Meet the Indigidivas
an unforgettable journey through song
Melody Courage
SOPRANO
Métis soprano Melody Courage gained national attention as The Native Girl “...played with ethereal grace...” in the 2017 world premiere of Marie Clements and Brian Current’s opera Missing, City Opera Vancouver/Pacific Opera Victoria. Melody is much in demand by composers for her soaring soprano and musical interpretation. She is proud to work often in developing new works and Indigenous stories for the opera stage. Recent highlights include The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, Calgary Opera; The Marriage of Figaro, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra; In Winter, Canadian Opera Company.
Rebecca Cuddy
MEZZO-SOPRANO
Métis mezzo-soprano Rebecca Cuddy is acknowledged as an artist of “the next generation who are going to do incredible things” (The Whole Note, 2019). Rebecca has sung across Canada with esteemed opera companies including Pacific Opera Victoria, Vancouver Opera, Regina Symphony, Tapestry Opera, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and The Canadian Opera Company. She is a multidisciplinary opera singer, playwright, director and visual artist who is passionate about developing Indigenous stories for the stage.
Rebecca was the 2022 Indigenous Artist in Residence at the National Theatre School of Canada and holds an MA in voice and opera from the Royal Academy of Music, London U.K. and BMus from Western University.
Michelle Lafferty
Tłichó Nation Mezzo-soprano Michelle Lafferty from Northwest Territories and now resides in Calgary Alberta. She graduated in 2019 from The University of Western Ontario with her Master’s in Literature and Performance under the tutelage of Patricia Green.
She is continually involved in The Banff Centre for the Performing Arts program for Indigenous Classical Musicians Gathering and the continued work on Indigenous Musical Sovereignty. She is currently part of a team of musicians and composers with Calgary Opera that is curating the opera lab “Namwayut” with dramaturge Marion Newman. An opera about Indigenous resilience. She has also received a Dora Award for best ensemble in the Opera category for Sound streams production of Two Odysseys Pimooteewin/Gállábártnit in 2020.
In 2021 she has been part of an amazing project lead by Parmela Attariwala, Germaine Liua and Nicole Ramperaud named Understory. Understory is a web-based, inter-provincial series dedicated to showcasing improvising artists working across Canada, and to building a network between the artists and their audiences. The piece performed and created between Understory, Viviane Houle, Danielle Jakubiak and Michelle called “We were children” came from around the time the 215 graves were found in Kamloops British Columbia and was taken from this project and shared Nationally on Truth and Reconciliation Day September 30th 2022. A Bandcamp was created for people to be able to purchase and all proceeds continue to go to residential school survivors.
In 2022 she was a performer in “Kisaageetin” a concert of Tomson Highway’s with the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. She is also part of a new emerging group of illustrious Indigenous women “The Indigidivas” production and financial support is by Allegra Chamber Orchestra with founder Janna Sailor. The Indigidivas include Melody Courage, Rebecca Cuddy and Michelle Lafferty. Recently she was in the American debut of “Missing” in February 2023 performing the role of Native Mother with Anchorage Opera Alaska. Composed by Brian Current and libretti by Marie Clements.
MEZZO-SOPRANO