‘It feels like home on that stage’: soprano Andrea Lett performs with the WSO 

This weekend, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra performs “Unforgettable Classical Favourites” alongside guest soprano, Andrea Lett. 

The Saskatchewan-born, Winnipeg-based singer has worked with companies across North America including the San Francisco, Edmonton, and Sante Fe Operas, and made her Manitoba Opera debut in the 2018/19 season as Zerlina in Don Giovanni. 

“There’s something really wonderful about being able to perform for people who I love, for an audience that I love, in a city that I love,” says Lett. “It feels like home on that stage.” 

Though, it has been quite some time since she last visited that familiar place at the Centennial Concert Hall; an element which only adds to the importance of this weekend’s performance. 

With cancellations, postponements and sudden pivots the norm over the past two years, Lett notes that as a performing artist, she’s become “used to improvising.” Pandemic aside, rolling with the punches is always an element of live performance, she notes. “I can’t think of any gig that I’ve ever had where everything went exactly as I thought it would.” 

After the postponement of “Li Keur, Riel’s Heart of the North,” WSO Associate Conductor was tasked with putting together a pops showcase of hits from the ballroom, ballet and opera stages.

“I was really excited when Julian emailed me,” says Lett who was given free rein over her section of the program. She selected three favourite arias from heavy hitters in the repertoire: Puccini, Strauss Jr., and Verdi. 

“They’re all roles that I’ve done,” says Lett, noting the emotions and memories that tend to bubble up when revisiting music previously performed.

This weekend, Andrea Lett joins the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in two performances: Saturday, February 12 at 7:30 p.m. with a matinee Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are available in person with online viewing also possible. 

In the full conversation below, Andrea chats more about what it means to be a guest performer; balancing the rigours of practice and performance with being a full-time student in the Faculty of Law at the University of Manitoba; and, breaks down each of the arias she will perform with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.