Calgary Opera program - Silent Night

by kevin puts aND mark campbell N ove m b e r 8, 12 & 14, 2014

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Cover photo by Michal Daniel Photography

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SILENT NIGHT 5

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LIVE: NOVEMBER 1, 2014

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MORE GREAT PERFORMANCES THIS SEASON Il Barbiere di Siviglia | Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg The Merry Widow | Les Contes d’Hoffmann | Iolanta/Bluebeard’s Castle La Donna del Lago | Pagliacci/Cavalleria Rusticana

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message from the

chair

W

Welcome to the opening of Calgary Opera’s Larger Than Life 2014-15 main stage season.

This evening we launch our season with the Canadian premiere of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize winning opera Silent Night. Based on true events from World War I, it tells of a spontaneous one-night truce, when opposing sides lay down their arms on Christmas Eve in 1914. This production is our way of commemorating the centenary of WWI, one of the most impactful global events of the last century.

More than 425,000 Canadians served overseas during The Great War, putting their lives on the line and altering the course of Canadian and world history. We are honoured to share this performance with military families across Alberta, who continue to protect our nation and serve our country. We invite you to pay tribute to their outstanding legacy by donating to the Canadian Poppy Fund, which we have set up in the lobby.

Calgary Opera is proud to bring new opera productions to our audience including Silent Night which first debuted with Minnesota Opera in 2011. In 2012, composer Kevin Puts won a Pulitzer Prize for the score, which also happened to be the first opera he had ever written.

To present a Canadian premiere of this magnitude, we need exceptional support from the community. Our sincere gratitude goes out to our production sponsor BMO Financial Group, our Commemorative Engagement sponsor Cenovus Energy, and the many individuals who contributed to this project. We also thank our season sponsor Husky Energy and our government funders: The Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Calgary Arts Development Authority.

Thank you for your continued support, I hope to see you all for the rest of our Larger Than Life season.

Chair, Evan J. Hazell

Proud Season Sponsor of Calgary Opera

Silent Night

Photo by Michal Daniel Photography

message from the

general director and ceo

W

Welcome to the debut of our winter season, we have a dramatic and stirring lineup for you! What marks this occasion as especially eventful is the global stage we embrace with our season opener, Silent Night. Sung in German, French, English, Italian and Latin, the diversity of the languages demonstrates the universal nature of this true story.

Silent Night sets the stage on The Great War’s western front, when weapons are laid down as Scottish, French and German officers defy their superiors and engage in a Christmas Eve truce. Enemies become brothers as they come together to share Christmas and bury their dead in a moving, dramatic work that features soaring melodies and a strong cast.

The cast includes Sally Dibblee (featured in last year’s production of Madame Butterfly) as Anna Sorenson, Roger Honeywell as Nikolaus Sprink, Brett Polegato as Lt. Audebert, Daniel Okulitch as Lt. Horstmayer, James Westman as Lt. Gordon, Peter McGillivray as Father Palmer, Robert Clark as Kronprinz, Vasil Garvanliev as Ponchel, and Alain Coulombe as The General. We are also happy to be featuring Emerging Artists Aaron Dimoff, Matthew Bruce, David Diston, Kevin Myers and Stephanie Tritchew.

This story and this opera confirm the exponential power of music. A simple hymn and its power to diffuse hatred in the middle of no man’s land. All sides knew the tune, even though they could not understand the words they heard across the lonely battlefield. A common hymn became an uncommon bond. No matter how many times this story is told, it reveals a moment 100 years ago, when music became a beautiful bridge, spanning from heart to heart.

True beauty all around, when all was calm and all was bright.

I invite you all back to the Jubilee Auditorium for the upcoming performances we have; Mozart’s comic masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro and one of the all time greatest opera hits – Bizet’s fiery and passionate Carmen.

Thank you for sharing our passion for storytelling through music.

Enjoy the show, General Director and CEO, W.R. (Bob) McPhee, C.M.

SILENT NIGHT 9

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World War I and the Christmas Truce of 1914 Now at its centenary, World War I scarcely receives the same attention as its more atrocious and deadlier younger sibling. Yet the conflict’s position in history reveals a horrific change in modern warfare tactics that shocked and overwhelmed its participants.

