The in-demand artist, seen here in Halifax on May 3, 2018, was scheduled to perform in the Canadian premiere of Triptych (Eyes of One on Another) at Toronto’s Luminato festival on June 23.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
One week after performing with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra on June 7 and 8, star Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman remains in Calgary awaiting a major heart operation at the Foothills Medical Centre. In a Facebook posting this weekend, Brueggergosman revealed that she requires double-bypass surgery.
“I woke up in Calgary on the day I was meant to fly home to Nova Scotia with severe chest pain,” she wrote. Brueggergosman, 41, had planned to fly to Nova Scotia to be with her family after her father, Pastor Sterling Gosman, had died. His funeral is tentatively scheduled for June 23, at the New Minas Baptist Church.
“I can’t begin to express how devastating it is to be this far from home, in a hospital bed, and unable to be with my family,” the singer wrote. “The agony of not being with my mother and my sons right now has inspired me to write this post because I am in desperate need of prayer and support.”
Brueggergosman noted that she and her father shared a “bum ticker.” Indeed, it was just a little over 10 years ago that the singer underwent emergency open-heart surgery to repair a split aorta at Toronto General Hospital. She made a full recovery and has been a glamorous, radiant-voiced presence on Canadian and international stages since.
The in-demand artist was scheduled to perform in the Canadian premiere of Triptych (Eyes of One on Another) at Toronto’s Luminato festival on June 23. She had planned to be in Toronto by Thursday for rehearsals. The multimedia concert, which was to feature the photographs of Robert Mapplethorpe and original music by Bryce Dessner of the American indie-rock band the National, has been cancelled.
A Fredericton native, Brueggergosman was 20 years old when she created a signature lead role in the 1998 premiere of the opera Beatrice Chancy by James Rolfe. The opera was later filmed for CBC-TV. She was a soloist in the recording of William Bolcom’s setting of William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, which won four Grammy awards in 2006. At the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Brueggergosman performed the Olympic Hymn at the opening ceremonies.
Brad Wheeler