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 her master’s degree and bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Montreal and is a returning member of the Canadian Opera Company’s 2024-2025 Ensemble Studio. Performance credits include Marquise de Berkenfield in La fille du régiment (Festival d'opéra de Québec), Mercédès in Carmen (COC), and Rosina in The Barber of Seville (Highlands Opera Studio). She placed as a semifinalist in the OSM Competition in 2021 and has participated in several prestigious programs including the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute, the Toronto Summer Opera Workshop, and the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance. In 2024, Hezumuryango was named as one of CBC’s “30 hot classical musicians under 30” and nominated for a Dora Award for her work in Scott Joplin’s Treemonisha. This season at the COC, she will be featured as Ebba Sparre in La Reine-garçon and as Lola in Cavalleria rusticana.
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.
-
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
-
-
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