singer,
improviser,
performer
& composer
The heights of Houle’s vocal folds are stratospheric. We get grand opera, French chanteuse, and arcane contemporary classic singer capable of anything deeply vocal.
– Vancouver Observer
Possessing a rare combination of skill and artistry, singer, improviser and composer Viviane Houle is one of Canada’s most gifted and respected vocalists and improvisers. She is widely recognized for her beautifully fluid and dynamic voice, a remarkable palette of extended vocal techniques, a sensitive lyricism and a fearless spirit.
Houle has been a featured performer in internationally celebrated festivals such as FIMAV, San Francisco’s Soundwave Festival and The Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and has performed with Vancouver Opera and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She has also been recognized on the national and provincial levels by being awarded numerous grants, including major project and development funding from Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council.
Houle has performed and collaborated with many of the brightest figures in contemporary and improvised music, including Anthony Braxton (US), Louis Andriessen (NL), Didier Petit and Sylvain Kassap (FR), Sissel Vera Petersen (DK), Paul Plimley, Peggy Lee and Torsten Müller.
She has also released two critically acclaimed recordings. Treize, a collection of improvised duets produced by Jesse Zubot and released on the Drip Audio label, and La Belle et la Bette, with violist/composer Stefan Smulovitz.
Viviane Houle lives and works in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
As a workshop facilitator and voice teacher, Houle draws on not only her musical expertise and broad artistic experiences, but also on her years of education and work in the fields of social work and psychology. Having earned a MSW from the University of British Columbia and a BA (Honors) in Psychology from the University of Alberta, she brings a thoroughly informed and intuitive approach as an educator and facilitator, and is able to introduce the empowering, creative and innovative potential of voice work to many different scenarios. She has facilitated successful workshops for artists, students and entrepreneurs in both the private and public sectors, and feels strongly that the journey in finding and developing one’s own voice resonates as a good practice for life and learning in all situations.
Houle not only owns the many avant vocal styles . . . she has something unique — sometimes stunningly brilliant — to bring to each of them.
– The Squid’s Ear
