From her humble beginnings performing at her parents’ house, Sofia Durante is now gracing the stage and hitting high notes around the world.
“I always knew that I wanted to sing,” said Durante, who is a professional opera singer living in New York. “My uncle is a professional opera singer, and he took the same path I did. I got to see him do that, which was really inspiring for me.”
Durante, 24, was eight when she set her sights on succeeding in the world of music.
“We’d be downstairs and she would be in the bathroom singing,” said her dad Frank Durante, who is a high school principal in Calgary. “There was never a Plan B for her.”
From home performances to formalized training, Durante joined the Calgary Girls Choir and embarked on a journey that would eventually take her to McGill University in Montreal. After graduating, she set her sights on New York City.
“New York is the epicentre for everything opera in the United States,” said Durante, who works as a sales associate at the Metropolitan gift shop. “The teachers here, the international connections, Broadway, there’s so much culture here. You wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.”
Durante attended and graduated from the Mannes School of Music in New York.
She is making her Lincoln Centre debut in March and has been performing cabarets at 54 Below and Don’t Tell Mama.
One of her highlights so far in her career was her Italian debut in the summer of 2023.
“I don’t know if it was the homeland aspect, but when I got to be on this little jewel box theatre and sing my aria in my big gown, it was really fun,” said Durante, who is Italian. In a full-circle moment, Durante’s headlining debut was alongside her uncle, Giuseppe Spoletini, at the Bella Concert Hall in Calgary last summer.
“When I sing, I feel six feet tall,” said Durante. “I feel so powerful, and yet, so vulnerable.”
Durante says Calgary, a city known for its picturesque landscapes and western culture, is etched in her heart.
“I’m proud to be from Calgary. It’s where my dreams took flight, and I always joke that no matter where I am in the world, I will always be back for those 10 days of Stampede.”