Lesia Zubrack

Lesia Zubrack, soprano, producer, songwriter (born 22 April 1931 in Saskatoon, SK; died 3 May 2015 in Prince Albert, SK). At age five she began the violin and made her radio debut playing the harmonica on Prince Albert's CKBI before turning to singing. During time spent at the University of Saskatchewan she was the lead in the operetta If You Please by Neil Harris (1950) and was a talent scout for the radio station CFQC.

In 1950, Zubrack moved to Toronto and became a pupil of George Lambert at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She was the winner of several competitions including Opportunity Knocks (1954), Singing Stars of Tomorrow (1954-55), and Nos Futures Étoiles (1955). She also performed in concert, and was featured in secondary roles, including Adele in Die Fledermaus, with the Canadian Opera Company.

In the early 1950s Zubrack was a member of the singing cast of Ivan Romanoff's popular CBC radio show Songs of My People, and in 1958 was scriptwriter, reseacher, arranger, and administrator for his multilingual folk music TV series Rhapsody. Married to Romanoff in 1961, she was involved in a number of his productions on radio, TV, and at the Ontario Place Forum (1971-83).

Zubrack was producer and a songwriter of the Boot Records recording To life, to love, to music! (1977, BOS 7183), and the LP Good News comprises 11 of her inspirational songs. Zubrack can be heard on the LPs Ukrainian Christmas (1969, CBC LM-67/Cap ST-633) and Ukrainian Rhapsody (1969, Cap ST-6299).