Throughout her career, soprano Dominique Labelle has fearlessly plumbed the technical and emotional depths of music, turning in performances of “almost alarming ferocity” (San Francisco Chronicle), possessed of “conviction but without exhibitionism” (De Telegraf), that have “the audience hanging on every note” (Boston Globe). Her passionate commitment to music-making has led to close and enduring collaborations with a number of the world’s most respected conductors and composers, such as Iván Fischer, Nicholas McGegan, Jos van Veldhoven, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Yehudi Wyner. She also treasures her long association with the late Robert Shaw.

Dominique first came to international prominence as Donna Anna in Peter Sellars’ daring production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, set in Spanish Harlem, which she performed in New York, Paris, and Vienna. She could easily lay claim to the title “diva.” Instead, Ms. Labelle simply calls herself a musician, and takes greatest pride not in her rave reviews, but in her work with colleagues and in her probing explorations of the repertoire from the Baroque to new music. 

Dominique’s collaborations with Nicholas McGegan at Göttingen and with his Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra have included Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2 “Lobgesang” and Handel’s Atalanta, Orlando, Alexander’s Feast, and Teseo. Her appearances with Iván Fischer include the Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s Nozze di Figaro in Las Palmas and Budapest; a Bach B Minor Mass in Washington, D.C.; a Bach St. Matthew Passion with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; as well as Mozart’s Requiem and a Bach St. Matthew Passion with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. She has also sung Britten’s Les Illuminations with Jean-Marie Zeitouni and I Musici de Montréal; and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Brahms Requiem, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with Zeitouni and the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

In addition to her renowned Handel, Mozart, and Bach interpretations, Dominique is drawn to contemporary music. Her longtime collaborator, Pulitzer Prize winning composer Yehudi Wyner, accompanied her in a recital at Dumbarton Oaks which included Wyner’s own works, some composed expressly for Ms. Labelle. Her performances of Seven Romances on Poetry of Alexander Blok by Shostakovich were “in perfect sync,” creating “an uncanny blanket of sound that resonated everywhere at once.” The Boston Globe called her interpretation of Britten’s Les Illuminations  “heated” and “voluptuous”. She has also performed and recorded John Harbison’s The Rewaking with the Lydian String Quartet.

Among her numerous recordings of opera and concert repertoire are Monsigny’s Le Déserteur with Opera Lafayette and Ryan Brown (Naxos); three recordings with Nicholas McGegan and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra (Handel’s Teseo and Atalanta and Scarlatti’s Cecilian Vespers); two concerts with Sarasa (Boccherini’s Stabat Mater as well as Bach cantatas with baritone Sanford Sylvan); Moments of Love, a recital with pianist and composer Yehudi Wyner on a program of Britten, Hahn, Ravel, Saint-Saëns and Wyner, and Mi Palpita il Cor: Baroque Passions on Navona Records. Her recording of Handel’s Arminio (Virgin Classics) won the 2002 Handel Prize. She can also be heard on recordings on the Virgin Veritas, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, RCA Victor Red Seal, Koss, Denon, New World, Carus and Muisica Omnia labels.

Born in Montreal and trained at McGill and Boston Universities, Dominique enjoys sharing her technical and musical insights with young singers, and is Chair of Voice Area at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University. She has also taught master classes at Harvard University, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts. In 2018 she was a recipient of the prestigious Opera Canada Award (“The Rubies”) for her significant contributions to the opera world. During the previous year, she was honored at gala concerts by both Göttingen Handel Festival and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra for her extraordinary artistic contributions.

J.S. BACH | Cantata No. 202, “Wedding”  | Boston Baroque

“…Really, everybody needs more Dominique Labelle in their lives.  There’s operatic glamour in the voice, of course, and technique and control to burn.  But it was little short of amazing how she could turn vibrato on and off, vary it, manage both steep and gradual changes in volume, toss off ornaments, or merely suggest what she was doing -- and (this could be seen) light up the faces of the early-music specialists on stage with her.  Here was Dominique Labelle, the compleat early-music singer, and no mere impersonator of one.  Brava!” — The Boston Globe

BRITTEN | Les Illuminations | L’Orcheste de Chambre I Musici de Montreal | Jean-Marie Zeitouni, cond.

