A Friend’s Take
by Jeff Embleton, Best Friend

Measha and I have known each other for over twenty years. It took me a while to realize how wonderful she was, given that my first memory of her involves being locked up inside our daycare’s craft closet. Although we spent several years making each other miserable – we once had a shouting match in our junior high library that lasted over two hours – we became best friends in high school, discovering our shared love of movies, food and boys. I started to spend every spare moment at her house – she lived just up the street – and her family has made me feel like one of their own. Knowing her (and loving her) has been an uncommon joy, if sometimes also an uncommon pain in the toochis.

For as long as I’ve known her, Measha has been recognized for her voice. After a few detours into rugby, trombone and student politics, she inevitably settled on pursing a singing career. If you’ve ever been to one of her Toronto engagements, you’ll know that the crowds love her. She’s a great communicator, and you can always sense the joy she feels in singing. Although the French and German Romantics are her stock in trade, she’s decidedly less highbrow once she leaves the stage. She’s got a weak spot for disco and any song by Jem and the Holograms. She’s also spent many a night in many a karaoke bar belting chestnuts from the 80s. And she could be Jann Arden’s stalker.

However, Measha has always been very serious about her work and is driven to perform to the best of her abilities. She’s never satisfied with work that’s just ‘good enough’ and recognizes that any singer can find room to improve. Not surprisingly, she’s built great relationships with her teachers, particularly with Prof. Mary Morrison at the University of Toronto (where she earned her Bachelor of Music) and Prof. Edith Wiens at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Augusburg, Germany (where she’s completing postgraduate work).

Her drive has also made her quite competitive. She’ll turn almost any event into a competition if she knows she can win. I can’t tell you the number of times a simple board game has turned into a bloodbath. Not surprisingly, she’s applied this competitiveness to her career as well, and has the awards to show for it. She achieved one of her most recent career coups at the 2002 Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition, where she waltzed away with the Grand Prize, the People’s Choice Award, the Award for the best interpretation of the imposed work and the Award for the best Canadian artist.

She is just as exacting in her expectations of others as she is of herself. A natural at professional networking, she’s always understood that she needs the help of many people in order to manage her career successfully. Be warned though: you don’t want to be the one responsible for an oversight or a miscalculation. Measha is demanding, but she’s not a stereotypical diva; she’s a woman with a strong sense of self, equally strong opinions on how she wants to direct her career, and a fierce desire to reach her goals. She takes her work seriously, and if you’re going to be responsible for it, she’s going to make sure it’s done right.

Measha is also a very caring person; she shows a great deal of warmth and generosity to those whom she holds dearest, and values their unconditional love and support. Wherever she performs (whether in Toronto, New York, Munich, Mexico City or Shanghai), there will almost always be a loved one in the audience. One of her best assets is her sense of humour; she has a sly, wry outlook on life, an appreciation of absurdity, and a boundless wit. She can’t help but inject this sensibility into her choice of repertoire, whether it’s a Spanish art song about the dangers of loose women or an American cabaret song about a hapless depressive trying to kill herself by drinking iodine.

Through all of this, Measha has never forgotten her relationship with Christ. She recognizes that her voice is a gift bestowed by Him, and is one that He has called on her to share. She sees her career as a reflection of God’s will for her life and a representation of her covenant with Him. She hopes that through her music she will be able to honour Him and be a witness for His love.