Margie Bernal Rodriguez
Voice
Office: MB 213
Phone: (519) 661-2111 x85015
Email: mbernal5@uwo.ca
Margie Bernal, soprano
Colombian soprano Margie Bernal completed her Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) at Western University. She holds a Master of Music from this same institution and a bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from Universidad Nacional de Colombia. A versatile performer, Margie enjoys singing in both operatic and recital stages. Her interest in contemporary music has led her to collaborate with various composers, premiering different works.
Margie has been a soloist for the National Symphonic Orchestra, National University Orchestra, and Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra in Colombia; Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra London Canada, Western University Orchestra and Windsor Symphony Orchestra in Canada; and The Boise Philharmonic in the USA. She has collaborated with the Caldas University Opera Workshop (Colombia), the Canadian Operatic arts Academy, Summer Opera Lyric Theatre, Queen of Pudding’s Music Theatre, Toronto Operetta Theatre (Canada) and the Accademia Europea Dell’ Opera (Italy).
Some of Margie’s operatic credits include Ännchen (Weber’s Der Freischütz), Salud (Falla’s La Vida Breve), Mimì and Musetta (Puccini’s La Bohéme), Micaëla (Bizet’s Carmen), Donna Anna (Mozart’s Don Giovanni), Magda Sorel (Menotti’s The Consul) and the title role in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. Orchestra and Oratorio works include Wagner’s Wesendonk Lieder, Ravel’s Scheherazade, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Bach’s Johannes-Passion, Mozart’s Requiem in D minor, Regina Coeli, Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, and Handels’s Messiah.
Margie recently made her Canadian Opera Company debut singing as a featured artist for their newly launched Showcase Series in which she performed a full recital of Latin American Art Song, in collaboration with Maestro Simone Luti. Her passion for Spanish music and commitment to her Hispanic heritage has led her to delve into the world of Spanish art song, and Spanish opera, being the latter the inspiration for her doctoral research “Introduction to a Spanish Opera Aria Anthology for Soprano”.
Alongside her career as a performer, Margie’s love for teaching has inspired her to work with different group ages from children to adults. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Voice at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University where she has taught Voice and Vocal Repertoire with Piano. She resides in London, ON, with her husband Emer, and two daughters Anna María and Gabriella.