“The surprise of the evening was Dominique Labelle, who has a career in the United States and in Europe, mostly in Early Music. She gave us Les Illuminations with stunning aplomb, intelligence, quality of emission, and pronunciation. The color of her voice is superb and its fabric of much more importance (weight) than what we imagined. The shock was unexpected. Goosebumps from wall to wall, considering the accompaniment of Zeitouni who recorded this piece with Karina Gauvin, who presented a visionary accompaniment in textures, accents and volumes as with a scalpel.”

— Christophe Huss,  Le Devoir

GLUCK | Armide | Opera Lafayette | Ryan Brown, cond.

“Today, when the grand Verdi manner is almost extinct, a crop of singers capable of performing Gluck adeptly has appeared on the scene — I am thinking, in particular, of Christine Brewer’s Alceste, David Daniels’s Orfeo, Danielle de Niese’s Euridice, Vinson Cole’s Admète, Krassimira Stoyanova’s Iphigénie en Aulide, Ekaterina Gubanova’s Clytemnestre. We must now add Dominique Labelle’s Armide for Opera Lafayette. Labelle has an unusual voice, pastel fire in a broad palette of hues, carefully displayed here to indicate haughty indifference, voluptuous flirtation, strident rage and, ultimately, despair. Gluck puts Armide through her paces, but Labelle could handle everything he tossed her way."

— John Yohalem, Opera Today

HANDEL | Atalanta | “Atalanta” | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“Soprano Dominique Labelle stood out for the grandeur and pathos of her singing in the title role. Labelle has been a regular soloist with the Philharmonia over the years, but I don’t think she has ever sung with such expressive potency or such fine-tuned control.…Labelle portrayed her surrender to passion in exquisite detail….Her Act 2 aria “Lassa! Ch’io t’ho perduta”…. was only one high point in a breathtaking performance.” — Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

HANDEL | Teseo | “Medea” | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“Ms. Labelle’s voice, with its great reserves of depth and darkness, was well suited to the now regal, now witchy Medea. In “O stringerò nel sen,” one of her “evil” arias, she was not above a little cackle, and she brought out the erotic delight with which Medea imagines her rival’s torment.”

— Corinna da Fonesca-Wollheim, The New York Times

“…we had soprano Dominique Labelle - and as Philharmonia regulars well know, she is sorceress enough. Her Medea was at once vengeful and vulnerable, sung with a combination of limpid vocal tone and rhythmic ferocity.” — Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

HANDEL | Gloria, Arias from Deidamia, Rodelinda, Tolomeo | Wiener Akademie | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“In 2000 a new ‘Gloria’ from the quill of the Master was discovered, the first performance of which was sung by Dominique Labelle and which, fortunately for us, she has repeated in Vienna.  She hit the mark with both the demanding ornamentations and the lyrical passages, made enchanting through the beauty of her voice, her musicianship, and perfect technique…The wonderful Dominique Labelle offered arias from the operas Deidamia, Rodelinda, and Tolomeo, singing simply with unforgettable beauty.  Hopefully this artist with her stage personality will return again!” — Herbert Müller, Wiener Zeitung

HANDEL | Gloria, Caldara Haec est regina virginum, Bach Cantata 51 Music Angelica | Martin Haselboeck, cond.

“For all intents and purposes, though, the evening mostly belonged to the marvelous Canadian guest soprano Dominique Labelle, who produced an effortless, golden flow of vocal sound.  She soared gloriously in Handel’s joyous, recently authenticated Gloria...articulating the florid melismas clearly and cohesively....Labelle inserted a short, graceful, zesty work by Antonio Caldara, ‘Haec est regina virginum,’ sailing through the tricky rhythmic passages with ease....Labelle’s voice remained stable and luminous throughout the concluding Bach Cantata No. 51... ”  — Richard S. Ginell, Los Angeles Times

HANDEL | Messiah (arranged by Mozart) | Montreal Symphony Orchestra | Michel Corboz, cond.

“Mozart allotted soprano Dominique Labelle more singing than did Handel.  Her vibrant voice, good diction and German pronunciation left nothing to be desired.” — Ilse Zadrozny, The Montreal Gazette

HANDEL | Messiah | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

"Labelle's soaring soprano was exquisite -- in every Air and Recitative, but especially in a touching 'I know that my Redeemer liveth." — Don Heckman, The International Review of Music

HARBISON | The Reawaking | The Lydian String Quartet

“…positively rapturous…Labelle articulated Harbison’s soaring melismas as precisely as the string players, imbuing them with human warmth and the sun’s life-giving blaze.” — Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe

HAYDN | Arianna auf Naxos | Aston Magna

Dominique Labelle approached each section as a dramatic block, immersing herself in the dominant mood of each and maintaining it as an encompassing arch. Aston Magna regulars will remember vividly Mme. Labelle's performance as Dido in Purcell's opera. In the Haydn, the astonishing consistency of her voice through all its registers, some of them quite low in this cantata, was even more apparent. It is a gorgeous, buttery voice with no audible trace of chest tone." — Berkshire Review for the Arts

HAYDN | The Creation | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“Sunday, the Montreal-born artist lent Gabriel the weight and coloration of a dramatic soprano and her voice soared rapturously in ‘With verdure clad’.” — Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner

HAYDN  | The Seasons | “Hanne” | Houston Symphony | Nicholas McGegan, cond.

