The First "Rehearsal"!

Last night we inaugurated the Martha Lou Henley Rehearsal Hall!

Breaking in the new rehearsal space

 A 10 piece brass ensemble with members of the VO Orchestra met at our new space. First we fed them pizza, and then they helped assemble all our new music stands (which are sponsored by our generous VO supporters). 

And then, once they had stands to hold it, they played the very first music to be heard in the O'Brian Centre for Vancouver Opera!

And the band played on....

It sounded great! The music could be heard throughout the entire building, which will give those of us upstairs something to listen to as we work. 

And that was only 10 players - it'll be even more spectacular once the entire orchestra is there for West Side Story rehearsals in a few weeks.

Thanks, Louie!

 Martha Lou Henley was there, too. She's a good friend of VO and several other arts organizations in Canada. Without her, this new space wouldn't be possible, so it's named the Martha Lou Henley Rehearsal Hall in her honour.

Bag o'foam

The black-dotted panels you see in front of the players are the makings of our new dancer-friendly floor. It's being installed as we speak.

The black parts are foam squares, which are glued onto boards.

Foam, meet Glue

The boards are then flipped over (so the foam faces down) and masonite will be laid on top.


 And once all that is done, the floor will be painted, and voila, we'll have a nice new surface that will support our casts, orchestra and chorus for years to come.

G&S Goes Steampunk

Steampunk HMS Pinafore!

Dragon Diva has steampunked Gilbert & Sullivan! 

Their current production of HMS Pinafore is designed in this very cool style futuristic-Victorian style. Fans are even showing up dressed in their best steampunkery. Find out more at the Dragon Diva blog.

John Arsenault

Working with conductor Diane Speirs are some members of the VO Chorus.

 Jeanine Fynn is directing; John Arsenault, music director and founder of DragonDiva, is production manager on this show and is also playing flute and clarinet in the pit. 

Szu Wen Wang

 Szu Wen Wang and Harout Markarian, both occasional VO chorus members, are in principal roles. Angus Kellett is at the keyboard.

 

There are only four performances left!   

Bring your goggles! It's gonna be a wild ride!

HMS Pinafore
August 24, 26, 27 at 8:00pm 
Matinee: August 28 at 2:00pm.

Bernie Legge Theatre in Queens Park, New Westminster 

Tickets $18, available through the Massey Theatre box office at 604-521-5050.

Lillian Alling in Banff

Leslie Dala

Leslie Dala, VO's Associate Conductor and Chorus Director, sends this postcard from Banff, where he is preparing to conduct Lillian Alling.

The falls at Johnston Canyon

For the past four weeks, I have been in Banff rehearsing Lillian Alling in anticipation of the opening night performance this Thursday at the Banff Summer Festival  which brings together artists from around the world who participate in the opera and orchestral training programs.

Although this is the same piece that Vancouver Opera commissioned and premiered in the fall, the Banff production has a whole new cast of young artists and an orchestra that is assembled for two concert programs and two operas each summer. Quite the undertaking in a very concentrated period of time.

Kelly Robinson, John Estacio
and John Murrell

The creators, composer John Estacio and librettist John Murrell have been with us over the past couple of weeks and it is wonderful to have them present in our rehearsals to make sure that every note and every word is being presented just the way they imagined them to be.

Judith Forst

Kelly Robinson, the stage director for Lillian is also the Artistic Director of the Theatre Arts Department and has directed all three of John Estacio's and John Murrell's operas, so we could not be in better hands. As well, Judith Forst is back from the original cast in the pivotal role of Irene Macdonald. She is, of course, one of Canada's greatest and most celebrated singers and it is both an honour and a treat to have her reprise her role here with us. Although I have had the good fortune to work with Judi on a number of show at Vancouver Opera (Jenufa, Elektra, Salome, Les Dialogues des Carmelites), this is my first time being in the pit with her on stage, which is a dream come true!

L - R: Leslie Dala, Melanie Krueger,
Theresa Tsang, Kinza Tyrrell

As well, there are a number of key players in the Banff production with strong ties to Vancouver Opera. All of us have been given the chance to step it up a notch: 

Melanie Krueger, last seen on the VO stage as Annina in La Traviata, sings the title role of Lillian Alling and is doing a wonderful job on an incredibly challenging and complex role. Melanie was, in fact, a member of the chorus for the VOA world premiere so this is really a promotion!

