Our Brand New Ticketing Site!

We are *very* happy to announce the launch of our shiny new Select Your Own Seat ticketing site!

As well as having very slick graphics and being easy to use, this new site allows you to choose exactly where you'd like to sit and even shows you a view of the stage from that seat.

You can buy tickets, buy a subscription, make a donation to VO - or all three - from the new site.

You can easily choose which performance(s) you'd like to see.

You can preview your view of the stage before you commit to a seat. We have seat previews available for every section in the house, from dress circle to orchestra to the very back of the mezzanine.



And you can also easily see the availability and prices of every seat. If a section is selling out quickly, the system will warn you so you don't miss out on those last couple of tickets!


Tickets are now on sale for selected performances of West Side Story - it's a perfect opportunity to take our new system for a test drive! Click here to check it out.

VO Orchestra visits Distant Worlds

You've played all the games.

You've seen the movies.

You've read the novels and manga.

Hey, maybe you even race chocobos.

The only thing left to do? Hear Final Fantasy performed LIVE!


The VO Orchestra will be performing the award-winning music from the Final Fantasy series, along with HD video and stills of the game' most memorable sequences shown on a massive screen.

Our orchestra will be led by conductor Arnie Roth. Composer Nobuo Uematsu will also be in attendance.

The night will include scenes and music from all the games in the series, right up to Final Fantasy XIV.

Don't miss it! One night only: Wednesday, July 27, 8:00pm at the Orpheum.

Tickets start $45 and are available here.

There's also a special $150 meet & greet ticket that includes premium Orchestra Section seating and a post-show autograph session and photo op with composer Nobuo Uematsu and conductor Arnie Roth!





(Pssst - here's a special deal for our beloved blog readers! Use the code word FANTASY when you buy your tickets for a 15% discount! This code can be redeemed through Ticketmaster or this link.)

We have a winner!

Congratulations to J.P. Johnson, the lucky winner of our 2011 Harley-Davidson Lottery!

J.P. is now faced with the difficult decision of which prize to choose: the Harley-Davidson Road King, Fat Boy or Softail... or $20,000 cash!

There's still one more chance to win with VO Lotteries! Our final draw for this season will be for your choice of a 2011 Porsche Boxster or $50,000 cash. Tickets are still available for the Grand Prize Draw on June 30.

1 ticket for $40 - some still available
3 tickets for $100 - some still available
7 tickets for $200 - sold out!

Click here to order your tickets online, or call 604-682-2871.

Thanks for supporting VO Lotteries!

Thank you to the Farises

As the Vancouver Opera performance season has wound down, I’ve had a bit more time to reflect on the past several months’ VO activities and on some of the exciting things that have happened – and that are ahead for us. This is also a time when I and my VO colleagues are becoming more and more excited about our move to new digs. As I was walking through the new opera centre this morning, I paused to think about the many activities that will be taking place there, and my mind settled on our new Young Artist Program.

I am so grateful to Moh and Yulanda Faris and their family for their generous gift that will enable us to initiate a first-rate training program for young professional opera artists: singers, directors and accompanists.

Their generosity, announced during our run of La Traviata in April, is just really beginning to “hit home” with me, as I imagine these young professionals gathering in our new facility, using the sound-isolated coaching studio, rehearsing in the main rehearsal hall, using the music library… and interacting with the rest of the company on a daily basis as they learn the ins and outs of a professional opera career in Canada.

It is difficult, in this fast-paced time when we are bombarded with unsettling news from around the world on a constant basis, to find the “space” to acknowledge and celebrate the good news stories generated by the kindness and generosity of our fellow citizens. The Faris’s belief in young people and in the future, and their desire to help make bright futures possible, is inspiring to me, and I know to so many others.

As the opera’s calendar settles a bit this month, and as we find a bit more time to reflect on our work, our role in the community, and on our responsibility to the future, it is fitting to again recognize and thank Moh and Yulanda and their family for their extraordinary gift not just to Vancouver Opera but to the Canadian opera field for years to come.

- James Wright, VO's General Director

Sooo... what exactly will VO's West Side Story look like?

Glad you asked! Our West Side Story is going to be big! bright! colourful! We're talking ORIGINAL BROADWAY STYLE, people!

That's right - Broadway-sized production, sizzling singing, the original Jerome Robbins choreography.... and with a live 30-piece orchestra!















This is a real treat for fans of musical theatre and opera alike. It's guaranteed to be a toe-tapping, boppin-in-your-seats, singing-in-the-car-on-the-way-home kind of night.

We think you'll really like it.

So who, exactly, will be singing and dancing in this rare musical spectacular? Here are just a few of the stars.

Soprano Lucia Cesaroni will sing (and dance) Maria. She has sung with Orchestra London, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Berlin Symphoniker. "Sweet, loyal, lyrical, and totally grounded in her sincerity and seriousness," wrote Opera UK about her 2010 performance of Anne Truelove.


Tenor Colin Ainsworth will sing Tony. You'll remember him as Kristian in the world premiere of Lillian Alling. He's been praised for his "clear, articulate voices and boy-next-door quality" (Victoria Times-Colonist).







Mezzo soprano Cleopatra Williams will sing Anita. She's from Ontario and has performed in We Will Rock You, Jersey Boys, danced with the Toronto Raptors Dance Pack and also toured the Middle East with Toronto pop singer Massari.





And baritone Dani Jazzar will sing Bernardo. This is his favourite role and hs performed it to great acclaim: "Dani Jazzar as the Sharks' fiery, possessive captain Bernardo, hostile recipient of a thousand sneers, is excellent, effortlessly stylish" (Edmonton Journal). He's also assisted with choreography at the Europe MTV Video Music Awards and danced onstage with Ricky Martin. And he also does commercials - you've probably seen him in a Koodo ad...







Tickets for select performances of West Side Story are now on sale! Click here to order online. You can also call our friendly Ticket Centre staff at 604-683-0222, 9am - 5pm, Monday to Friday. Ask them about our Family Packs, where you can get up to 2 tickets for children for $35 each for matinees!



Production photos courtesy Central City Opera

It's chaos over here!

We're in the throes of moving here at VO! It's a sea of boxes, random office furniture, boxes of recycling and the occasional accusation of hoarder-dom.


Here is a bin filled with bins.
There's a certain irony, no?







Boxes and boxes and boxes. VO has been around for 51 years... and it shows. We have a lot of memorabilia to sort through and move.






As well as office furniture, plants, desks....











More boxes! We had to eat all those Girl Guide cookies before we could use the box for moving. It was a true sacrifice.







The computer graveyard, complete with 3.5" floppy drives and tape backups.







But it's all worth it, because here are our shiny new digs....










Lots of natural light, hardwood floors, and two kitchens!







We'll have lots of space for staff to work in, too.








And a nice big rehearsal space in the same building. We'll also have soundproofed coaching rooms, a swank boardroom, spaces for impromptu meetings and places to just hang out and listen to the Orchestra, Chorus and principles practice.




Here's the new colour scheme....









.... and here's our view.



Our Ticket Centre will also be in the same building. Hope to see you at the new Opera Centre this fall!