Andrea Plamondon summons ten years of voice training and a degree in poetics to serve an obviously and innately gifted talent for opera. While there have been several high-profile renditions of Ennio Ennicone's 'Gabriel's Oboe' (the Oscar-nominated and Golden Globe-winning theme to the movie 'The Mission'), it came alive in a different way when it was given words and renamed 'Nella Fantasia' by famed Broadway star Sarah Brightman, who repeatedly wrote the recalcitrant composer until he relented to this desire. Plamondom has undertaken her own interpretation of the work and the result is vaulting, light as a leaf, and softened by special energies emerging from her more distant relationship to the man - the role of the imagination was more crucial to this reproduction and the result correspondingly more affective. 'In my fantasy exists a warming wind' the song relates, and Plamondon had that very effect on the work. Reporter Blake Wright recently caught up with this fascinating artist to discuss historical matters of her career and the fast-rising profile of her work.

BLAKE: When When did you first discover your love of music?
ANDREA: When I was about four years old I began to listen to classical music and the Big Bands because of the music my parents played. At six years old, I bought my first Beatles record. At age eleven I began experimenting with singing and performing/recording original plays. And at age fourteen I was cast in my first onstage role, 'Baby June' from Gypsy.

BLAKE: Your song ‘Nella Fantasia’ is receiving a strong listener response on radio. What was your initial reaction when you first heard it played?
ANDREA: I don't get too excited these days because oftentimes much effort leads to little reward. I just try to keep moving forward.

BLAKE: What was the inspiration behind your debut radio single?
ANDREA: I was enamored by Ennio Morricone's 'Gabriel's Oboe' when I first heard it twenty-five years ago and thought what a good song it would make. Well, Sarah Brightman had the same idea and she contacted Ennio Morricone. The rest is history.

BLAKE: Would you say that the mood of your other songs is in the same vein as ‘Nella Fantasia’?
ANDREA: No, I am mercurial singer and songwriter and am trying at this stage of my career to foray into various other genres.

BLAKE: How would you characterize yourself as an artist?
ANDREA: My head is in the sky, and my feet are on the earth.

BLAKE: Did you come from a musical background? Are there other musicians in your family?
ANDREA: My older and only brother, who graduated from Boston University (and committed suicide at age twenty-six), was a gifted singer, musician and actor. People called him 'Sir David' because he was so very handsome and talented. We had planned to tour together. An aunt on my father's side (French-Canadian) played the piano for silent films in the theatre, and my mother told me that her whole family sang around the house back in Britain.

BLAKE: What do you find most rewarding about being an artist? What do you find most challenging?
ANDREA: The connection to the divine that you can feel flowing in your veins when creating. How much work that one can put in without getting much reward or even appreciation.

BLAKE: Who are your role models in music?
ANDREA: I don't have specific role models, but have always tried to be the best that I can.

BLAKE: Describe your best or most memorable performance.
ANDREA: Performing for the Burning Man Decompression Celebration at the San Francisco Opera Plaza with the band 'Lucid' .There were hundreds of people in the audience and I wore a veil while singing. It was all so very mysterious and exciting.

BLAKE: Do you have a music video for your hit single? If so, what can you tell us about it?
ANDREA: I am planning to make a video for ‘Nella Fantasia’ this summer. I am going to be shooting most, if not all the footage on my own with the help of a friend. I really want it to be different than most classical music videos.

BLAKE: Thank you Andrea. Wishing you continued success.

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