What do you get when you cross a rock star with a nun? An opera singer, was Patricia O’Callaghan’s answer to that question when she was seventeen. Then, after completing a Music Performance Degree at the University of Toronto and studying at the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts, Ms O’Callaghan crossed her opera training with her love of the theatre and turned herself into one of Canada’s most versatile and exciting performers of Cabaret Music. Sponsored by the Quadra Cultural Committee, Patricia O’Callaghan will be appearing on the Quadra Community Centre stage on Saturday, March 14th at 8 PM.

A singer from birth, Ms. O’Callaghan won her first music award at the age of five in Smooth Rock Falls, Ontario, singing, “I had a Little Nut Tree.” Studying piano on her own and singing in a rock band in small-town Northern Ontario, she eventually found a singing teacher in Timmins at sixteen; and that was the beginning of her classical training. She went on to perfect her vocal talent by singing and touring with contemporary operatic performances such as Claude Vivier’s Kopernikus and Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera with Vancouver Opera.

O’Callaghan established herself on the music scene in Toronto by co-founding an avant-guard music ensemble called Zebra Schvungk which won first prize in the Fourth International Young Artist Music Competition in Dusseldorf, Germany. During this period she also made regular appearances at the Banff Summer Arts Festival, and with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Classical Singers. Many Canadians may remember her stunning performance as “The Singer” in Ken Finkleman’s acclaimed television series “Foolish Heart,” or in the CBC/Rhombus special “Youkali Hotel.”

European cabaret-style music by such composers as Francis Poulenc, Erik Satie and Kurt Weill eventually became the basis for Ms O’Callaghan’s career as a performer and recording artist. She made her first recording of cabaret songs entitled Youkali, with the help of a Chalmer’s Grant in 1996. In 1999, following the release of her second CD, Slow Fox, her popularity went worldwide and with the release of her third CD in 2000, Real Emotional Girl, she achieved international acclaim, touring her cabaret show around Europe and North America. She has just released her fourth CD, Naked Beauty: a collaboration with Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies, featuring pop and cabaret songs by composers such as Randy Newman, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Kurt Weill.

Live performance is where audiences experience O’Callaghan’s exceptional talent. Described by Billboard Magazine as, "the most promising cabaret performer of her generation" Patricia sings straight from the heart. In fact, Chart Attack Magazine wrote, “…it is live that she truly shines, transfixing everyone in her path with her dramatic intensity and sensuality. She sings her diverse material as if it was always meant to go side-by-side and by the end of the evening, it’s easy to believe her.”

Charismatic and theatrical, Patricia O’Callaghan will entertain you with her impressive talent on Saturday, March 14th, at 8 PM. Advance tickets are 17$ (youth 10$) at the Music Plant in Campbell River, Quadra Crafts in Heriot Bay, and Hummingbird Office and Art Supply in Quathiaski Cove. Tickets will also be available at the door. For more information, call 250-285-3560 or visit www.patricia-ocallaghan.com