Canadian Opera Company News

SIX RISING OPERA STARS TO JOIN CANADIAN OPERA COMPANY’S 2013/2014 ENSEMBLE STUDIO

 The Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, Canada’s premier training program for young opera professionals, welcomes six outstanding new Canadian artists for the 2013/2014 season.  Bass-baritone Gordon Bintner, mezzo-soprano Charlotte Burrage, soprano Aviva Fortunata, baritone Clarence Frazer, tenor Andrew Haji and mezzo-soprano Danielle MacMillan were among the 10 finalists who competed for the highly coveted Ensemble Studio positions at the Second Annual Ensemble Studio Competition in November 2012.  Bintner, Haji and Burrage were top prize winners at the 2012 competition with Bintner securing the first-place and audience-choice awards, Haji receiving second-place honours and Burrage taking the third-place award.

The six singers join the Ensemble Studio in August 2013 and become part of an illustrious program that, since its inception in 1980, has launched the careers of over 150 Canadian singers, opera coaches, stage directors and conductors, including Ben Heppner, Isabel Bayrakdarian, John Fanning, Wendy Nielsen, David Pomeroy, Joseph Kaiser, Lauren Segal, Krisztina Szabó and Allyson McHardy.

These new members of the Ensemble Studio join four returning artists for the 13/14 season: soprano Sasha Djihanian, soprano Claire de Sévigné, tenor Owen McCausland and baritone Cameron McPhail.

Congratulations to the new members and we are excited to see your work at the Opera Company soon!

It's Tonight Opera Fans.

The young artists of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio take on the lead roles in
their own performance of George Frideric Handel’s Semele tonight, May 23, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.  This special performance is a valuable and exciting step in developing the next generation of Canadian opera stars as they take to the main-stage in this “scenically
stunning” (New York Times) production by famed Chinese visual and performance artist Zhang Huan.  All tickets are accessibly priced at only $22 or $55.

Under the direction of the same artistic team as the main stage cast, including conductor Rinaldo Alessandrini, director and set designer Zhang Huan and costume designer Han Feng, the artists of the
Ensemble Studio perform Semele with the full COC Orchestra and Chorus. Zhang’s Semele draws on parallels between Greco-Roman mythology and Chinese legends, as well as Buddhist concepts of karma and reincarnation, to create a true interaction of Eastern and Western cultures. The production’s centerpiece is a 450-year-old Ming Dynasty ancestral temple salvaged by Zhang from a small town in China, and used to tell this operatic tale of a love affair between the god Jupiter and the mortal princess Semele.

The title role of the flighty, narcissistic and naïve Semele is shared by two rising young sopranos: Mireille Asselin and Ambur Braid. (We've had the pleasure of seeing Ms. Braid at OperaNation, and can say firsthand that she is fantastic.) Commanding the stage as Jupiter is tenor Christopher Enns, and mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb brings her vivacity and passion to the roles of Jupiter’s jealous wife, Juno, and Semele’s sister, Ino.  Cast as Juno’s messenger, Iris, is soprano Jacqueline Woodley.  Bass-baritone Philippe Slydemonstrates his dramatic and musical versatility in the roles of Cadmus, Semele’s father, and Somnus, the god of sleep. Rounding out the cast is guest artist Ryan Belongie, who sings Semele’s jilted suitor, Athamas.

What's on This Weekend. (That we'd recommend that is.)

Wondering what to see in the City this weekend?  Well worry not because there are tons of great shows on to see.  If song and dance sounds like a good time then West Side Story is your ticket.  Wednesday night Justin and I went to the opening.  A special evening because this is one of Dancap's final productions, and it's a good one.

Brought up from Broadway, this remount of West Side will impress all audiences, whether you've seen the show and film a hundred times or you've never even heard "I Feel Pretty."  Unlike the original production, the Broadway remount, on now at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, features a delicate re-working of the famous dialogue and music to include a lot more Spanish.  And considering that half the cast is supposed to be Puerto Rican, it's a great development from the original script.  Kudos to director  David Saint, who uses  Tony Award®-winning librettist Arthur Laurents’ Broadway direction for the tour.  West Side Story  purists my not appreciate hearing some of their favourite songs in Spanish, but it is well worth seeing.  If nothing else you'll spend your evening marvelling at the choreography of Jerome Robbins'.

