Quilico, Louis, 1925-2000 : Louis Quilico was born in Montreal on 14 January 1925, the son of an Italian-born father and a French-Canadian mother. As a youth he was a solo chorister in the choir of St-Jacques Church, and in 1947 a prize from the Société St-Jean-Baptiste allowed him to pursue his singing studies at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome with the renowned baritone Riccardo Stracciari. Quilico returned to Montreal the following year and continued his training with the singer Martial Singher, whom he would join in New York in 1952. In 1949 he married the pianist and vocal coach Lina Pizzolongo, who worked with him throughout his career until her death in 1991.
In 1954 Quilico, who was a baritone, made his professional debut with the Opera Guild of Montreal in the role of Rangoni (in the opera Boris Godunov). The following year he won the Metropolitan Opera's "Auditions of the Air", and soon made his New York debut in the role of Germont (La Traviata) at the New York City Opera. Quilico would once again perform the role of Germont alongside the soprano Joan Sutherland in his Covent Garden debut in 1960, remaining with that company until 1963. During this period Quilico appeared at other leading venues such as the Spoleto Festival (Italy), the Bolshoi Theatre (Moscow), the Paris Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Teatro La Fenice (Venice), and the Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires). His Canadian appearances included numerous productions with the Canadian Opera Company, the Opéra du Québec, and the CBC. He made his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera (New York) in 1972, replacing another artist on short notice, and the next year made his official debut with that company in the role of Germont; Quilico continued as a principal member of the Metropolitan until his retirement from that company in 1998. By the 1990s, Quilico's repertoire numbered some 80 operatic roles; he became known as "Mr Rigoletto", not just because of the number of times (510) that he performed the title role in Verdi's Rigoletto, but also in recognition of his status as a leading interpreter of Verdi.
In 1970 Quilico added teaching to his career, serving as a voice instructor at: the Faculty of Music of the University of Toronto, 1970-1987; McGill University, 1987-1990; and the Academy of Vocal Arts, Philadelphia, 1995-2000. Among his students were the singers Peter Barcza, Gary Relyea, and his son, the operatic baritone Gino Quilico, who joined his father in a 1987 production at the Metropolitan (the first father-son performance in that company's history).
Quilico met his second wife, the concert pianist, graphic artist, poet, and author Christina Petrowska, in 1993 when she did several drawings of him for her book Opera Illustrated: An Artistic Odyssey (1994). Quilico and Petrowska collaborated regularly during their seven years of marriage, including recitals, concerts, master classes, broadcasts, recordings, and a video for voice instruction. Petrowska also published a book based on her extensive interviews with Quilico: Mr Rigoletto: In Conversation with Louis Quilico (1996).
Quilico was recognized with numerous honours during his career, including: Prix Calixa-Lavallée, 1965; Companion of the Order of Canada, 1974; Canadian Music Council Medal, 1985; honorary doctorate from the Université du Québec, 1987; and Governor General's Performing Arts Award, 1999. He died in Toronto on 15 July 2000.
Quilico, Christina Petrowska, 1948- : Born in Ottawa on 30 December 1948, Christina Petrowska studied piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music (1956-1962) and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York (1962-1969), where her teachers included Rosina Lhévinne. Petrowska made her debut at New York's Town Hall at the age of 15. She was artist-in-residence at the Paris American Academy in 1968 and 1970, and studied at the Sorbonne during 1974-1976.
As a concert pianist, Petrowska has toured and given recitals in Canada, the USA, Europe (including the USSR), the Middle East, and Asia. Although she has performed classical and romantic music, contemporary compositions have been the core of Petrowska's repertoire, which has featured works by such composers as Boulez, Stockhausen, Cage, Ligeti, Messiaen, Serge Garant, Gilles Tremblay, and her first husband, Michel-Georges Brégent. She has premiered works by several composers, including Luis de Pablo, Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux, Michel Longtin, Claudio Ambrosini, and Ann Southam.
In addition to performance, Petrowska has worked as a teacher and arts administrator. Following her return to Canada in 1978, she taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music until 1981 and at Carleton University during 1981-1987, and since 1987 she has taught at York University. Petrowska served on the board of Opera Lyra (1984-1985), as music director of the Ottawa concert society Espace Musique (1985-1989), and on the Canada Council's planning committee for new music (1996-1998).
Petrowska is also a poet, graphic artist, and author. Her poems have appeared in many journals, and she has one published collection, Go Away Sisyphus (1971). Her graphic art, which focusses on musical themes, has been exhibited. In 1993 she met the operatic baritone Louis Quilico while drawing him for her book Opera Illustrated: An Artistic Odyssey (1994). Petrowska and Quilico were married later the same year, and during their marriage they collaborated frequently in recitals, concerts, master classes, broadcasts, recordings, and a video for voice instruction. Christina Petrowska Quilico is also the author of Mr Rigoletto: In Conversation with Louis Quilico (1996).
