Former Calgary opera singer spreads love, positivity from her balcony in Italy

From Italy with love A former emerging artist from the Calgary Opera is using the power of her voice to bring comfort to Italians living in self-isolation.

Calgary — A former emerging artist selection from the Calgary Opera is using the power of her beautiful voice to bring comfort to Italians living in self-isolation.

Singing from the balcony of her apartment in the Emilio Romano region of Italy, Nofar Yacobi is trying to stay as positive as possible.

“It’s becoming a new tradition here in Italy and every day at 6 p.m. people go out on their balconies to sing and dance,” she said.

The Israeli-born Italian Soprano spent one year with Calgary Opera in 2017 and recently made her debut with the role of Gilda (Rigoletto) in Teatro Mancinelli, Orvieto, Italy.

While her opera career is on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, her passion for the craft hasn’t gone unnoticed by her Italian neighbours.

"That video of me singing inspired me to start a brand new initiative," said Yacobi in a Skype interview with CTV News Calgary. "I thought why don’t we use the virtual media in order to do something really beautiful together because all this crisis is about distancing and isolating from each other, but we actually need to be more than ever to be connected."

Yacobi has since launched the Musical Solidarity Project in collaboration with Toronto-based Riddle Films.

She’s encouraging singers and musicians from around the world to collectively create a virtual performance of Verdi’s “Va pensiero” from Nabucco.

"We chose this song because in the opera’s story, these people are not free, they want to be free, they want to overcome something and this is actually what we are dealing with now. We want to overcome this global crisis."

Nearly 100 videos have been sent in for the project which inspired Calgary operatic divas Barbara King and Kathleen Morrison.

The pair posted a video to Twitter this week singing their rendition of the song 'You raise me up' as a way to boost spirits and unite Calgarians during tough times.

Both King and Morrison have also agreed to submit a piece of their own to the Musical Solidarity Piece.

To submit a video visit the Musical Solidarity Project