Previously, Western Europe had enjoyed an unprecedented 43-year period of relative peace. The last major clash had been between France and Prussia in 1870-71, instigated by the former, but provoked by the latter over the succession of the Spanish crown to a Hohenzollern heir. Since the Napoleonic wars, the Germans had been engaged in a massive land-grab, acquiring SchleswigHolstein in 1864; Hesse, Hanover and Mecklenburg in 1867; Bavaria in 1871; and the Alsace and Lorraine districts following the French defeat. It was at this point Wilhelm I appointed himself Emperor of the Second Reich.

The Kaiser’s rise in prominence attracted the attention of England’s Queen Victoria, who in the process of arranging royal matches for her litter of children, chose Wilhelm’s son, the Crown Prince Frederick, for her oldest daughter “Vicky.” Sadly, the heirs apparent would only enjoy a short time in the spotlight as Frederick died in the first year of his reign, leaving the empire to his son Wilhelm II. Through other dynastic marriages, the new Kaiser found himself first cousins to George V of England, Nicholas II of Russia and various heads of state as Victoria’s other children would make similar matches.

Danish King Christian IX likewise became “father-in-law” to Europe through the marriage or successions of his four

children. This close bloodline would cast an uneasy pale over the Great War that was to come.

Following the Franco-Prussian War, politics on the Continent continued to sour. France, Austria and Denmark would never get over their strategic and territorial losses. Austria found some solace in assimilating the Balkan nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an action supported by the diplomatically sympathetic Germans, while angering the other Balkan nations, Serbia in particular. Russia had the recent unpleasant memory of losing a war in the Crimea (1853-56) fought against Turkey, France and Britain.

Nonetheless, an eventual alliance was made between the three unlikely comrades who now feared a newly unified Germany’s menacing power. Britain, in particular, was drawn out of historical isolationism after seeing Russia’s disastrous defeat in the Russo-Japanese war in 1905, knowing France would need at least one functional ally.

For all his blusters, Wilhelm II was terrified of the shift in balance of power, for his only treaty was with Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph, a relationship that had been tested by his grandfather in the 1866 war between the two countries. In an unexpected tactical move, when the young Kaiser inherited his empire, he foolishly dismissed the new Reich’s architect, Otto von Bismarck. Through duplicity, diplomacy and guile, the former chancellor had carefully engineered the map of Europe to Germany’s advantage. Wilhelm preferred a more direct approach and embraced the “Schlieffen Plan,” a remarkably detailed and audacious top-secret preparation to invade France through Belgium and the Alsace-Lorraine (to be fair, France had a similar Plan XVII designed to retake its conquered provinces). The army could be sustained by Germany’s vastly superior and government-controlled railway system, giving the initiative enough manpower and artillery to capture Paris in 39 days. Attention could then be shifted to the east, as it would take the third entente member, Russia, at least that long to marshal its forces, thereby avoiding a war on two fronts.

British soldier in a flooded dug-out, on the front lines, France.

(National Library of Scotland/John Warwick Brooke)

background notes

by David Sander Credit: Opera Minnesota Wilhelm found his opportunity when the heir to the Austrian Empire, Franz Ferdinand, and his wife were fatally shot on June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, Bosnia, by a member of the Serbian radical group, the Black Hand (the anarchists had already successfully murdered the king and queen of Serbia in 1903). He privately urged the archduke’s uncle, Franz Joseph, to take decisive action. When a list of unrealistic demands to investigate the matter was rejected (actually the Serbian government agreed to all but a few points), Austria recalled its ambassador and declared war within the month. The resulting conflict in the remote Balkans was hardly a concern for greater Europe, but all the treaties were triggered into action. Russia was honor-bound to defend Serbia and entered the war on its behalf. Wilhelm was obligated to fight on Austria’s side, and to justify the protection of Germany’s own borders in East Prussia, he seized the opportunity to initiate the Schlieffen Plan against Russia and its allies. On August 4, 1914, the Germans invaded Belgium and headed toward France.

As this action was a violation of Belgian neutrality, Britain was obliged to enter the war, against strong opposition.

The Schlieffen Plan was largely an intellectual exercise and didn’t account for a fair amount of Belgian resistance or British involvement. Nonetheless, in a few months the Germans found themselves entrenched on the French border. A war that was supposed to be over in six weeks had stalemated by December. Part of the problem was the increased lethality of industrialized nations.

