About Queen
Artist
Statement
Singing is my ultimate form of expression. Growing up, there was no greater thrill than transforming into a charismatic guide, ushering my audience into unfamiliar territory. In a way, I’m still that same child who felt most confident in front of an audience, but now I do so knowing the power and importance of the art that I make. Our daily lives force us to harden our hearts lest we become paralyzed by the tragedy and harshness of reality, but when I’m performing, I invite my audience into a space where they can allow themselves to soften. When the unamplified sound waves I create with my voice travel across time and space to physically affect the audience, I hope they recognize the vulnerability of this offering. My ultimate goal and the greatest reward of this career is the propagation of empathy and the maintenance of community through classical music.
Biography
Queen
Hezumuryango
Originally from Burundi, Queen Hezumuryango holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Montreal. She is currently a resident artist with Opera on the Avalon and a laureate of Théâtre Lyrichorégra’s Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques. A Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio alumna, her recent roles include Carmen (Carmen, BrottOpera), Lola (Cavalleria rusticana, COC), Ebba Sparre (La reine-garçon, COC), and Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia, Highlands Opera Studio). A third-place winner at the 2025 Rumbold Vocal Prize, she was a semifinalist in the 2021 OSM Competition, received an Encouragement Award at the 2023 Laffont Competition (Eastern Region), and won the Kurt Weill Award at the 2025 Lotte Lenya Competition. In 2024, she was named one of CBC’s “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30” and nominated for a Dora Award for Treemonisha. This season, she covers Erda (Siegfried, Edmonton Opera) and appears as the alto soloist in Händel’s Messiah (Brott Music Festival) and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (Cathedral Bluffs Symphony).
The day I heard Jessye Norman sing "Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix" changed me forever.
Resources
Until then, I only knew classical music through the lens of my implacable piano lessons. Opera, like ballet, was an art form I admired from afar, one that was mysterious and inaccessible.
But that day, watching this mesmerizing black woman on my cellphone screen, I felt a thrill, a fascination and a revelation: I, too, was allowed to sing this grandiose music.
In addition to the traditional repertoire, I want to share my love for this powerful music by promoting works by black composers and making them more accessible, in the hope that a wider variety of people will recognize themselves in this music and decide to listen to it, study it, love it.
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African Diaspora Music Project
A repository for the concert works of composers of the African Diaspora.Institute for Composer Diversity
Several databases of genre-specific works by diverse composers. Repository for the concert works of composers of the African Diaspora. Database of works written by historically excluded groupsAmerican Composers Alliance
A catalogue of works including filters to search BIPOC composers, art song by BIPOC composers, female composers and more.Sphinx Composer Resource Directory
A list of several resources of BIPOC composers (vocal and non-vocal music)Chamber Music America
A list of ALAANA, Female, and Gender Non-Conforming Composers
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BIPOC Arts
Database of BIPOC arts workers, including composers and librettistsRacial Justice Opera Network:
OPERA America’s Racial Justice Opera Network is an action group of opera stakeholders from all sectors of the field who are committed to enriching our art form and industry by seeking racial equity.ROCO
List of works comissioned by ROCO. Many of the creators are from equity-seeking groups.
Photography: Sam Gaetz
Creative Direction: Daevyd Pepper