Jonathan Darlington in Ottawa

Wondering what VO's Music Director Jonathan Darlington does when he's not conducting on VO's mainstage? One of his many projects this year is working with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

The ensemble includes 92 talented student musicians from across the country, chosen by audition from a pool of about 500. These lucky students received intensive training over the summer from veteran professional players and conductors and are now on a 11-performance tour through Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Hampshire. Jonathan will be conducting the ensemble in Mahler's Symphony No. 5, Richard Strauss's Suite from Der Rosenkavelier, and a new piece by Ottawa composer Brian Current.

What's it like to work so closely with Jonathan? Violinist Jolani Domitrovits says

“He’s so good at forcing us to produce the sound he wants, that he makes our calibre of playing significantly higher. The program we will play in Ottawa is hard stuff, both physically and mentally. There is so much detail packed into each score. I’m starting to learn to incorporate all the detail necessary to make the music stellar. I know I’ll carry that onto each consecutive score I study.”

And bassoonist Darren Hicks describes him as 

"...one of the most exciting and energetic conductors I’ve ever worked with” 

Read more about the tour in this story from the Ottawa Citizen, and find out more about the NYOC at their website.  (There's also a tour blog on the site so you can get the latest news as it happens!)

Bravo Maestro and all the talented members of the NYOC!

How were the winners of these awards chosen? Does VO hold a competition that the public could attend to see these singers compete for these awards?

The Bursaries are awarded by the Vancouver Opera Foundation and all of the awards have specific requirements and conditions.

There is no competition for the Bursaries. The Artistic Staff (administrative, music, education, when appropriate production) come together and discuss singers or other artists (the bursaries are not all specific to singers) who would qualify for a Bursary.

After a consensus on each award has been reached, the recommendations are sent to the Board of the Vancouver Opera Foundation who make the final decision on who will receive a Bursary award.

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If we have nominations of singers we think should qualify for one of the bursaries based on sing them perform several times who can we contact?

The bursaries all have very specific requirements and conditions and as such the company does not currently accept nominations for bursaries. The bursaries are awarded by the Vancouver Opera Foundation and are based on recommendations made by the Artistic Administration department.

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In Memoriam: Otto Feirskov Andreasen

 We have received word from one of our patrons that an early VO board president, Otto Feirskov Andreasen, died recently at his home in Denmark at the age of 90.   

He was president of the Vancouver Opera Board of Directors from 1963-1965, a time of tremendous excitement for the company, including the historic production of Norma starring Joan Sutherland and staged by artistic founder Irving Guttman.

Joan Sutherland in Norma - 1963
Photo by Barry Glass

Mr. Andreasen started his career in The East Asiatic Company in Denmark in 1938 and in 1948 he was transferred to the company’s Vancouver-based Canadian operations that included Tahsis Company’s pulp mill, sawmills and logging operations on Vancouver Island.  After twenty years he returned to EAC’s head office in Copenhagen in 1968 where he took various senior executive positions including managing director.

Irving Guttman
Photo by Barry Glass

It is important that we always remember – and THANK – those pioneers who established the opera company in 1960, and shepherded it through its early years.  

Anything that we are as a company today is because of those who have gone before. 

While we send our condolences to Mr. Andreasen’s family, we appreciate the opportunity to reflect back on our company’s extraordinary history.

- James Wright, General Director

Distant Worlds Next Week!

Don't forget - the VO Orchestra will be playing at Final Fantasy: Distant Worlds this Wednesday! One night only!

More details (and promo code for 15% off!) here

Maestro Darlington in London

Jonathan Darlington

Vancouver Opera’s Music Director Jonathan Darlington has arrived in London, Ontario to conduct the National Youth Orchestra of Canada’s 2011 tour. The project begins with a “boot camp” in London before moving on to Stratford Summer Music 2011.  

Other stops on the orchestra’s 2011 tour include Ottawa (July 27), Brockville (Aug. 7) and Kingston (Aug. 8) before it ends at Toronto's Koerner Hall on Aug. 9.  Unfortunately for us in the west, the tour concentrates on the centre of the country (other tours have played in BC). Our friend Jacques Lacombe, who is conducting this fall’s Romeo et Juliette for VO, has also conducted the Youth Orchestra.

Sharman King

Jonathan arrived at the "boot camp" in London from recent appearances with The Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dresden Semperoper.  He was last in Vancouver for last winter’s La Clemenza di Tito.

We are all so pleased that Jonathan was able to come back to Canada for this tour. "We are delighted to add maestro Jonathan Darlington to our roster of internationally-renowned conductors," said NYOC executive director Barbara Smith. 

Vancouver Opera Orchestra trombonist Sharman King is on the NYOC board of directors, which is chaired by Vancouver arts enthusiast David Lemon.

Note:  I have quoted from The London Free Press, which was sent to me by former VO employee Brenda Corby, for this posting.

- James Wright, General Director

Being an avid opera fan, what better place to work than at the VO! I was wondering how I can find out about career opportunities at the VO. Thank you very much!

As openings come up, we'll post them on the website, but until then a good way to get involved is to volunteer! We'll be needing volunteers for the 2011-2012 season, so check our website toward the end of the summer to find out more.

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The O’Brian Centre for Vancouver Opera Is Open for Business!

This morning, Vancouver Opera staff came to work in our new all-inclusive opera centre, The Michael & Inna O’Brian Centre for Vancouver Opera.

