A life in song.
Soprano · Doctor of Musical Arts · Chevalière de l'Ordre national du Québec.
Dr. Sharon Azrieli is a Montréal-born soprano who has performed at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera, and who covered Mirella Freni in Adriana Lecouvreur at the Opéra Bastille de Paris in 1994. In 2019 she was named Chevalière de l'Ordre national du Québec for her contributions to music and to the arts in Canada.
Her career spans opera, oratorio, the great song repertoire, Broadway and the Great American Songbook — a range she credits to her formal training in classical voice combined with a lifelong love of musical theatre. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras across three continents and recorded fifteen albums to date.
Educated at Vassar College (BA, Art History), Parsons School of Design (AAS, Illustration), and the Juilliard School with Ellen Faull and Joan Dornemann, she completed her Master of Music in 2006 and her Doctorate in 2011 at the Université de Montréal. She also studied privately with Bill Schuman of the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, where her voice was primed for the great Verdian soprano roles.
A decade in motion.
2024 was a year of milestones. She translated nine Frank Wildhorn songs into French and recorded the cycle in Honolulu. She returned to Alice Tully Hall in New York with the Orchestra of St Luke's for the premiere of Out of the Depths by A. Harlap. In October she debuted with l'Opéra de Montréal as Bertha in Rossini's Il barbiere di Siviglia, and hosted the tenth annual Azrieli Music Prizes — a milestone for the program she founded a decade earlier.
Recent acting credits include Helen in Irena's Vow (2023, TIFF premiere) and Maxine in Wingman (2025, opposite Russell Peters), alongside multiple album releases and concert appearances throughout North America and Europe.
On June 8, 2026, she performs From Ladino to Broadway — A Jewish Musical Journey at the Hoke Auditorium of Columbia International University in South Carolina.
From one stage to the next
Halls, festivals, and tours across 12 cities — from Montréal to stages worldwide.
- Montréal — homeMaison Symphonique · Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier (Opéra de Montréal) · Théâtre Outremont · Pierre-Mercure Hall · Le 9e Grande Salle
- LavalSalle André-Mathieu · Orchestre Symphonique de Laval
- QuébecGrand Théâtre de Québec · Ensemble Caprice
- OttawaNational Arts Centre · Marcellina, Le Nozze di Figaro (2019)
- New YorkMetropolitan Opera (debut 2018, Il Trittico) · Carnegie Hall (1996, 2017) · Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center (2024) · Opéra Français de New York
- ColumbiaHoke Auditorium · Columbia International University · From Ladino to Broadway (2026)
- ParisOpéra Bastille · cover for Mirella Freni in Adriana Lecouvreur (1994)
- BerlinPhilharmonie Berlin · with Berliner Symphoniker (2024)
- Tel AvivIsrael Philharmonic Orchestra · conducted by Lahav Shani · Hatikvah Project (2024)
- JerusalemJerusalem East-West Orchestra · conducted by Tom Cohen · Hebrew University Orchestra (2018)
- HaifaHatikvah Project · one of 13 Israeli cities (2024)
- BeershebaHatikvah Project · one of 13 Israeli cities (2024)
Roles & works.
Her operatic repertoire ranges from Verdi and Puccini to Massenet and Strauss; her oratorio work spans Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, and Bernstein.
- Aida · Verdi
- La Gioconda · Ponchielli
- Leonora · Il Trovatore (Verdi)
- Leonora · La Forza del Destino (Verdi)
- Santuzza · Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni)
- Mimì · La Bohème (Puccini)
- Manon Lescaut · Puccini
- Nedda · I Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)
- Rachel · La Juive (Halévy)
- Madame Lidoine · Dialogues des Carmélites (Poulenc)
- Elvira · Don Giovanni (Mozart)
- Susanna · Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart)
- Marcellina · Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart)
- Norina · Don Pasquale (Donizetti)
- Laurette · Le Docteur Miracle (Bizet)
- Hélène · La Belle Hélène
- Adriana Lecouvreur · Cilea (cover)
- Sister Dolcina · Suor Angelica (Met debut, 2018)
- Fauré · Requiem
- Mozart · Requiem
- Verdi · Requiem
- Dvořák · Stabat Mater
- Rossini · Stabat Mater
- Beethoven · Mass in C minor
- Bach · St John Passion
- Mahler · Rückert Lieder
- Mahler · Symphony No. 4
- Mahler · Symphony No. 8
- Beethoven · Symphony No. 9
- Bernstein · Songfest
- Bernstein · Kaddish
- Ravel · Deux mélodies hébraïques
- Barber · Knoxville: Summer of 1915
Champion of new music.
In 2014 she founded the Azrieli Music Prizes, awarded biennially in Montréal to encourage the creation of new works of Jewish music and of orchestral repertoire by Canadian composers. She continues to serve on the boards of several of Canada's most significant cultural institutions.
- Founder Azrieli Music Prizes 2014
- Director Azrieli Group & Foundation
- Chair Azrieli Music, Art and Culture Center
- Board Member National Arts Centre of Canada
- Board Member McCord Museum
- Board Member Sharon Azrieli Foundation for the Arts
A career of distinctions.
- 2019 Chevalière de l'Ordre national du Québec Government of Québec
- 2017 Dor L'Dor Award Israel Bonds
- 2000 Jarmila Novotna Competition Winner · New York
- 1995 Jarmila Novotna Competition Winner · RTIVC
- 1993 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions District Winner & Study Grant
- 1991 — 1992 Luciano Pavarotti Competition Finalist · Metropolitan Opera National Council grant (1991 & 1992)
- 1990 Canadian Women's Club Competition Winner
Cantorial work.
Across two synagogues — one on Long Island and one in her hometown of Montréal — she has served as cantor, bringing the same vocal discipline to the liturgical repertoire as to the operatic stage.
- Temple Adas IsraelSag Harbor, NY1998
- Temple Emanu-El-Beth SholomWestmount, Montréal2001 — 2003