Gaelyne Gabora

Gabora, Gaelyne

Gaelyne Gabora (b Craig). Soprano, teacher, b Regina 1931, d White Rock, BC, 1 Feb 2001. She studied at Notre Dame Academy in Charlottetown, at the GSM, England, 1953-6, and graduated with honours from the Vienna Academy 1956-9. Her teachers included Audrey Farnell, Erik Werba, Paula Koehler, Helen Issep, Bernard Diamant 1961-8, and Pierre Bernac 1971-3.

Her operatic debut, in 1966, was at the Mozartsaal in Vienna. In Canada she appeared widely, including with the MSO, the NACO, the TS, the Groupe baroque and Musica Camerata (both Montreal), the Victoria International Festival and JMC Orford Festival, and sang on CBC radio and television. Gabora also performed in the USA and Europe, eg, with the San Francisco, National, and Milan Radio symphony orchestras, and she participated in the Barcelona International, Moscow Winter Nights, and Ravel (France) festivals. In 1965 on CBC radio she premiered Kelsey Jones'Songs of Innocence, which were composed for her. In 1972 she gave the first Canadian performance of Shostakovich's Vocal Instrumental Suite. With her husband, the violinist Taras Gabora, and the pianist John Newmark, she recorded music of Villa Lobos, Hovhaness, Joseph Marx, Murray Adaskin, and Brahms (1974, SM-277). She also recorded Alexander Brott'sSongs of Contemplation with the McGill Chamber Orchestra (1967, CBC SM-6), Handel's 'Crudel tiranno amor' and Purcell's 'The Plaint' from the Fairy Queen with the Groupe baroque de Montréal (ca 1977, RCI 449), and for Melodia (Moscow). In 1996 she recorded two CDs of lieder with the Italian pianist Mario delli Ponti (LoveLieder G168-1 and G168-2).

The Gaboras moved to the USA in 1980, and she continued to be active in performance, recording, and touring, concentrating on lieder, solo or chamber work, and contemporary music. She performed with the Borodin and Aeolian string quartets, and numerous mixed chamber ensembles, and was a founding member of the Trio Tre Musici. She was professor emeritus at the St Louis Conservatory, and also taught at theJohannesen International School of the Arts and the Incontri Nazionale di Musica, Italy. Gabora gave master classes in North America and Europe, as well as in Tokyo and Beijing. She taught at the Oberlin-at-Casalmaggiore summer festival in Italy, and privately in Oberlin, Ohio. She continued some activities in Canada; for example, the Gaboras commissioned Epithalamion for soprano and violin, by Sylvia Rickard (also a Canadian); they premiered the piece in Winnipeg. In 1996, Gaelyne Gabora was a member of the jury for the CMC competition.

She was awarded the International Schubert Prize (Moscow, 1979) and the Living Images of Chamber Music International Prize (University of Milan, 1989). Recognizing her stature in the field of lieder performance, McGill University offers the Gaelyne Gabora Memorial Scholarship Fund for Outstanding Interpreters of the Art Song.