The Stories

Measha Brueggergosman, an award-winning international opera singer, is widely hailed as one of the great sopranos of the 21st century. Her voice has taken her around the world to perform in New York, London, Spain and Brazil. She made her African debut in Ghana in April 2007, and has visited Kenya and Uganda as the Goodwill Ambassador for

the African Medical & Research Foundation (AMREF) Canada. While she has sampled many different cultures through her travels, Measha knows little about her own heritage. She hopes that her journey into her ancestry will uncover an epic story worthy of an opera.

Born and raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Measha's knowledge of her family history does not extend past her parents, Sterling Gosman and Ann Eatmon. Measha, who combined the Gosman family name with her husband’s surname when she married, travels back home to visit her parents. Sterling knows little about his family beyond his own mother and father. A troubled childhood forced him to focus on the future and his children, rather than the past. However, he tells Measha that he knows the Gosmans have been in Fredericton for many generations.

Before heading to the New Brunswick archives to investigate the Gosmans further, Measha and her brother Neville decide to send their DNA for analysis. Testing their DNA can provide information about their ancestors’ distant ethnic background. Scientists compare genetic markers on chromosomes to see if they match up with samples compiled in a worldwide data bank.

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