“Dominique Labelle (Hanne) was an exquisite artist -- a must hear soprano…On Saturday, she sang with crystalline beauty, shaping music with simple elegance and exquisitely applying vibrato in the manner of singing 18th-century music.” — Charles Ward, Houston Chronicle

MENDELSSOHN | Symphony No. 2, “Lobgesang” | Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra | Nicholas Mcgegan, cond.

But the finest contributions came from soprano Dominique Labelle and tenor Thomas Cooley , who each

brought extraordinary tonal splendor and dramatic intensity to their assignments. For the soprano duet “I

waited for the Lord” — the work’s most heart-stoppingly gorgeous stretch of music — Labelle was joined

by Ashley Valentine in a collaboration that was nothing short of seraphic.

— Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

MOZART | The Marriage of Figaro | “Countess Almaviva” | Minnesota Opera

“Dominique Labelle’s Countess is one of the very finest in memory.  Labelle portrays a witty, passionate woman, clearly regarding Cherubino as a  prospective lover, and sings the great ‘Dove sono’ to a fare-thee-well.” — David McKee, Twin Cities Reader

PERGOLESI   | Stabat Mater | Sarasa Ensemble

“Labelle unleashed full power in her first aria, ‘Cujus animam gementum’.…Lean, spectral tone was a choice rather than a stylistic stipulation, as in Labelle’s reading of  Pergolesi’s wilting, gasping portrayal of Christ’s death.  What made the performance operatic wasn’t just the dramatic necessity or even the more extroverted quality; it was going for broke, singers and players exchanging precision mapping for risky adventure.  The landscape’s big enough for both.” — Matthew Guerrieri, The Boston Globe

SHOSTAKOVICH | Seven Romances on Poems of Alexander Blok | Mount Desert Chamber Music Festival |

                     Todd Crow, piano/Stephanie Chase, violin/Mark Shuman, cello

"The intimacy of these pieces is nearly shocking, and there is no mercy in either the vocals or the instrumentation. In perfect sync with each instrument, Ms. Labelle's voice created an uncanny blanket of sound that resonated everywhere at once.  The emotional layering was so complete it became impossible to shift one's mind from the reality of human suffering, or the desperate beauty we use to assuage it. "

— Weslea Sidon, Mount Desert Islander

VILLA-LOBOS | Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 | Aston Magna

“The final piece led Mme. Labelle into the steamy Brazilian moods of Heitor Villa Lobos' Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5. It came as a surprise to hear her project the heady twentieth-century sensuality and raw emotion of Villa Lobos' setting of Ruth Valdares Correa's intense verse with such overpowering sexiness, although the both the Haydn and the Bach had their share of it in a more discreet eighteenth-century flavor.” — Berkshire Review for the Arts

 VIVALDI | In turbato mare irato | Voices of Music, San Francisco

"Labelle is exceptional among early-music sopranos in that she manages to fill the concet hall with a naturally beautiful tone while maintaining a warm richness. I have the impression that the difficult coloratura runs in Vivaldi's solo motet In turbato mare irato come so naturally to Labelle that even she would ot be able to describe how she accomplishes them....nothing in Labelle's vocalism indicated she was showing off. She is simply that good, and cannot help it." — Thomas Busse, San Francisco Classical Voice

YEHUDI WYNER | Fragments From Antiquity | Lexington Symphony | Jonathan McPhee, cond.

“Labelle gave a sterling performance, maintaining her distinctive bronzed color across steep shifts of range.” — Matthew Guerrieri, Boston Globe        

YEHUDI WYNER: “On this Most Voluptuous Night” | Lydian String Quartet | New World Records

“Soprano Dominique Labelle’s mesmerizing beauty of tone, mastery of line, and intensity of focus makes this cycle a deliciously evocative experience.” — Victor Carr, Jr., ClassicsToday.com