Theresa Tsang, VO's assistant stage manager is THE stage manager for this show and it is great to have her in charge of the million things that go on in this show. She is always in control!

Kinza Tyrrell, VO's principal repetiteur and VOIS music director, is the assistant conductor and chorus director of this production and has done a wonderful job with the young singers in the program. Although the size of the chorus here is much smaller than we had for the VOA premiere, they bring a lot of energy to this production.

Encounter with a black bear on the highway to Lake Louise

For me, it is wonderful to return to a place that I first came to in 1994 and which, quite literally, changed my life.

It was here that I met my wife, Rosalind and where I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in opera. It was also the place where I met conductor, David Agler, who was then Music Director of Vancouver Opera and who later invited me to join the music staff of the company. As they say "the rest is history". David is now the Artistic Director of the Wexford Festival and the Banff Opera as Theatre program and he is conducting Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte which will open on Friday night.

Canoeing on Lake Louise with my boys,
Andreas and Christopher

Another personal tidbit is that both my sons, Christopher (7) and Andreas (5) are appearing in this production.

Christopher was in the VOA premiere in a number of scenes, including Ellis Island, scene 3 where the kids sing the famous line: "mamma, she smells like the river", the North Dakota scene and in Stanley Park. With the addition of Andreas in the show, Sergei's line in scene 3 has changed to: "I present my wife Nora and FOUR children". Amazing what can happen in a few months!

Open House for the Opera Round Table

This week, we hosted an open house for our Opera Round Table members. This was the first chance for our donors to check out our new home at The Michael and Inna O'Brian Centre for Vancouver Opera.

Carmen Murphy with two ORT members

In the centre of this photo is Carmen Murphy, our Development Manager, Individual Giving. 

Carmen acts as a 'concierge' to our ORT donors - from parking passes to dinner arrangements, to finding the best ways for donors to help VO produce the performances they love.

Behind Carmen (and two beloved members of our ORT family) is the Green Room, where artists can take a break from rehearsals.

Jeff Sodowsky and an ORT member

Here's Jeff Sodowsky, our Chief Development Officer, with an ORT member. Jeff is the head of VO's development team and works closely with Carmen to make sure all our donors are well looked-after.

In the background is one of our two staff kitchens. Watch for that coffee machine to be working overtime once West Side Story rehearsals start next month!

Michael Grice leads a tour

Michael Grice, our Director of Education, leads a tour through Wardrobe. 

Michael oversees several programs that bring music into schools, including Music! Words! Opera!, Work Experience, Opera Trunks, Dress Rehearsals, and The Opera Experience. Michael also works closely with Melissa, our Vancouver Opera In Schools touring program manager. Check out the links if you're a teacher interested in bringing these great programs to your school!

Parvin Mirhady explains Wardrobe

Parvin Mirhady, our Head of Costumes and Costume Consultant, shows our ORT members the Wardrobe department. For every production, Parvin heads a team of cutters and sewers who design, build and/or alter costumes for principal singers and the VO Chorus. For Aida, we'll have a whopping 75 singers in the Chorus - all of whom will need outfits!

Often the costumes will come from another opera company already made, which means they just need alterations to fit the cast. But sometimes, when we're staging a brand-new production,  there are no costumes - so they all have to be designed and built from scratch. That's what Parvin did for our 2010 production of Nixon in China.

Lunch with Stewart Wallace

Stewart Wallace

Last week director of artistic planning Tom Wright and I met with composer Stewart Wallace to talk about his opera The Bonesetter’s Daughter.   

After a tour of our new facility, The Michael and Inna O’Brian Centre for Vancouver Opera, we lingered over a long lunch at Arriva Ristorante on Commercial Drive (I had a delicious Risotto con Salsiccia) and talked about the opera, his creative relationship with the novel’s author and the opera’s librettist Amy Tan, and any prospects for a developing a new production of the work.

The Bonesetter’s Daughter premiered at San Francisco Opera in 2008.  I, along with VO’s Director of Marketing and Community Programs Doug Tuck, saw a performance and both liked it very much. A stumbling block, though, was the scale of the physical production: very large and very expensive! It would be quite difficult if not impossible for most regional companies in North America to produce. A new production must be developed if the work is to have a well-deserved life after the premiere.

