Association for Opera in Canada is delighted to welcome two new Professional Company Members:
City Opera Vancouver is a professional chamber opera company under the leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Gerrard. We believe in the power of great operatic storytelling, and we see the potential for extraordinary impact in the presentation of opera in smaller spaces. We strive to maintain our focus on community, and we aspire to be seen as a resource for anyone who wants to engage with us.
Our mission is to connect audiences, artists and communities through music, telling honest stories about issues that matter.
Chamber opera’s history spans four hundred years. City Opera Vancouver produces work from this abundant and varied repertoire and has enriched it with landmark works such as Pauline, Missing, Fallujah, and Chinatown. This ongoing commitment to the creation of new works is a hallmark of City Opera Vancouver’s creative output, and we are proud to be a vital contributor to the shared Canadian experience.
Founded in 2006 by Dr. Charles Barber, City Opera Vancouver has remained committed to its connection to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Through extensive community programming, we continually seek to expand opera’s reach to those who may assume it’s out of theirs.
Vancouver Cantonese Opera is a non-profit society incorporated on June 30th, 2000 and was designated as a charitable organization in 2005.
With its elaborate costumes, lively music, engaging stories and powerful vocal delivery, Cantonese opera is one of the many forms of traditional Chinese theatre which have captivated audiences around the world. In Canada, this genre is particularly significant within Chinese-Canadian communities. Canada is home to more than one million people of Chinese ancestry, most of whom speak Cantonese.
Vancouver Cantonese opera’s mission is to present the unique traditional art of Cantonese opera at the highest level to both Chinese and non-Chinese audiences. We strive to collaborate with our stakeholders to meet the fundamental need for spiritual and aesthetic satisfaction and richness in our lives.
Vancouver Cantonese Opera was a founding member of Vancouver’s Indie Opera West, and has participated in multiple Association for Opera in Canada programs. Notably, their hybrid creation “The Propmaster’s Dream” was selected by an independent jury to be featured in the inaugural year of AOC’s Azrieli Foundation-Funded Pitch New Works Program.
Are you interested in joining at the Professional Company level? Contact General Manager Joel Klein j_klein@opera.ca