Innehållsförteckning för Winter 2022 från Opera Canada

When it comes to rethinking, decolonizing, and finding ways to create a more compassionate, inclusive opera industry, there are few better equipped to lead this charge than Rebecca Hass, recipient of Opera Canada’s newly instated Nada Ristich Changemaker Ruby Award. Hass’s career has gone through many iterations, from an up-and-coming mezzo soprano singing with the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble and San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program to music theatre performer in Phantom of the Opera (alongside fellow Ruby-recipient, John Fanning) to writer and broadcaster for CBC Radio to life coach for singers to her most recent position as Director of Engagement Programs and Partnerships at Pacific Opera Victoria (POV). When asked to explain her unique trajectory, Hass, sporting long, beaded earrings, new pink highlights and matching pink-rimmed glasses, spoke candidly. “Like…

It’s been over seven years since Joynt was on season 18 of The Bachelor (a popular American dating and relationship reality television series) where her presence caused two sets of stereotypes to collide. Bachelor viewers and media praised her for bringing “sophistication” to the show—that’s opera reduced to its affiliation with wealth, like the way movie villains are always interrupted while listening to an aria—while the opera world didn’t know what to do with her. She was getting famous for the wrong thing, dabbling in the low arts, and demonstrating that musical artists could have other lives by choice. And that’s opera, and the performing arts in general, perpetuating the exclusionary myth that great artists are fundamentally all the same. “I was not taken seriously for a while,” she says about her career…

Between Worlds DONNA BROWN, POETRY AND LYRICS; MARGARET MARIA, COMPOSER CENTREDISCS — CMCCD30622 RELEASED JUNE 24, 2022 This 31-minute work plays like a mini-opera ”HER VOICE STOOD OUT IN MY HEAD.” Margaret Maria still remembers hearing the voice of Donna Brown for the first time. Maria was a member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) for over a decade, during which time Brown performed numerous times. “She is this incredible presence,” says the cellist. Maria and Brown’s recent album Between Worlds, marks their first recorded collaboration. The eight-track album is comprised of Maria’s music and Brown’s words, with mastering by Peter Letros, former Chief Mastering Engineer at Sony Music Canada. The album is a testament to creative exploration and the ways in which the classical-operatic idiom can be meaningfully…

JANUARY Against the Grain Theatre, Worldwide Identity: A Song Cycle is an intimate new film from the awardwinning creators of Messiah/Complex. It fuses genre-bending classical music and poetry to explore coming to terms with who you are. The film stars acclaimed baritone Elliot Madore with original music and poetry by Dinuk Wijeratne and Shauntay Grant, directed by AtG founder and Artistic Director Joel Ivany. It is available to stream on-demand until Apr 23. Ticket registration for this performance is available free of charge, or pay-whatyou-can. atgtheatre.com Canadian Opera Company, Toronto, ON British maestro Harry Bicket returns to the COC to conduct Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro starring Italian bassbaritone Luca Pisaroni in his signature title role Jan 27 to Feb 8; also cast are Andrea Carroll, Gordon Bintner, Lauren Fagan, and…

With degrees in business, computer science and psychology and professional education from MIT Sloan and Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard, Hansen is committed to paying it forward; she serves as a judge and advisor to the WE Empower UN SDG Challenge (a global business competition highlighting women entrepreneurs). LC: How can opera better embrace innovative change as a sector more broadly? JH: Humans are funny—unless it’s more painful to stay in the current situation than to move into a new one, they won’t take action. So, psychologically, why are so many businesses stuck in the status quo? Pressure must be exerted on a business for them to consider change. A big indicator that can force change is losing talent. When your employees are having a great experience, it translates directly…

DEVELOPMENT PROFESSIONALS in the arts do exceptional work for far less than they could earn in the healthcare or postsecondary education sectors. But for Canadian arts, fundraising is simply too short-term. Still defining what its culture is; this country needs arts organizations to identify and cultivate connectors who will in turn enlist others. We need community builders. In profiling a few such leaders and innovators here, may generous Canadians and strategically-minded organizations see the value in energetic evangelizing. The sector needs far more dialogue, asking those with the means what sorts of experiences they want. The search transcends race and culture—look to the wealthy, successful Chinese, Cantonese, Indian, and Italian communities on Toronto’s doorstep. If only opera leaders would drive out to meet them! This process cannot entirely transcend class, however,…

JOHN FANNING RUBY RECIPIENT In a profession known for its impermanence, Canadian baritone John Fanning is longevity personified. From his debut in 1980 in the small role of the Commissioner in La Traviata for Opera Hamilton, to his last public performance, his unofficial farewell, in a recital just this past May, a month before his 68th birthday, Fanning enjoyed an enviable career spanning an astounding 42 years. Throughout his career, Fanning was known for his beautiful, warm baritone, solid technique, fine musicianship, dependability—“I never ever canceled”—collegiality, and as an all-round nice guy. A graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music and University of Toronto, Fanning’s repertoire ran the gamut, from opera, symphony, oratorio, recitals to operetta, musical theatre, even commercial television and film. Movie fans may recall his cameo…

MUNGER CURRENTLY LIVES IN FRANCE, in a country house where, between engagements, she grows vegetables, cooks, and spends time with her son and her husband, the British opera, film and television director John La Bouchardière. She owes her brilliant career to her warm luscious voice and the intensity of her stage presence. But key to her success has also been her indomitable energy and her keen sense of entrepreneurship. Munger might well have inherited her managerial and singing abilities from her mother, Gisèle Munger, a retired school teacher still very active as a choir director in her native town of Chicoutimi. Gisèle founded the youth choir Jeunesse en Choeur in 1988 first and foremost to sing with her daughter who was six years old at the time. Years of choir…

THE SUMMER OF 2011 SAW THE opening of the Michael and Inna O’Brian Centre for Vancouver Opera, a new home where the organization’s administration offices, rehearsal rooms, costumes and sets could all be accommodated under a single roof. This welcome consolidation was enabled by a major gift from the Michael and Inna O’Brian Family Foundation. The inclusion of the word “Family” in the Foundation’s title is meaningful. Michael’s adult children and thirteen grandchildren form a close-knit clan that selects opportunities to support Canadian arts institutions, international education programs, and organizations that focus on mental health, ageing and sustainable practices. Their motivation? “We receive much more than what we give,” claims Inna. Both collectors of contemporary art, Michael and Inna met at the Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG). “At first, I thought…