Located at 1945 McLean Drive (at 3^rd Avenue, one block east of Clark), the O’Brian Centre for Vancouver Opera houses orchestra and chorus rehearsal space, a vocal and instrumental coaching room, costuming department, scenery and properties storage and workshop, meeting rooms, and all administrative offices including box office and call centre.   

 

Thanks to Inna and Michael O’Brian for their generous gift in support of this exciting new space; we will be recognizing other generous donors as well in the weeks ahead.

After starting the morning gorging on pastries from Fratelli Authentic Italian Baking and receiving a brief orientation (where are the coffee filters? the recycling bins? my desk?) we all have begun unpacking and getting organized. 

The wardrobe department move is huge:  boxes and boxes of dresses and ball gowns, fabrics, sewing machines, lace, buttons, top hats, feathers….  The library move is heavy:  imagine hundreds of CDs, piano/vocal scores, orchestra music, and a smattering of LPs….  More on these areas and others in a future posting.  For now, we are happy to be here, to have our computers and phones up and running, and to have navigated a commuter route to our new home!

Kudos to Minister Chong!

Kudos to BC Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Ida Chong for providing the second-highest level of funding ever to the British Columbia Arts Council: $16,831,000, equal to the amount funded in 2008-09 before the drastic funding cuts to the BC cultural community.

This is a very good sign for the new Premiere and her team. The Alliance for Arts and Culture responded by stating,

“(the government’s) efforts and attention to this critical issue, at a time of great challenges, is much appreciated by our hundreds of members in the Lower Mainland. I am sure that the millions of British Columbians that comprise our collective audiences, communities, and families are equally grateful.”

Minister Chong stated in the announcement,

“Arts in British Columbia enrich families and support careers, while infusing creative and economic energy into communities in every region of the province. We will continue to work with artists and cultural organizations through the BC Arts Council, our principal development and funding agency for the arts, to build on British Columbia’s well-deserved international reputation for artistic excellence.”

I am particularly happy to hear the Minister say that the BC Arts Council is the “principal development and funding agency for the arts,” as there have been many times in the recent past when such sentiment was not expressed and presumably not shared by provincial government officials. I have observed the work of the BCAC close-up and know that it employs a far superior mechanism for funding cultural grants than does the direct involvement of politicians.

The BC Art Council’s $16.831 million 2011-12 budget consists of $7.931 million from the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, $2.150 million from the BC150 Cultural Fund (a $150-million interest-generating endowment fund), and $6.75 million from the 2010 Sport and Arts Legacy (visit the BCAC site for more info.).

From 2001 until March 31, 2011, the BC Arts Council granted $152 million to artists and cultural organizations in British Columbia. Vancouver Opera is a beneficiary of grant money from the Council, but only after we pass a rigorous review by Council staff and an independent peer advisory committee. There is no assumption that, because we received funding in a given year, we will be equally awarded in another year. I have served on grants panels in the past, and can attest to their rigor, fairness, and dedication to the task.

I hope that Minister Chong’s support, along with our Premiere’s announcement of a gaming grant review, signals that the government is willing to open a new and necessary dialogue with the province’s arts and culture community. We are not a greedy community; we know as well as anyone the financial challenges facing the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, and we want to be at the table helping to craft creative solutions. Restoration of funding to the 2008-09 level is an excellent beginning to the dialogue.

- James W. Wright, General Director

I am from Curious Mind Productions, a local event planning company and we are scheduling our upcoming season. As we are hoping to avoid any conflicting dates we were wondering when your 2011 opera gala will be?

Overture 2011 will be held on Friday, October 21 - the night before our 2011-2012 season kicks off with West Side Story!

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What are the sets going to look like for Aida and Romeo and Juliet? Modern or traditional? Aida in particular - live animals? Thanks!

The sets for Romeo et Juliette and Aida will be traditional. As for live animals - we haven't explored it yet, but it has not yet been ruled out either!

- Tom Wright, Director of Artistic Planning

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Get OUT in 2011-2012!

Will you be offering the Opera Under Thirty program for the upcoming season?

We will indeed be offering Get OUT tickets again this season! Watch our Facebook and Twitter for the promo code, then call the VO Ticket Centre to get special pricing for patrons aged 18 - 29. West Side Story opens on October 22, so the promo code will be announced closer to that date. Get O.U.T. tickets are $25 each.

We're also offering Family Packs for West Side Story, where you can get up to 2 tickets for children (under age 18) for $35 each for matinees. Call the Ticket Centre for details - 604-683-0222.

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Why WSS?

If West Side Story was your 5th production, I'd be thrilled. But why are you reducing Vancouver's meager opera offerings to three? I thought you were in good financial shape?

There are several reasons why we've chosen to produce West Side Story. Demographics are shifting; audience preferences are ever-changing; it is our responsibility to be attuned to these changes and respond to them in thoughtful ways. We think about – and encourage – the continued “blurring of the line” between opera and music theatre.

We are certainly not alone in producing works outside the traditional operatic canon. A glance at recent, current and future seasons show that the opera companies of Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Fort Worth, Edmonton, Washington DC, St. Louis, Denver, Calgary, Atlanta, Columbus and other cities are producing works such as Sweeney Todd, Porgy and Bess, Camelot, West Side Story, Oklahoma, The Mikado, etc.

The response from our subscribers to West Side Story has been overwhelmingly positive, and we hear every day from people who are excited about the opportunity to see WSS in a full-scale treatment with large orchestra, operatic voices in the two leading roles, and “triple-threat” performers chosen from Canada’s finest actor/singer/dancers.

- James Wright, General Director

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