By Julianna Kerr
Chamberfest audiences are in for a treat as mezzo soprano superstar Wallis Giunta joins us for her last recital before she takes some time off.
The Ottawa native, who currently lives in Vienna, is expecting her second child on Halloween and will begin maternity leave after the festival, returning to performing on New Year’s Eve.
In the meantime, she is looking forward to presenting the festival program featuring pieces she has never been able to highlight in her professional career.
“I’m just so excited to program this eclectic collection of works that I rarely would have the chance to do one, let alone all of them,” Wallis says. “I think it will be really interesting for the audience to experience. There’s no consistent chamber group from piece to piece. It will change the texture of each piece.”
“I’m just so excited to program this eclectic collection of works that I rarely would have the chance to do one, let alone all of them,” Wallis says. “I think it will be really interesting for the audience to experience. There’s no consistent chamber group from piece to piece. It will change the texture of each piece.”
Plenty of surprises await the Chamberfest audience, with some pieces they won’t have heard before. Take, for example, an unfinished work by Leonard Bernstein, which is rarely performed. Written in his early life with the melody of America from his own triumph, West Side Story, it’s an instrumental piece for two pianos and percussion.
“It’s a thrilling piece,” Wallis says. “As far as I know, we are the first in Canada to perform it, outside of studies.”
Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs are also a likely first-time experience for the local audience.
“I don’t think anyone in Ottawa would have heard them in the chamber arrangement,” Wallis says. “They are really beautiful and they’re very interesting. It is extremely varied. He arranged these folk songs to match his style and, somehow, they all hang together.
“It’s quite something; it’s really special.”
The Chamberfest program isn’t all Wallis is excited about. She started a project when she was pregnant with her son, who is now two. Her first recorded album – featuring a program about motherhood – is currently sitting in the editing phase.
“My hope is that during the time that I have after this recital and before my next baby is born is to bring that project to completion,” she says.
“I’m excited about that program and bringing my first album to the world. It’s something that I have brought a lot of time, care, and intention to.”
Wallis also finds the time to be enthusiastic about animal rights. If she weren’t a musician, she says she would love to have worked in an advocacy capacity, particularly for small domestic animals that are often abandoned and treated as if they were disposable.
But, of course, the needs and interests of her toddler come first these days.
After some time visiting with family in Canada, the young family will head back to home base in Vienna, where Wallis is employed by an opera house.
She says it’s rare for an opera singer to have such a stable base with employment benefits and parental leave, and it even affords her the option to cultivate freelance opportunities outside her regular contract.
But first, Chamberfest. Wallis Giunta & Friends take the stage on July 28. She promises to deliver an aria that’s “kind of wild” and will be an exciting listen for Chamberfest patrons.
“It’s definitely something that no one in Ottawa has heard,” she says.
For tickets and programme information, visit Wallis Giunta & Friends
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