From opéra to opera: the Kristine Dandavino story

Kristine Dandavino started piano lessons at the age of seven. At the age of 11, she was accepted at  Musique Pierre-Laporte,  where she studied piano, choir, chamber music and harmony. That's how most websites describe her start. However, there's much more to it.

"It was a school that accepted musicians, only 35 musicians across the province. So it's quite prestigious in the fact that they pushed us really, really, really hard," said Dandavino.

How she developed as a singer is another story. "Unfortunately, when I was 20 years old, I had a hand injury and ruptured eight muscles in my left hand, and I couldn't play piano for three months until my hand healed."

While her hand recovered, Dandavino decided to focus on singing, after being encouraged by her professor.

"After graduation I moved around quite a bit and established myself as a pianist and singer," she said. "And early on in my career, I had opportunities to go to the United States and establish myself there."

But Dandavino decided to flourish in Canada. "I always say I was privileged enough to have to make the choice of having a regional career rather than an international career, because that part of being a musician, life on the road and all that stuff, didn't appeal to me."

In 2005, Dandavino established herself in Oshawa. "I've been here ever since. Oshawa gave me musical opportunities I didn't get anywhere else."

Dandavino can sing in many languages, including French, English, Italian, German, Spanish, Latin, Croatian, Russian, Cree and Ojibwe. While that's usually considered as a great feat, it was an even bigger feat for her, considering her challenges. "I have dyslexia. So for me, conquering all these languages, to sing in them, was very difficult."

Dandavino had dyslexia as a child but it didn’t ever deter her. She attributes the ability to read and write to her mother, who told her to never give up and always try harder.  

"I didn't think I still had it as an adult until I started studying languages. People would tell me there's no 'a' here, there's no 'b' here. And I was like, I still have dyslexia. So I had to slow down and kept it to myself," she said.

According to Dandavino, languages are fascinating. "We learn about culture and we learn about our differences. Yet are we all that much different from each other? That's what I always come back to. We are different in culture, but there's a lot of similarities," she said.

In November 2012, Kristine Dandavino sang the title role in Beethoven's only opera  Fidelio  with Toronto Opera Collaborative. 

After having performed at a series of events and working as a music director, vocal accompanist, vocal coach, Dandavino founded Oshawa Opera on April 21, 2013.

"Oshawa Opera was operational from 2013 to 2018. We had about three performances per year. In 2018, it ceased operating in order to focus on my work in my studio and solo career," said Dandavino.

In 2017, she was invited to adjudicate the Competition for Young Musicians for  El Paso Society For Musicians .

More recently, Dandavino made it to the semi-finals of the 2023  Pow Wow Pitch . 

Pow Wow pitch is an annual Indigenous Entrepreneur Award showcase that has been running since 2016. It offers cash prizes, access to live learning sessions, mentors and other tools for entrepreneurs to attract more customers to their businesses.

Dandavino is also a registered music teacher with Ontario Registered Music Teacher Association (Oshawa Branch). Several of her students have moved on to be professional musicians, won awards, scholarships, worked in film/TV as well as their own unique musical journeys.

In addition, she works as the Music Facilitator at  Faith United Church  as well as the music director for Durham Girls’ Choir. In May 2020, Kristine was presented with the Music Teacher of the Year Award at the  Oshawa Music Awards .

Dr. Teresa "Tess" Pierce, an associate professor of Communication and Digital Media Studies at Ontario Tech University, met Dandavino more than 10 years ago at the City of Oshawa's Cultural Leadership Council.

"Kristine sets goals and plans how to successfully complete them like no other person I know," said Pierce.

Music isn’t Dandavino’s only interest. 

She's also an activist fighting poverty. Dandavino has worked with  The Professors Of Funk  to raise funds for the  Backdoor Mission . She has always been an advocate for the voices of people who struggle with poverty, domestic abuse, and mental health.

"Oshawa is a better place because of Kristine," said Pierce.

Special thanks to Kristine Dandavino and Dr. Teresa "Tess" Pierce of Ontario Tech University.