Measha Brueggergosman admits to gastric surgery

Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman admitted to eTalk Daily, CTV's entertainment newsmagazine, in a segment that was telecast April 3rd (see http://watch.ctv.ca/Redirect/?EpisodeId=5431) that she had gastric surgery, and that it was responsible for her dramatic weight lost of 150 lbs.

It's not clear why Brueggergosman originally withheld the true reason for her weight lost. As we reported in this blog in December, Brueggergosman told Chatelaine magazine in a cover story that two years of Bikram yoga was responsible for her weight lost. A web search shows that up until Feb. 17, the soprano still credited Bikram yoga in a story in the Ottawa Citizen. On Feb. 21, in a Diary published in the National Post she finally admitted,

Today [Feb. 10] is also the anniversary of my mini-gastric bypass surgery. Three years ago today, I took control of my own weight loss and underwent surgery. Since she had already seen my Dad through a quadruple bypass, my mom was the perfect companion. Feb. 10 is ALSO my Mom's birthday. Can you imagine? "Happy birthday, Mom!Now, excuse me while I count backwards from 10 for the anaesthesiologist." I almost ended up not being able to have the surgery because the day before I was scheduled, my blood pressure was perilously high. The doctors had to put me on drugs overnight to bring it down. I literally made it there just in time.

And two-and-a-half years ago, I discovered Bikram yoga. I was actually forced to acknowledge my own physicality for the first time in my life.

Brueggergosman will host the 2007 Juno Award Dinner on Saturday, April 5, in which the classical awards will be presented.

Update (2008-04-05):

Brueggergosman has published a letter in the April 2008 issue of Chatelaine explaining that initially she wanted to keep her medical information private. More to come.

Update 2 (2008-04-06):

Last night, Brueggergosman won the Juno for Best Vocal Album.

➢ Links

• Juno Awards
• eTalk

Measha Brueggergosman on the cover of Chatelaine

The January 2008 issue of Chatelaine features a cover interview/profile of Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman who reveals details about her incredible weight lost of over 150 pounds over the last two years. Wrote Danielle Groen:

Now she's hooked on Bikram yoga, an intense, sweaty workout of 26 poses performed in a heated room. She has completed two 30-day challenges (90 minutes of yoga every day) and two double 30-day challenges (all that yoga, twice a day). "It doesn't require that I muster up my own self-discipline, which is great. With Bikram, my only responsibility is to show up." Whenever she travels, Measha seeks out a centre. "There's one in every major city in the world. It's like church." She credits yoga for her dramatic physical transformation.

Groen also writes that Brueggergosman is "Only 30 and already Canada's best-known opera singer..." Many in the Canadian operatic scene would probably wince at this statement given the singer's dearth of recent operatic performances. There is though some truth to the suggestion of "best-known" given Brueggergosman's frequent celebrity appearances on TV and radio.

Brueggergosman will have a chance to add to her operatic street cred when she makes her Mozart operatic debut singing Elettra in Mozart's Idomeneo with Opera Atelier, April 26, 27, 29, May 1, 2, 3, 2008.

Our Question of the Day: Who is Canada's best-known opera singer? Give us your comments.