If three hours of love, gangs and ballet aren't your thing, then head on down to the Harbourfront Centre for the final show in their 2012 World Stage series.  The Shipment, which we saw last night, is superb.   Truly.  I was skeptical that a Korean-American could really capture what it means to be black in America,  (who knows how I'd know,) but wow was I wrong.  Young Jean Lee may not be black but boy can she write a riveting show.  

This is experimental theatre at its absolute best.  The Shipment challenges the audience, makes them laugh and delights in a gripping ninety minutes of theatre.  With a hugely talented triple threat cast The Shipment  may be the best show we have seen all spring!  You never know what is coming next. Some of the show's scenes are truly soul touching and haunting.  Be advised The Shipment  is not your grandma's show*.  It is vulgar, confrontational and at times uncomfortable, but what else would you expect from a show about race.  This is definitely one to see.  Don't miss it during it's limited run at the Enwave Theatre.  Click here for more info.  The Shipment runs until May 12th.  

For all you opera lovers out there, tonight is only the second night for the COC's final opera of the 2011/12 season.  And we are hoping they have saved the best for last.  Semele, the sensuous Handel opera is re-imagined in Zhang Huan's astonishing and provocatively playful stage direction. We have been looking forward to this for weeks.  Semele runs until the 26th of May, and their is a special Ensemble Studio presentation of the opera on May 23rd.  (More on that later.) We can't wait.  Click here for tickets, and don't forget the COC has some of the best rush and young people discounts going, so don't miss it!

 So get out there and see some shows already!


*Unless your grandmother is like mine or Justin's.  They'd have loved it!

COC Ensemble Studio Competition Winner

The Canadian Opera Company held the first ever Ensemble Studio Competition last night, at the Four Seasons Centre. Here are the details from this mornings press release:

MONTREAL’S SASHA DJIHANIAN WINS INAUGURAL COC ENSEMBLE STUDIO COMPETITION

Toronto – Soprano Sasha Djihanian, a native of Montreal, claimed the top prize last night at the inaugural Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio Competition at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, selected from 10 finalists to receive the $5,000 award. Soprano Claire de Sévigné, also from Montreal, won the second prize of $3,000 and tenor Owen McCausland from Saint John, New Brunswick was awarded the third prize of $1,500. In addition, Sudbury soprano Lindsay Barrett was selected by the audience as the winner of the Audience Choice Award, worth $1,500.

The 10 finalists from across Canada were selected from over 160 singers in preliminary auditions in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and New York. Each finalist performed two arias with piano accompaniment in front of a live audience and an adjudicator panel comprised of COC General DirectorAlexander Neef, Music Administrator Sandra Gavinchuk, Head of the Ensemble Studio Liz Upchurch, and guest judges Opera Canada editor Wayne Gooding, and Canadian soprano, voice teacher, and Ensemble Studio alumna Wendy Nielsen.

“The audience at last night’s competition was treated to an exclusive preview of the exceptionally bright future of Canadian operatic talent,” says COC General Director Alexander Neef. “All of the finalists tonight demonstrated remarkable skill, and the prize winners impressed the judges and tonight’s audience with their technique and rich tone, as well their intelligent and emotional delivery. Following all of these young artists’ careers is going to be a pleasure for me personally and for our audiences as well.”

In addition to the four cash prizes, the finalists were competing for highly coveted positions in the2012/2013 COC Ensemble Studio, Canada’s premier training program for young opera professionals. The competition marked the first time in COC history that the final auditions for the Ensemble Studio were held in front of a public audience. Taking into account the performances at last night’s Ensemble Studio Competition, COC artistic staff will now finalize the lineup of the 12/13 Ensemble Studio. The full lineup will be announced in the new year. The 12/13 Ensemble Studio members will be joining an illustrious program that, since its inception in 1980, has launched the careers of over 150 Canadian singers, opera coaches, stage directors and conductors, including Ben Heppner, Isabel Bayrakdarian, John Fanning, David Pomeroy, Joseph Kaiser, Lauren Segal and Krisztina Szabó.

Click the header for more details about the event.


Check out the photos from the night here.