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Memorable Manitobans: Louise Roy Morin (1924-1985)Singer. Born at St. Boniface on 25 May 1924, daughter of Pauline Prud’homme (1888-1972) and Louis Philippe Roy, she moved to Toronto in 1946 to study at the Toronto Conservatory of Music. She won scholarships to the Kathryn Turney Long Summer School of The Metropolitan Opera Company and the Rollins Summer School of Theatre in Lenox, Massachusetts. After graduation, she was a founding member of the Canadian Opera Company, performing as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, the countess in The Marriage of Figaro, and Ludmila in The Bartered Bride, among other roles. She also won awards on the CBC’s “Singing Stars of Tomorrow” and “Nos Futures Etoiles”. She appeared as a soloist with leading symphonies across Canada and was one of the country’s leading dramatic sopranos at the time of her first retirement in the mid-1950s. She retired in 1955 to raise her family in Winnipeg. During that time she sang with the choir at St. Martyrs Canadiens Parish where the Christmas Midnight Mass was often broadcast on CKSB. She also wrote, directed and starred in the play “Echoes of the Past” for Manitoba’s centenary in 1967. In addition, she performed at the Centennial Concert Hall with Maureen Forester and “Les Intrepids”. Upon moving back to Toronto, she rejoined the Canadian Opera Company and performed with them for several years. She died of cancer at Toronto, Ontario on 17 July 1985 and was buried in the St. Boniface Cemetery. Sources:Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, 22 July 1985. This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough. Page revised: 29 November 2022
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