Epic Masterpiece Moby-Dick Makes Triumphant Canadian Premiere at Calgary Opera
After making waves with its world premiere at the Dallas Opera, and garnering critical acclaim at the State Opera of South Australia, Moby-Dick by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer makes its much anticipated Canadian premiere in Calgary for three performances only, January 28 and February 1 & 3 at the Jubilee Auditorium.
This massive co-commission between the Dallas Opera, San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, Calgary Opera and the State Opera of South Australia is an opera heavyweight with over 96 thousand pounds of scenery and 500 individual pieces counting all rigging, planks, costumes, and one infamous peg-leg. Three extra days of set-up, two extra trucks and double the usual crew is needed to accommodate the size and complexity of the two million dollar production.
For tickets and more information, click here.
Vancouver Opera Announces New 2012/13 Season
VO's 53rd season will include Giacomo Puccini's La Bohème (October 20 - 28, 2012), Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance (December 1 - 9, 2012), VO's First Nations-inspired production of W.A. Mozart's The Magic Flute (March 9 - 17, 2013) and the Canadian premiere of Academy Award®-winning composer Tan Dun's Tea: A Mirror of Soul (May 4 - 11, 2013). Three of the four productions will include matinée performances. For more information, click here.
Le Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20 Tours China
Le Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20 is pleased to announce that its recent tour of China, running from December 24, 2011 to January 6, 2012, was a great success.
The tour involved 8 performances by l’Orchestre symphonique des jeunes de Montréal (led by Louis Lavigueur), and featured two of the 2011 winners of Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20’s Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques program: soprano Chantale Nurse and mezzo-soprano Emma Parkinson.
Concerts were presented in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Luoyang, Xi’an, Lanzhou, and Beijing. This is the eighth Chinese tour for Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20.
For more information about Théâtre Lyrichorégra 20, click here.
Courses at Opera IS with Iain Scott
Are you interested in learning more about opera? Opera.ca member Iain Scott is one of Canada's best-known opera tour leaders and opera educators, and presents a popular series of lectures, seminars and tours.
Click here for course information and to register.
Rob Ford: the Opera to open 2012 U of T New Music Festival
To celebrate the 15th successful year of the Student Composer Collective, the University of Toronto Faculty of Music will present Rob Ford, the Opera. The concept and libretto is by the Opera Division’s Resident Stage Director, Michael Patrick Albano with musical contributions by four of the Faculty’s gifted student composers: Massimo Guido, Anna Hostman, Adam Scime and Saman Shah.
The opera (approximately an hour in length) is a surrealist fantasy based loosely upon the personality of Toronto’s current and much discussed Mayor, and features singers from the Faculty of Music’s distinguished Opera Division. See it on Sunday, January 22 at 2:30 PM for one performance only at the Faculty of Music’s MacMillan Theatre.
To read more, click here.
UWOpera Presents Die Fledermaus
Next month, Opera.ca member the University of Western Ontario will present a production of Strauss’ Die Fledermaus. The students of the UWOpera program are set to perform two weekends in a row, February 3-5 and 10-12, at the Paul Davenport Theatre, Talbot College.
For tickets and more information, click here.
People
Grégoire Legendre to sit on Operalia Jury
Grégoire Legendre, General and Artistic Director of the Opéra de Québec, has just been invited by Plácido Domingo to sit on the jury of the 20th edition of Operalia, The World Opera Competition to be held in Beijing in 2012. It will the fourth time Mr. Legendre is part of an Operalia jury, and he is the only Canadian ever to have been a judge at this competition, now in its 20th year. Mr. Legendre was instrumental in bringing Operalia to Quebec City in 2008.
Rob Lamb chosen to take part in NAS Leadership Program
Rob Lamb, Managing Director of the Canadian Opera Company, has been chosen to participate in National Arts Strategies (NAS) Chief Executive Program. He is the only opera leader from Canada in the program.
For more information on the Chief Executive Program of NAS, click here.
Save the dates for the 2012 OPERA America Conference
June 13 – 16: Philadelphia, PA
This year, did you resolve to step back from your day-to-day work to learn new skills and strengthen your relationship with colleagues? OPERA America can help! Mark your calendars for Opera Conference 2012: Creative Resurgence, June 13 – 16 in Philadelphia, PA.
Register by April 13 to take advantage of Early-Bird pricing and a great group discount, new this year: register four individuals from your organization and save 40% off the Early-Bird rate of $495 ($595 for non-members). For members, that's just $297 — a savings of $198 per person!
For more information and to register, click here.
Positive note sounds for arts funding in British Columbia
Following an independent review on the way community gaming grants are awarded, B.C Premier Christy Clark announced that the province will reinstate funding eligibility for adult arts and sports organizations, environmental groups and animal welfare agencies. The province will also increase support for other organizations that have experienced funding reductions in the past three years, including those responsible for fairs, festivals, youth arts and culture, community service, the B.C. Senior Games and community education organizations. The provincial 2013-14 budget however, will not be released until next month. Click here for more information.
EU Culture Programme – Canada Council for the Arts
Canada is one of two countries selected to participate in a program with arts organizations in European countries beginning in 2013. The program funds Canadian arts and culture organizations to work with counterparts in three European countries (maximum of 200,000 euros for projects lasting up to two years). The deadline for submissions is May 2013.
The Canada Council for the Arts is hosting webinars and in-person seminars in English and French for interested arts organizations who want to know more:
Webinars
English: Friday, February 3, 2-4 pm (EST)
French: Tuesday, January 31, 2-4 pm (EST)
In-person seminars
Montréal [French only]: Monday, January 30, 2 – 4:30 pm
Vancouver [English only]: Tuesday, January 31, 2 – 4:30 pm
Toronto [English only]: Thursday, February 2, 2 – 4:30 pm
Click here for more information and to register.
Hill Strategies Compares Municipal Cultural Investment in Five Large Canadian Cities
This report compares the municipal cultural investment in five of Canada’s largest cities: Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal.
In each city, the net cultural investment in 2009 was:
• $27.4 million in Vancouver (population 578,000)
• $22.4 million in Ottawa (population 812,100)
• $41.9 million in Calgary (population 988,200)
• $89.0 million in Montréal (population 1,620,700)
• $47.5 million in Toronto (population 2,503,300)
In the five cities combined, the average total net cultural investment amounted to $35 per resident in 2009. In each of the five cities:
• Montréal’s cultural investment of $55 per capita ranked first in 2009.
• Vancouver ranked second, with a net amount of $47 per person invested in the cultural sector in 2009.
• Calgary’s net cultural investment was $42 per capita in 2009, ranking the city third among the five cities.
• The City of Ottawa’s net cultural investment of $28 per capita in 2009 ranked fourth.
• Toronto’s net cultural investment of $19 per person in 2009 ranked last among the five cities.
For the full report, click here.
Don’t forget that Opera.ca provides free job listings in High Notes as a service to our members! Just send any employment opportunities or audition announcements to krista@opera.ca.
Executive Director, Soundstreams
Application Deadline: Monday February 13, 2012