Bass Donald Garrard, 1929-2011

A Vancouver native and respected opera bass died recently in South Africa; Don Garrard was 82. Quoting from Opera, a British publication, “Garrard studied in Santa Barbara with Lotte Lehmann. He sang at the Canadian Opera Company, Sadler’s Wells Opera in London, and made his Covent Garden debut as Ferrando in Il Trovatore in 1970. His 120 roles ranged from Boris to Bluebeard, Sarastro to Wotan. He recorded The Rake’s Progress under Stravinsky’s leadership.”

Don Garrard also sang in two productions with Vancouver Opera, as Mephistopheles in Faust in 1976 and as Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor in 1982. I had a conversation with a VO patron today who remembered fondly his strong and secure bass voice.

Don Garrard's secure technique and warmth of vocal feeling brought him engagements around the world. In 1969 the Canadian press referred to him as “Probably, the greatest Bass ever to come from this country”.

Notes The Canadian Encyclopedia of Music in Canada:

With his commanding presence, his keen theatrical sense, and a voice both substantial and flexible Garrard [became] respected on both sides of the Atlantic for his effectiveness in the whole range of operatic roles for bass. After his 1988 performance of Verdi's Requiem with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, critic Peter Mose wrote "Garrard's was the voice of the wisest, ripest eminence" (Toronto Star 11 May 1988).

Garrard was resident 1961-85 in England but continued to appear in Canada with the COC, in recital, and on CBC radio and TV.  

In 1989 he moved from Canada to South Africa where he [sang] King Heinrich in Lohengrin, Rocco in Fidelio, and Philip II in Don Carlos, appeared in concerts, and [gave] master classes. He [was] heard on the BBC, RAI (Italy) and PBS networks.”

 - James Wright, General Director, Vancouver Opera

Hi from Bob. Can i get alist of winning numbers for the Oct 31 2011 draw? thanks

Hi Bob. You can find all the winning numbers here:

http://www.vancouveropera.ca/winners.html

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what time does the performance tonight end thanks

Tonight's performance of Roméo et Juliette will run just about 3 hours, so should wrap up close to 10:30pm.

Note that downtown will be busy tonight - there's a hockey game! Check the Your Night At The Opera on www.vancouveropera.ca for tips on parking.

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Opening Night at Roméo et Juliette

Here are a few shots from opening night of the spectacular Roméo et Juliette!

Here's Peter Volpe (Frere Laurent) with Irving Guttman, CM, OBC, Artistic Director Emeritus of Vancouver Opera.

 

And here's Simone Osborne (Juliette) with General Director James W. Wright

 

Aaron St. Clair Nicholson (Mercutio) performs at a pre-show event with Principal Répétiteur / Assistant Chorus Director Kinza Tyrrell on piano

 

Guests at the Opera Round Table Prelude Dinner

There are only 3 more performances of Roméo et Juliette remaining! Read the reviews in the Straight , the Sun and Vancouver Is Awesome!

It's electrifying!

Our Ticket Centre will be closed tomorrow!

BC Hydro will be repairing a decrepit power pole outside the O'Brian Centre tomorrow (Wednesday, Novermber 23). This means we'll have no power to our Ticket Centre or our ticketing website! Our admin and production offices will also be closed.

If you'd like to buy tickets to Roméo et Juliette, you can still get them today (we're open 'til 5:00pm). The ticketing website and Ticket Centre will re-open on Thursday, from 9:00am - 5:00pm.

The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for Western Canada

We had a wonderful day of auditions on Sunday, November 6th, thanks to the sponsorship and the volunteers of The Vancouver Opera Guild that make these auditions possible. Did you know that we are the only city in Canada that holds these auditions?

The judges, Maestro Jacques Lacombe, soprano Pamela South and former VO Managing Director David Shefsiek did a fabulous job for us and remained after the auditions to speak to each singer privately for at least another three hours.  It was a long but most enjoyable day for all of us starting at 11 am and ending at 8 pm.

 

There were twenty six singers out of the original thirty who were healthy enough to compete that day. The judges choose five singers to continue on to the next round, The Regional Auditions in Seattle on Sunday, January 22, 2012 at Meany Theatre, University of Washington, 1pm. Find out more on the Metropolitan Opera National Council  Northwest Region Facebook page.

The winners were Sylvia Szadovszki, Mezzo, Leah Giselle Field, Mezzo, Cassandra Warner, Mezzo, Natalie Fagnan, Soprano and Teiya Kasahara, Soprano.

- Dawn Dye, Director, Western Canada District, Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions

Get O.U.T. and see Romeo et Juliette

Attention  under-30s! We've released more $25 Get O.U.T. tickets for Roméo et Juliette!

Visit www.vancouveropera.ca/tickets/ or call 604-683-0222. Use promo code 3437.

Only a limited number of $25 tickets are available for selected performances, so get yours quickly!

The fine print:
- Tickets must be picked up from the VIP desk at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on the evening of the performance
- Everyone attending the performance with a Get O.U.T. ticket MUST be between the ages of 19 - 29. You'll be asked to show ID at the theatre.

my son who is 20 is interested in attending a performance but is limited by budget. I think at this age it would be of value to the opera to build a new set of opera goers who one day will be able to by season tickets. Is it possible to get tickets to th

We offer a wide range of tickets starting from $35 for all of our productions, as well as special offers for students and young opera-goers.

Our Get OUT (Opera Under Thirty) program offers tickets at a special rate exclusively to patrons under 30 years old. Watch our Twitter and Facebook for updates - Get OUT tickets are usually made available two weeks before opening night. You must be under 30 to take advantage of this offer!

We also offer subscriptions at special rates for students and seniors. Visit www.vancouveropera.ca/tickets for details.

And as always, you can contact our friendly Ticket Centre staff to learn more: 604-683-0222.

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Rapiers and Switchblades

Yesterday I went downstairs from my office to the M.L. Henley rehearsal hall to watch a bit of the big “fight scene” in Romeo et Juliette. It was fun to watch the rehearsal, as the men worked on their sword play and then worked on timing that to the music. Of course, my thoughts went back to the “rumble” in West Side Story, and I enjoyed making the mental comparison of the two scenes which of course is part of the fun, isn’t it, of pairing the two Shakespeare-based works together this fall. This week the gang action features rapiers and daggers; last month it was fists and switchblades; same anger, tension, prejudices, and outcomes.

We don’t often “pair” works in an obvious way – usually I think the concept is too cute or too far-fetched. But I like this pairing of great music theatre works because they represent pinnacles of their composers’ work in the theatre, tell the same story in different but equally moving ways, and relate strongly to Shakespeare’s play but put distinctive, emotional spins on the play, and contain incredibly articulate vocal and orchestral music that speak directly to their original audiences and audiences today.

- James Wright, General Director

West Side Story was absolutely fabulous. Great staging; stunning choreography; super voices; and overall excellent performances by all the cast! What a "treat" for music/theatre/live performance lovers. Thank you. Is your on-line ticketing site down? I

Thank you! We're very happy to hear you enjoyed it... and we hope to see you at Romeo et Juliette, opening November 26!

Our ticketing site appears to be up and running right now, but if you do have any trouble with it please call our Ticket Centre at 604-683-0222.

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