A voice of gold, between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. An intimate yet powerful moment.
Singer-songwriter, performer and pianist, Dominica Merola was born in Montréal of Italian parents. She charms her audiences in Canada, the United States and Europe with her charisma, commanding stage presence and piano virtuosity in various styles that each combine quality lyrics with talented composition.
A program for the end of 2024 and 2025 full of promises
After a very notable tour in Taiwan in 2023 in the most beautiful halls of the country, Dominica returns to France in several cities in the spring of 2024, in voice and piano format and in choir companies and a string orchestra. After a series of outdoor shows in summer in Montreal. the year ends with Christmas concerts, including one with a choir in Valleyfield, as well as a new concept of a duo show with his sister Caroline
2025 looks exciting! A tour will take place in France this spring on the occasion of Francophonie Week, while a second is planned for the fall. In addition, some wonderful, very exciting innovative artistic collaboration projects are already being developed.
During her tours in Europe, Dominica Merola prefers the intimate atmosphere created by piano and solo voice, which showcases her unique vocal tonality and virtuosity of her artistry at the piano. Invited in 2015 to France, Belgium and Portugal, she also reveives more and more invitations to be accompanied by a choir.
In the press
Retrospective
In the spring of 2024, she was invited to France to present her show in several cities, in voice and piano format and with choral companies and a string orchestra in Laval (France) as a Quebec guest on the occasion of the annual meeting of the France-Québec-Francophonie Federation. During the summer, Dominica presented a series of outdoor shows in Montreal. To end the year in style, several events are on the agenda, including the Christmas concert in Valleyfield with the excellent choir Les Gondoliers. As well as a new show concept (simultaneous voice and drawings) entitled La Forêt enChantée, in duo with his sister Caroline.
2023: After 2020, from Montreal to Taiwan is the title of the concert that Dominica presented on tour in Taiwan with Taiwanese singer Ching-Hui Kuo in 5 venues in the largest cities in September 2023 with the tour support of the Arts Council and letters from Quebec. The Taichung Theater Evaluation Committee (Taiwan) expressed its assessment as follows: Singer-songwriter Dominica Merola’s singing voice is naturally expressive, her timbre and stage charm are quite charming. The songs she creates are also very beautiful. Several other concerts, including Christmas ones, some of which with choirs, were offered to the Quebec public as well as shows at summer festivals in Montreal.
2022, the coming back year.
Dominica made two tours in France for a total of 16 shows in several regions. Among the highlights: she was the guest singer to celebrate with three choirs the four hundredth anniversary of Margueritte Bourgeoys in her hometown of Troyes. She has also been invited to sing with choirs in the Nice region and in Chatel Guyon in Auvergne, in addition to going to the prestigious House of Canadian Students in Paris in the voice and piano formula. In Quebec, she presented her show in 6 parks in Montreal and offered several Christmas concerts, the most memorable of which is the one with the Massenet choir at the magnificent Church of the Visitation.
2020-2021, pandemic years. Despite the cancellation of a tour in France, Dominica has remained very active by offering several shows online, including one for the City of Saint-Malo at the request of the General Delegation of Quebec in Paris. In the same vein, she recorded and produced a Christmas show at the oldest Visitation Church in Montreal. In the summer of 2020, she composed the music on Laisse toi berçer, a song written by Canadian author Isabelle Lavoie, she produced a video with Taiwanese singer Ching-Hui Kuo in the purpose of preparing a tour in this island. This video was shot at a distance of more than 12,000 km, Dominica singing in French and Ching in Mandarin. In 2021, a relative upturn in the pandemic outlook allowed Dominica to go on stage again in front of an audience, among other things a vibrant tribute to Margueritte Bourgeoys at the Notre-Dame de Bonsecours chapel in Montreal. During this period, Dominica maintained her contacts in Europe at a high level to prepare the ground for new tours.
2019, Here and there – between Paris, Nîmes, Genappe and Christmas in Montréal.
The year 2019 was a busy one for Dominica Merola, between her shows in Canada and Quebec, as well as Paris, in the spring at the Théâtre des Déchargeurs for 13 concerts, then in Nîmes for an annual gala concert with the Association Gard-Québec.
Once again in France during November/December at the Théâtre des Deux Ânes her exceptional performances in the mythic Parisian venue were recommended on France 2 by Michel Drucker during his show Vivement Dimanche, as well as by others. Dominica then headed to Belgium, where she performed both solo and accompanied by the Saint-Géry du Vieux Genappe choir.