Nineteenth-century warfare had been a gentlemanly undertaking, where major battles would be decided in just a few days. In the four-decade gap since the last skirmish, both sides had significantly developed the velocity and range of artillery, which now included bolt action rifles, Howitzers, machine guns and tanks. Cavalry, cannons and bayonet runs were replaced by large, black, ear-splitting siege guns (christened “Black Berthas,” after the Krupp bomb manufacturing heiress that yielded nitrate incendiary devices, capable of killing more soldiers with greater force, as did the subsequent introduction

A soldier of Company K, 110th Regt. Infantry (formerly 3rd and 10th Inf., Pennsylvania National Guard), just wounded, receiving first-aid treatment from a comrade. Varennes-en-Argonne, France, on September 26, 1918.

(U.S. Army/U.S. National Archives)

of unpredictable, toxic chlorine gas. In trenches that ran from the English Channel to Switzerland, both sides dug in their heels for a subterranean war of attrition and endured hideous conditions – cold, moisture, mud, vermin, barb wire, bombs and bullets – as well as a range of new illnesses coined “shellshock” and “trench foot.”

By December, Pope Benedict XV called for a cessation of hostilities for the holiday season, and both sides were ready for a break in the unanticipated carnage.

Acceptable military code allowed for small armistices during the course of a war (for males and to bury the dead), and fraternization with the enemy, though discouraged, had occurred as recently as the Crimean, Civil and Franco-Prussian wars. “Tommy” and “Fritz” could put aside obligatory nationalism to see their opponents as regular guys forced into combat by ambitious superiors. Given Britain’s strong German ties, many soldiers had actually worked in England and spoke English. Saxons and Anglo-Saxons had a shared ancestry, and most of the other Germans were Bavarian, SILENT NIGHT 13

Hessian and Westphalian reservists rather than soldiers of the Prussian elite – those were sent to the eastern front to defend their native lands. It was not uncommon for lower-grade officers to also participate in these proceedings, though some shrewdly left it to the enlisted men, believing the casual exchange might lead to useful intelligence from the other side of No Man’s Land.

Still, an official Christmas truce in 1914 was out-of-thequestion, yet contrary to popular belief, there were many of them up and down the lines. The British had received care packages from King George’s daughter, Princess Mary, containing tobacco and chocolate, and the Germans were given cigars, beer and Tannenbäume from 32-yearold Kronprinz Wilhelm (who actually commanded the Fifth Army in the Argonne). Interactions varied from singing holiday songs back-and-forth between the trenches to actual cease-fire with both sides meeting on the battlefield, sharing a smoke and exchanging rations. One had to be careful not to get too close to the enemy territory, for some soldiers were taken prisoner if they gained any knowledge of positions or weaponry. Many of the British were perplexed by the appearance of the candle-lit trees over the makeshift bunkers and the kind spirits of the Germans – these were, after all, the same people who had brutally invaded Belgium with little regard for civilian life or property.

Nonetheless, if they kept the conversation light and didn’t discuss the war, conviviality could be maintained.

Once part of the proud Napoleonic Grande Armée until La Débâcle (their defeat to the Prussians), the French soldiers were a little more hesitant to be cordial, given Germany’s aggressive history towards their country, with its siege and land seizure just 40 years earlier, and at present at the edge of France with the intent to recapture Paris. With the spirit of revanche, their camaraderie was not nearly on the same scale as the British. As one recorded, “You would not find the French and Germans exchanging cigarettes, I think, even if it were the morning of Judgement Day.” (In contrast, one rather ungrateful French soldier remarked to a German, “Beat those Britishers. We have no use for them.”) Though there were short agreements to lay down arms in order to take care of the dead (many of whom had been putrefying on the battlefield for weeks), after the task was completed, the animosity on both sides only grew.

Experiences varied from place to place. In some cases wild animals were shot, roasted and shared, and football games (American soccer) allegedly took place on Christmas Day (though the shell-pitted battlefield may have presented somewhat of a challenge). Two famous opera singers were recognized singing at the front.

Incidents of haircuts, juggling and backwards bicycling were reported, and newspapers were exchanged as the Germans believed theirs were filled with lies. Many thought of extending the armistice to Boxing Day (December 26) or all the way to the New Year. Photos were taken and letters of disbelief were sent home detailing the unusual circumstances – several found their way into the English and German periodicals alongside reports of their adversaries’ barbarity. When hostilities did resume, it was with reluctance, and the conflict was slow to achieve its original pitch.

Naturally, when news reached headquarters of these unofficial armistices, the high command was not pleased, but retribution was relatively lax. Though antifraternization is key to the success of any soldier, there was still a sense of wartime chivalry and few courtmarshals were conducted, only a stern warning not to do A French soldier aiming an anti-aircraft machine gun from a trench at Perthes les Hurlus, eastern France.

