Emma Cloutier is an 11-year-old soprano who loves to sing opera and is quite determined to pursue a career on the operatic stage when she grows up.
“I know you have to study hard and it’s not everybody that gets a chance,” Cloutier said.
“But I think I really want to do it in life and I’m going to pursue it as much as I can.”
Cloutier came to opera quite by accident.
At seven-years-old, she decided she wanted to join the school choir, much to her parent’s surprise.
“Nobody in my family sings, so my mom found it was kind of weird,” Cloutier said.
But it wasn’t just that nobody in the family sang – Cloutier had taken part in a school play in Grade 1 and sang a song with a friend.
According to Cloutier’s mom, Emma’s singing was “bad.”
Ultimately, they decided to let their daughter join the choir whose teacher was a Russian opera singer.
At practice, the teacher had the children sing a few notes to hear their range.
Cloutier recalled the teacher’s shocked expression when she heard her sing.
That’s when Cloutier says the teacher asked if she could give her private singing lessons.
Cloutier’s parents were unsure.
“My mom told my dad that night: ‘You know, I like when she tries a lot of things but to humiliate herself in music?'”
Nevertheless, her parents agreed to let her try, deciding they would let her down nicely if things didn’t work out.
But work out they have.
This past summer Cloutier spent two weeks studying in Italy and she was a contestant on La Voix Junior 2016, Quebec’s version of the American TV singing competition The Voice.
Cloutier also plays the piano and trumpet and is learning to read music, slowly paving the way for her future career.
Comments