do some short physical exercise before singing, it has been extremely helpful!
What’s a recent musical discovery you’ve made?
Doing lots of recording sessions helps me keep on track of what my voice sounds like under a certain level of pressure.
What would being named the winner of the Wirth Vocal Prize enable you to do?
It would certainly give me very strong financial support for the next stage of my education.
Michelle Bawden, soprano
Where are you from, or where do you call home?
I was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, but Montreal is currently where I am calling home!
What is an essential part of making music for you?
For me, vulnerability and healing are extremely important in making music. Learning to be vulnerable with oneself and expressing that through singing is always a challenge but also an adventure for me. Singing has always been something I can rely on to comfort and heal.
Learn more
When you’re not in preparation and practice mode, how do you disconnect?
I love to walk- I walk everywhere I can! Hiking with my family, being around nature, playing board games and playing disc golf with my boyfriend are also my favourite pass times!
What’s something someone might be surprised to find on your playlist?
I like to listen to a lot of 80's music! "Puttin' on the Ritz" by Taco and pretty much anything by Madness are always fun to listen to!
How does music connect you to the community?
For me, music has always been connected to the community. I grew up singing in church choir and the Hamilton Children's choir, or playing cello in school orchestras and the Hamilton Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. After High School, I was granted a choral scholarship at McNab Street Presbyterian Church and now, I sing at their church every time I return home for the holidays. The community there is so welcoming and warm, I love sharing what I do with them.
What’s a recent musical discovery you’ve made?
A recent musical discovery was Ravel's Scheherazade, which 2 of the 3 songs are in my Wirth finals program. These pieces are absolutely beautiful and so expressive. I've really enjoyed working on them in Song Interpretation with my partner last term. They are very speech like and fluid and descriptive and very different from a lot of French mélodie that I had heard up until that point
What would being named the winner of the Wirth Vocal Prize enable you to do?
Being the winner of the Wirth Vocal Prize would alleviate the stress of funds for travel and will allow me to apply and audition to more Young Artist Programs (YAPs).
Ilanna Starr, mezzo-soprano
Where are you from, or where do you call home?
I was born and raised just outside of Washington, DC, but the majority of my extended family lives here in Montreal.
What is an essential part of making music for you?
Collaboration and storytelling are the most essential elements of music making for me. I am in awe of the power we have as musicians; that alone, but even more so together, with other voices and instruments, we can move an audience to tears or anger or laugher. My goal is to live so truthfully in the moment in performance (after much practice), that I hopefully enable my listener(s) to feel something stir deep in their soul. Without commitment to what I am saying and a willingness to be vulnerable while communicating that story, this pursuit is nearly impossible. This is precisely why I love this art form: I want to spend my life telling stories that reflect the depths of the human experience, conjure spaces of collective empathy and above all, have emotional impact and meaning.
Learn more
When you’re not in preparation and practice mode, how do you disconnect?
Yoga, facetiming with family and friends, taking walks through old MTL and exploring coffee & donut shops around town!
What’s something someone might be surprised to find on your playlist?
My parents raised me on Motown and Celine Dion. I also love jazz and am always listening to Ella.
How does music connect you to the community?
I feel most understood when I sing; the chance to connect with colleagues, fellow musicians, friends, teachers and audiences through this medium daily is such a gift. I think people stay in this field because the act of making or listening to music in itself helps us better understand ourselves so that we can more readily connect with others.
What’s a recent musical discovery you’ve made?
I recently learned that music is used at certain vineyards throughout the wine-making and aging process—they play music constantly believing that its energy infuses uplifting vibrations into the wine. Learning this fact brought me back to an incredible course that I took during my masters at Northwestern about the Biology of Sound and Music where I discovered the power that sounds and vibrations have over all living things, not just vertebrates. Some of the most interesting studies showed that the roots of plants will bend toward the sound of water (ie. an underground water pipe) rather than the plant’s actual water source, and also that flowers will only release pollen in response to a particular buzz frequency of a bee. When I sing and create sound vibrations every day, I don’t take it for granted—it reminds me of my connection to the natural world around me and makes me wonder who, or, rather, what could be listening back to me.
What would being named the winner of the Wirth Vocal Prize enable you to do?
It would be life changing. As I bridge the gap between my academic studies and my life as a professional performer, winning the Wirth Vocal Prize would relieve much of the stress that comes with emerging into the real world. More specifically, it would allow me to focus more of my energy toward honing my craft and further developing my artistry. I would be able to more readily coach with teachers and mentors that have made a significant impact on me and also travel to more auditions in the coming season.
