Suzie Leblanc: Setting Poetry to Music
In 2008, Canadian soprano Suzie Leblanc was traveling with friends, and made a stop in the very tiny "Great Village," on the north shore of the Bay of Fundy, just up the road from Truro, Nova Scotia. She happened upon a leaflet in the basement of a local church: a leaflet about Elizabeth Bishop.
It was love at first encounter. In 2008, Canadian soprano Suzie Leblanc was traveling with friends, and made a stop in the very tiny "Great Village," on the north shore of the Bay of Fundy, just up the road from Truro, Nova Scotia. She happened upon a leaflet in the basement of a local church: a leaflet about Elizabeth Bishop.
Suddenly, she wanted to know everything there was to know about the woman who won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1956. And on that day, Suzie Leblanc's life changed. She became almost obsessed with the poet, and has commissioned Canadian musicians to put the poems to music. Michael Enright spoke to Suzie Leblanc in Halifax.