We at VO are considering the possibility of doing the work if we can find enough interested partners to go in on a new production; our target date to produce it would be sometime after 2013. We have not made a definite commitment to move ahead, but are intrigued by the work:  its subject matter, its basis in a very popular and moving novel, and – of most import – the music itself, which I find quite interesting and appealing.

Stewart Wallace with Amy Tan

With only four opera productions a year, it is a challenge to find sufficient opportunities to produce contemporary opera, but I feel we must always be considering new or recent work to do our part in refreshing the operatic repertoire and to provide BC audiences with a wide range of great opera. I will write again about this work and our thinking concerning producing it, and would be happy to hear any comments about the idea. 

What do you think about a VO production of Bonesetter's Daughter? Leave your comment below.

- James Wright, General Director

Leslie Dala in the Globe

Leslie Dala

VO's Chorus Director and Assistant Conductor, Leslie Dala will be conducting the first-ever collaboration between Sarah McLachlan and the VSO. This is will be the Canadian premiere of new symphonic arrangements of her music.

 “I really kind of fell in love with her, as a performer and her music,” says Dala. “The intimacy of her writing I find very attractive. She also has such a haunting voice.” 

Sarah McLachlan

Read more in The Globe and Mail.

If you'd like to see more of Leslie Dala, you can catch him in Banff later this month, conducting the Banff Centre's production of Lillian Alling. He'll also be conducting VO's West Side Story in October.

ETA:  And don't forget - Leslie Dala will also be conducting at Opera & Arias at Bard on the Beach! Four performances only of a special version of The Marriage of Figaro: August 29 and September 5, 1pm and 7pm. Find out more here.

Kinza Tyrrell in Italy

Dr. Kinza Tyrrell

VO's Principal Repetiteur, Dr. Kinza Tyrrell, was recently in Italy, working on the VOIS adaptation of Hansel & Gretel.

In my two weeks in Sulmona, Italy, I have seen amazing sights and eaten amazing food which have inspired my adaptation work with Hansel & Gretel.

Doppio espresso macchiato!

The picture of the empty coffee cup is a typical scene from my point of view as I sit at a cafe after having had my quick doppio espresso macchiato (they don't linger over the drink like we do...) and my internet access slip so that I can enjoy free Wi-Fi while watching people make the morning passaggiata along the main street.

Festival di Fiori flower boxes

The old church that you see is right across the street from my regular cafe.  They decorated it all with flower boxes for their 'Festival di Fiori' while I was there.  At night time, these Annunziata steps are filled with young people as they hang out during the evening passaggiata (or 'walk-about')

Inspiration for Hansel & Gretel

This mountain lake is 20 or so kilometres away from Sulmona in a small lake town called Scanno.  They sell world famous biscotti and filigree laced jewellry there.  This scenery was particularly inspirational when working on the forest scene in Hansel & Gretel.

The Hansel & Gretel school tour runs September to November 2011 and February to March 2012. If you're a teacher and are interested in booking the show for your school, click here!

VO’s Count Almaviva Scores Big Competition Win!

Rene Barbera

Our tenor for our upcoming Il Barbiere di Siviglia, René Barbera, has won the top prize in all three categories of the 2011 Operalia Competition held a few days ago in Moscow.  

This international contest was founded by Placido Domingo in 1993 and is one of the world’s most prestigious vocal competitions.  René, an American hailing from Texas, is a third year ensemble member with the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Ryan Opera Center.

Barbera, who is 27, won the men's first prize for opera, men's prize for zarzuela, and the “audience favorite” prize (a Rolex watch).  He is the first artist to solely receive all three prizes in the history of the competition. He sang “Ah! mes amis” from Donizetti’s The Daughter of the Regiment, in which he scored a great success with Opera Theatre of Saint Louis just before departing for the Moscow competition.

Operalia 2011

 This season at The Lyric Opera Barbera will portray Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor and Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos. He is making his Vancouver Opera debut singing Count Almaviva in Barbiere, and will make his Canadian Opera Company debut this season as well, as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi

Barbera also won the 2008 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions.