Above, Dorothy Moore reflects on her daughter Jenavieve’s childhood in Oliver. Below left is Jenavieve singing during one of her concerts.
Leza Macdonald photo
Before opera singer Jenavieve Moore could even talk, she was humming church choruses on tune.
“She was born musical,” said mother Dorothy Moore, who always had classical music playing in the house when Jena was in her womb.
As a toddler, Jena would hum the songs that her mother sang to her, and by kindergarten at Tuc-el-Nuit Elementary School, she could already print and write.
“We didn’t dream of having a girl singing opera,” Dorothy admitted, but her daughter seemed to be a “natural.”
Her mother played piano (and still teaches), and her father played the flute, which Jena later mastered.
Before that, however, she was enthralled when her mother took her to various musical concerts in Osoyoos.
Jena developed a real passion for music and singing.
“One problem I had was I could not get her out of the piano room (at home),” Dorothy recalled.
At age eight, Jena played Tiny Tim in the South Okanagan Amateur Players’ production of “Scrooge.” It was her first time performing in public, and she sang all of the solos, Dorothy said.
One year her father bought her an album for Christmas, and she literally fell in love with it.
The little girl, who “always wanted to be a princess,” started listening to opera and began singing it in the house. Dorothy said this “drove everybody crazy.”
Jena took voice lessons at age 12 and impressed the congregation during concerts at Oliver Alliance Church.
No longer that little girl who loved to wear pink, Jena has developed an illustrious career as a renowned soprano.
Dorothy said the one thing she truly admires about her daughter is being able to put all her emotions aside and deliver a perfect performance.
Jena brings her beautiful voice back to Oliver on Friday, April 10 at Frank Venables Theatre.
Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
