Soprano Adrianne Pieczonka has been honoured with the Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award, a $20,000 prize granted by the Ontario Arts Foundation biannually in areas of keyboard artistry, art photography and singing. The award honours the career of a working artist.
It seems fitting that Pieczonka receive the award, as she is one of a small number of Canadian opera singers who has solidified an international career while maintaining a balance of performance and continued education in Canada. Last year alone Pieczonka gave four public masterclasses for young opera singers in Toronto and London while performing roles in Ontario, Italy, France, and across Germany. In 2014 Pieczonka will perform locally in as Amelia in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Verdi’s A Masked Ball, as well as appear in operas at La Scala, Covent Garden and with the Bavarian State Opera.
This is not the first time her enviable career has been recognized, Pieczonka is an Officer of the Order of Canada, an Austrian Kammersängerin and has received two Juno Awards.
When asked about her future intentions, Pieczonka gave the following insight: “My plan is to sing until I am 60 or so in my current roles. I don’t necessarily want to go into ‘old bag roles,’” she says. “I want to stop at my peak, with my star not fading, and devote myself to fostering and mentoring.”
You can read the full article on the Toronto Star’s Website
