Catherine Fern Lewis is renowned as a highly versatile soprano and sound artist. An ambassador and active exponent of Canada’s new music and art scene, Lewis has premiered over one hundred pieces by prominent composers and created her own multi-media works that push the boundaries of performance. Lewis earned a BMus from the University of Victoria, BC; and devoted three subsequent years to vocal training in Europe and Canada, studying under luminaries Frances James Adaskin, Selena James, Mary Morrison and Pierre Bernac. She appears as soloist with symphony orchestras and in recitals of new and traditional music. Her improvisations have shaped the work of collaborators from other disciplines; many pieces have been written expressly for her. Lewis’ personal creative explorations are uniquely interdisciplinary, combining movement, sound, film and installation. Her site-specific work has been presented by art galleries and festivals in Canada and Europe.
Lewis lives in Victoria BC and teaches at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. Catherine Fern Lewis – Highlights Born Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada 1954 University of Victoria, Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance 1978 Three year studies in Paris, Italy, England, Germany, principal teacher’s Pierre Bernac and Winifred Radford Mercer Union Gallery, 5 Solo Concerts, Toronto 1983 Choreographic Symposium, Simon Fraser University 1984 Professional Year at Banff Centre 1985 Princess of the Stars, Murray Schafer, Banff, Alberta, 1985 One Woman Multi-Media Interdisciplinary Show at Expo ’86 / Commission Steven Reich Ensemble, Tehilim, Vancouver New Music, Vancouver 1986 Array Music, Toronto 1988 and 1993 Performance Invitations to Electroacoustic Festivals Banff, Montreal, Winnipeg 1990 Canada Dance Festival, Ottawa 1992 University of Victoria Faculty Concerts 1992 Hornby Island Summer Festivals – Chamber Music 1990-94 Sound Symposium, St. John’s, Nfld. 1986 and 1992 Stories Told by Dan Scheidt, Convergence, Banff, Alberta, 1990 International Voice Festival, Montreal 1994 Freda Guttman Exhibition, sound component with Kathy Kennedy, Montreal, 1994 MURMUR collaboration with Brigitte Potter-mael, Vertical Gallery, Victoria, B.C. Produced and Curated: Garden Works, a concert of 18 contemporary pieces by women composers for voices and instruments on the subject of gardens: wild and tamed 1995 The Sade, by Robert Rosen and Kokoro Dance, Performance Works, Vancouver, BC 1999 Mothersight, Performance Art, Art Gallery of Victoria, 2000 / Commission Performance Intervention, Ears to the 40’s, Art Gallery of Victoria 2001 / Commission Seven week sound and art installation, Sanctuary, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 2002 / Commission Invitation to sing for the opening gala for The Group of Seven in Western Canada Exhibition 2003 Ottawa National Chamber Music Festival, 1999, 2004 New Opera, Island, Chris Donison/Alistaire McLeod, Banff, Alberta, 2004 Hexaphone, 6 voice a capella ensemble 2002-2006 New Opera, What Time Is It? Anna Hostman/P.K. Page, Victoria, B.C., 2005, 2006 Curator New Music in New Spaces 2006, Astrophysical Observatory, B.C. 2006 / Commission Voice ++ Festival, Open Space 2006 and 2008 the gardens sing and speak through us, by Pottermael, Franca and Lewis, Salerno, Italy, 2009/ Travel grant Music Director, Continually on-stage pianist, AGNES B by David Ferguson 2010 Opera She Saw, Vocal Movement Work, Music Director and Co- creator, 2011/Creation Grant Dance Musical Improv with TRIMPIN Piano Sculptures with Andrew Schloss 2012 Solo Concert at the Apartment At Gallery in Vancouver 2014 CMC Award to create, direct and perform in music video Ruins by Barbara Pentland premiered at CMC Gala. Sonic Boom Festival 2013 A Place To Listen 2014 Concert with Colin Tilney 2014 Pines of Emily Carr with Ingrid Attrott and Emily Carr String Quartet 2014 Premierist of works by: Murray Adaskin, Michael Baker, Howard Bashaw, Stephen Brown, Christopher Butterfield, Kirk Elliott, Jose Evangelista, Nicholas Fairbank, David Ferguson, Anna Hostman, David Jaffe, Rudolph Komorous, Cathy Fern Lewis, Leila Lustig, Hohn Oliver, Tina Pearson, Sylvia Rickard, Robert Rosen, Murray Schafer, Chris Reiche, Daniel Scheidt, Rodney Sharman, Linda Catlin Smith, Owen Underhill, John Weinsweig, Wes Wraggett.