These concerts were the opportunity for her to sneak preview her fourth album, En attendant minuit, a Christmas album coproduced with Paul Bisson on which she is accompanied by piano and backed up by two choirs, one from France (Vicus Aureus) and the other from Quebec (La Muse). With traditional French Christmas songs such as En attendant minuit, it is also an album of childhood memories with an original song co-written with her sister Caroline, with music composed by Dominica, and produced by Sébastien Dufour.
2018, from Portugal to Belgium, to France and Québec!
This was a year marked by many concerts in Québec, among others, at the Théâtre Outremont in February with the premier of an original show called Tango mio d’amour with a winning trio formula: piano, accordion, contrabass, for Quebec and Canadian broadcasters. The show’s lineup included several original songs from her new album Bohémienne de cœur and a few classics from the world of tango (Piazzola and Gardel) in an energetic yet understated production by Élaine Salvail, choreographer and dancer.
The year ended with a concert tour in Portugal and Belgium as guest Quebec performer at the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the WW1 Armistice War (1914-1918).
Thereafter, she returned to France with a series of very successful Christmas concerts called Un Noël au Québec in churches in Berry, where she was accompanied by a choir from the Bourges region. Dominica received the medal of honour from the Mayor of Saint-Florent Sur-Cher, for her shows in France honouring her sensual voice and virtuosity at the piano.
2015, an international year
For the new year, a new album and new show with an original tempo: Bohémienne de cœur. At the piano and surrounded by her musicians, Dominica takes us on an emotional journey, that makes us want to move to the Latin rhythms. She plays with her voice, alternating between velvet sensuality and passionate strength.
Dominica has composed all the music for her songs, but collaborates with important French-language songwriters including Marc Chabot, Nelson Minville, Sandrine Roy, Gaële and Mala Barbulescu. Produced and arranged by Sylvain Michel, the album offers a musical voyage at the crossroads of modern, classic and Latin sounds. Distributed by Éditions À l’infini communications, the record is available on all digital platforms.
STILL PASSIONATE AFTER A 20-YEAR CAREER!
Dominica launched her career in the early 2000s. Among the concerts she performed was her first solo show Une voix, un voyage at the studio-theatre at the Place des Arts in Montréal, followed by a tour of the Maisons de la Culture, both in Montréal around the province.
Due to the resounding success of her first tour, she was able to create De Campobasso à toi, a second solo show staged by Robert Marien in which Dominica reconnected with her Italian roots.
Afterwards, things began happening very quickly, with the Rencontres francophones de la chanson, at the Salon de Provence in France, the Coup de Cœur Francophone, in Montréal and the Toronto Festival francophone.
In 2006 she launched her first album Les signes du désir. She wrote the music in collaboration with the authors Roger Tabra, Pierre Huet, Frédérick Baron, Jean-Guy Prince and Vincenzo Thoma. Catherine Perrin from Radio Canada said:
“Dominica Merola, has a very warm voice, a velvet voice that has a delicate timeless quality. The record is a beautiful musical object… Dominica, is someone worth discovering.” (in translation)
Her second album Appassionata, in 2010 was produced by Luc Boivin, (Audience de Fidelio Musique, distribution Naxos). It includes songs Dominica selected from the popular, modern Italian repertoire, and personal compositions in both French and Italian.
It also includes a performance of Naufragés, a beautiful love song in a duo with Daniel Lavoie, one of the heroes of the French-language musical Notre-Dame de Paris. In love with Quebec’s popular music classics, some of these titles translated into Italian, are also on the album. Her writing partners included Sandrine Roy, Vincenzo Thoma and Viano.
MORE ABOUT DOMINICA
Dominica Merola was born into a family of artists; her father is a painter-sculptor, her mother an actor. Dominica chose music and began taking piano lessons when she was five. Voice and piano studies at the Vincent-d’Indy music school in Montreal, as well as acting courses have given her the tools to truly perform her concerts.
Besides her tours and recordings, Dominica regularly participates in shows for charity as well as for radio and television. She also wrote the music for the song Laisse-moi y croire performed on the album Un enfant, une vie with words by Isabelle Lavoie. She also created and performed the theme song Laisse-toi bercer for the Relais pour la vie in Chambly, organised by the Quebec branch of the Canadian Cancer Society.
