New Brunswick music soprano prepares for this year’s Juno Awards in Halifax

There’s less than a month to go until one of the biggest nights in Canadian music kicks-off in Halifax, and one of New Brunswick’s own will be in attendance.

World-renowned soprano, Suzie Leblanc, was born in Edmunston, N.B., and she spent many of her early years living in Moncton.

“All my roots, all my ancestors are all the Maritimers,” Leblanc told CTV’s Katie Kelly in an interview Thursday.

“Yeah, goes back many generations.”

Leblanc is an early music specialist who taught at McGill University, and is the artistic and executive director of Early Music Vancouver.

“Early music is generally thought of music that goes back like 400 years, you know, around the time of Bach and Monteverdi and Vivaldi and even earlier than that. Basically, all the way back to medieval music,” she said.

“And so I like to do a lot of that early music, not only that, but I’ve spent most of my adult life singing music of four and five hundred years past.

Leblanc has been the recipient of three honorary doctoral degrees and is a member of the Order of Canada for her contributions to music and Acadian culture.

At the Juno Awards this year, Leblanc earned her fifth nomination for her album, “Mouvance.” She said the title means displacement, migration, and exile, all of which are themes she wanted to explore.

“So we wanted to do an album that even though it's rooted in the words of the Acadian people with the poetry of Acadians, it's a universal theme these days, more and more important and traumatic,” said Leblanc.

“And so we really wanted to do a project that would open up a universal way, touch many, many people who have a relation to being exiled or displaced.”

Leblanc says even though she’s been nominated in the past, the excitement never leaves.

“It's such a huge honor,” she said.

“And I think this one's even more special for me because the project is really, really close to my heart so it means even more this time.”

The Juno Awards begin in Halifax on March 24.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.