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Professional Performers Produced By Volunteers

Patricia O'Callaghan - Saturday, April 12, 2008

Patricia O'Callaghan is billed as a Cabaret singer. She's a very versatile performer with a great voice and great expression. She also sings opera and acts. She's no stranger to this area, because she did part of her training at Banff Centre.

Patricia O'Callaghan was born and raised in Northern Ontario. At seventeen she lived in Mexico for a year as an exchange student. It was there that she had an epiphany one day and decided she should become an opera singer. Up until that time she could not decide whether to become a rock star or a nun and she thought opera was the perfect melding of the two: all the discipline and undebauched life of a nun, but she would still get to sing. She trained at the University of Toronto and the Banff Centre for the Arts.

In 1996 she got a Chalmer's Grant which allowed her to stop waitressing and devote herself to music full time. Pulling in favours from friends and family, she made her first CD, Youkali. It featured cabaret songs by Weill, Satie and Poulenc -- not quite opera, but close. She was signed to Marquis/EMI shortly thereafter. Following the release of her second CD, Slow Fox, her worldwide distribution outside of Canada was snatched up by Teldec/Warner. So her third CD, Real Emotional Girl, was released internationally, and she ended up touring her cabaret show around Europe and North America. She has just released her fourth CD, Naked Beauty, which is already receiving critical and popular praise.   

Patricia does actually sing opera at times, mostly contemporary stuff. She has toured internationally in Claude Vivier's Kopernikus  and is appearing as Polly in Vancouver Opera's production of Weill's Threepenny Opera this season. She recently appeared on jazz clarinetist Don Byron's CD, A Fine Line, and has been touring with him as well. She's also had the good fortune to appear in television shows, including the Ken Finkelman series Foolish Heart, her own Bravo! special, and the CBC/Rhombus special Youkali Hotel. Patricia makes her home in Toronto and feels pretty lucky to be able to travel all over the world, singing great tunes.   

Tracks

Some sample tracks are available here.

If you have high-speed, check out the Sad Boy video on Patricia's Web Site

Reviews

“On record, O’Callaghan is a delight, setting her classically-trained chops loose on a dizzying blend of cabaret, jazz, and sophisticated pop.  But it is live that she truly shines, transfixing everyone in her path with her dramatic intensity and sensuality.”
Chart Attack Magazine

“O’Callaghan’s an impressive talent with unlimited potential.  The show’s packed with charm and charisma.”  
Geoff Chapman – The Toronto Star

“O’Callaghan enters the world of a song and gives it a three dimensional life, with a lower range as smoky as the room will become and an upper register that vibrates with passion.” 
Jon Kaplan - NOW Magazine

“O’Callaghan sings her diverse material as if it was always meant to go side-by-side and by the end of the evening, it’s easy to believe her.”
Chart Attack Magazine

“…the most promising cabaret performer of her generation.” 
Timothy White – Billboard Magazine

And here's a review from a presenter that encouraging for us!

“Patricia O'Callaghan was amazing last night. She is almost hypnotic to watch on stage and her voice is wonderful. Judging from the CD sales, our audience loved her and asked that she return. Robert, the pianist and the bassist are excellent musicians in their own right and provided an excellent accompaniment. It makes my day when things turn out so well!!”
Nancy Morris, Kirkland Lake Arts Council

 

Web Site

Patricia O'Callaghan's web site.

2008 - 2009
Season

John Wort Hannam
Sept. 27, 2008

Matt Anderson
Nov. 1, 2008

Shooglenifty
Nov. 22, 2008

Bottom Line Duo
Feb. 7, 2009

Carlos del Junco
March 7, 2009

Keri Lynn Zwicker
April 4, 2009

Harry Manx
May 2, 2009

Bragg Creek
Festival
May 29 & 30, 2009