“Bravos” and ovations for DAC Scholarship winner

June 17, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Marni Walsh

Dufferin Arts Council (DAC) scholarship winner, Rebecca Postma, performed her first professional concert to “bravos” and ovations on this spring at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Beeton.

A classical and operatic mezzo-soprano, Ms. Postma graduated with her Bachelor of Honours Music in voice performance from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo this spring.

The response from everyone who attended was very positive as Rebecca performed excerpts from Die Fledermus by Johann Strauss, songs from Venezia by Reynaldo Hahn, and from Histoires Naturelle by Maurice Ravel.

2016-06-16-13 In the second half of the evening, her performance of L’amour est un oiseau rebelle from Carmen drew cheers of “bravo” from the audience. Following were songs by Robert Schumann and William Bolcom.

Her closing with Mon coeur s’ouvre á ta voix from Samson et Dalila by Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns brought the audience to its feet in a standing ovation.

Rebecca, daughter of Alison and Jim Postma who passed away in 2012, was raised in Mulmur and attended Primrose Elementary, as well as Central Dufferin District High School.

She received the Dufferin Art Council scholarships for all four years of her undergraduate study, as well as a second scholarship from the Ontario Music Educators Association.

Rebecca began singing at a very young age, and started pursuing a career in voice performance after studying with Canadian tenor Mark Dubois in Orangeville.

From Rebecca’s perspective, the evening was a success, “especially with the wonderful venue,” she said.

St. Andrew’s newly-renovated sanctuary provided “amazing acoustics” for the concert.

“I felt there was a lot of positive reaction during the performance and that’s always great to receive, as it can really help to have that feedback as you perform,” said Rebecca. “I definitely use the audience’s faces while performing to gauge how expressive and emotive I have to be to draw the audience in and to provoke an emotional response to the music.

“I was thrilled to be able to perform for George Scott as he has been a long-time supporter and friend of mine, and I have to thank him for the wonderful opportunity to perform in my first professional gig following the completion of my undergraduate degree. Without him, I wouldn’t have been able to take that large step. I was also really happy to see members of the Dufferin Arts Council in the audience to represent the DAC and their long-time support. It was great for them to be there and see how far I’d come after four years of study, enabled in part by the financial support of the Council.”

Rebecca thanks all those who attended the evening, and “who continue to support me in my musical career.” She adds she “would like to continue studying voice as well as performing,” while she looks at her next steps as a musician.

Rebecca is considering a graduate degree and/or opera diploma as she continues to aspire to a career combining performance and teaching.