Meet the 10-year-old B.C. opera singer taking the arts world by storm

Global News

14 hours ago

Jake Apricity Hetherington is only 10 years old, but there's nothing little about her voice — or her ambitions.
The young, classically trained singer is taking the performing arts world by storm and has already stacked up an impressive resume.
That includes singing the national anthem to kick off Vancouver Canadians and Vancouver Whitecaps games earlier this year.
'I don't have stage fright, I never have, and I like performing in front of crowds, so I wasn't really that nervous, but I was a bit just because I had never performed for that many people,' she said of her anthem performance in front of a crowd of 20,000 at BC Place last month.
'I felt happy, overwhelmed, so nervous. I felt like every emotion at the exact same time.'
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Despite her young age, Hetherington already has plenty of experience: her debut performance came in a production at her grandmother's church at just two years old, when she played a shepherd.
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Her mother, Melissa Mercier, told Global News her daughter started singing before she even started talking.
'She announced to mom and dad that she was going to be an opera singer at three years old, which we didn't quite take seriously at first, but she started singing it, so we got her a vocal coach,' she said.
'And she never stopped being interested. She's never stopped loving it. And she loves it even more than before. And now she's learning German and Italian. Sure, why not?'
Mercier said there are plenty of singers on Hetherington's paternal side of the family, and that performance might just be in her DNA. But she said it's her daughter's work ethic, being willing to 'do whatever it takes,' that has underpinned her successes.
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At age seven, Hetherington handled her first lead role in an operatic performance of Amahl and the Night.
Opera, Hetherington said, is an experience like no other.
'It's just the feeling that it gives me, it just feels so inspirational and so beautiful to me because you only have one shot and there's no microphone so you have to sing your entire heart out and I think that feeling is just one of the best feelings in the world,' she said.
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Mercier said it was this production that made it clear her daughter was a true performer.
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'I guess I was nervous because we didn't know. Can she? Can she not? We knew she could sing, but that's different to be on stage for 95 minutes. And she just nailed it. And I think since that moment, nervousness went away. I'm not nervous. I know she's got this.'
Hetherington recently made history as the youngest performer to ever star in the titular role of The Little Prince with the Pacific Opera Victoria.
When the show premiered, she was only nine years old.
'It makes me feel really proud that I actually accomplished that, and it makes me feel a bit overwhelmed. Like, at first, when I realized that, I was like, 'Oh my God, I did that!''
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'I learned that (being) in a gigantic role is really hard, but also not that hard at the same time. It was kind of just the perfect mix, so I learned that even if it seems like the biggest thing in the entire world, sometimes if you just really focus on it, it's not that big.'
On top of the singing, Hetherington has also landed screen credits with a recurring role in the Netflix series Virgin River.
While Hetherington's exploits on stage might set her apart from other kids her age, offstage, she's a lot like other B.C. girls her age.
She enjoys having sleepovers with her friends, fashion and working on art and science projects.
'Like the ones where you mix a bunch of things and it foams,' she said. 'I love those things. I love foam, that's one of my favourite things in the world.'
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The little singer has big plans for the future.
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When she's old enough, she hopes to play the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute.
The queen's aria, she said, is what inspired her as a three-year-old to want to become an opera singer.
'I was like, 'Mom, Dad, I'm going to be an opera singer. I have to do this.' And I haven't changed my mind. I'm not going to.'
She also has advice for other young artists who might be hesitant about getting up onstage.
'If they have stage fright, it's always better to try and maybe not do that good,' she said.
'It's better to just try and see that, 'Oh, maybe this isn't right for me,' instead of not trying and then missing out on a super great opportunity, whether you're scared or not, and whether it seems like a gigantic thing or not.'