Colette Boky

Colette Boky (born Marie-Rose Élisabeth Giroux; June 4, 1935), CQ OC is a French-Canadian operatic soprano, particularly associated with lyric roles in the French, Italian, and German repertories.

Born Marie-Rose Élisabeth Giroux, in Montreal, Quebec, she studied voice at the École de musique Vincent-d'Indy from 1953–55, and then privately with Laurette Bailly. After winning a voice competition in 1958, she entered the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal, where she was a pupil of Roy Royal and Otto-Werner Mueller. In 1961, she made her stage debut with the "Théâtre lyrique de Nouvelle-France", as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia. With the same company she sang Lakmé, the following year.

After winning the 1962 Prix d'Europe, she went to Paris to continue her studies with Janine Micheau and Raoul Jobin. She then won a second prize at the Geneva International Competition for musical performers, which led to her European debut in 1964, in Haydn's Lo speziale in Versailles. She was invited at the Bremen Opera for the 1964-65 season, where she sang Despina in Cosi fan tutte, and Stravinski's Le Rossignol. In 1965, she made her debut at the Salzburg Festival as Sandrina in Mozart's La finta giardiniera, followed by the lead soprano role in Rossini's La scala di seta at the Munich Festival.

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