(Reuters/Collection Odette Carrez)

background notes it again. Many units were redeployed as it was believed they would not fight with the same voracity now that they had met the enemy face-to-face.

There was more talk about a truce the following Christmas. Some veiled attempts – songs in trenches and casualty burials did occur but nothing to the degree as what had been experienced one year earlier. The war had taken on a harsher tone of inhumanity with a greater intensity of slaughter. Soldiers had witnessed the menacing effects of poisonous gas, Zeppelin and airplane bombings and submarine warfare. In spite of these gruesome engagements, all with high casualties, the battle front was fairly static until the entrance of the United States in 1917. By then, Russia had been consumed by civil unrest, and Austria was secretly suing for peace with France. In a railway car at Compiègne, France, the Germans sign the Armistice which is effective at 11 am – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, and the war was ended.

In the end, the Schlieffen Plan ultimately failed. So promising at first, the maneuver had underestimated Paris’ garrison and the tenacity of its people, supplyand-demand problems at the invasion’s western-most flank, unreliable communication to forward positions and the earlier-than-anticipated mobilization of Russian troops in the east. The war redrew the map of Europe, costing millions of lives and the end of three empires while laying the groundwork for an even deadlier and more grotesque conflict just two decades later.

Early in the War to End All Wars, a 25-year-old lance corporal had narrowly escaped death in the first battle of Ypres on the Belgian border. He vehemently declined to participate in the Christmas Truce that followed and was devastated by Second Reich’s loss nearly four years later. Embittered, a wildly patriotic Adolf Hitler set in motion his dangerous course for an apocalyptic new world order.

Background Notes courtesy of Opera Minnesota.

Building stronger communities.

At BMO® Financial Group, we take pride in our local communities.

That’s why, each year, through various donations and sponsorships we are committed to providing our support.

BMO Financial is proud to sponsor the Calgary Opera and this production of Silent Night.

Registered trade-marks of Bank of Montreal.

®

CAST LISTED IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE

by kevin puts aND mark campbell

Composer | Kevin Puts Librettist | Mark Campbell Conductor | Joseph Mechavich Stage Director | David Gately Scenery & Properties designed by | Francis O’Connor Costumes designed by | Kärin Kopischke Projections designed by | Andrzej Goulding Sound designed by | C. Andrew Mayer Lighting Designer | Harry Frehner Fight Director | Karl Sine Silent Night, based on the screenplay by Christian Carion for the motion picture Joyeux Noël produced by Nord-Ouest Production Commissioned by Minnesota Opera A Minnesota Opera New Works Initiative Production by arrangement with Aperto Press, publisher Bill Holab Music: Sole Agent Scenery, properties, costumes and media files for this production are owned by the Minnesota Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Cincinnati Opera and Fort Worth Opera and were constructed by The Minnesota Opera Shops.

Sponsored by

Commemorative Engagement Sponsor

Anna Sorenson | Sally Dibblee Nikolaus Sprink | Roger Honeywell Father Palmer | Peter McGillivray Jonathan Dale | Matthew Bruce* William Dale | David Diston* Madeleine Audebert | Stephanie Tritchew* Gueusselin | Graham Paynter German Officer | Greg Wagland Lieutenant Audebert | Brett Polegato Lieutenant Gordon | James Westman The French General | Alain Coulombe Ponchel | Vasil Garvanliev Lieutenant Horstmayer | Daniel Okulitch German Soldier/German Sentry | Kevin Myers* Kronprinz | Robert Clark The British Major | Aaron Dimoff* Cast subject to change

Calgary Opera Chorus Chorus Director | Sandra Atkinson Accompanied by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Repetiteur | Christopher Mokrzewski Chorus Repetiteur | Rachel Baljeu Opera Titles | John Bouz Stage Manager | Donna Sharpe Assistant Stage Manager | Nicole Bergen Assistant Stage Manager | Amy Lippold Apprentice Stage Manager | Cale Thompson Head of Wardrobe | Heather Moore Head Make-Up Artist | Gail Kennedy Head Wig & Hair Artist | Franca Vaccaro Head of Props | Laura Anderson Scenic Carpenter | John Bouman Calgary Opera is proud to work with the professional stage hands and artisans provided by IATSE Local 212 *Members of 2014-15 Calgary Opera Emerging Artist Program

SILENT NIGHT 17

Prologue Late summer, 1914 War is declared. At a Berlin opera house, the announcement disrupts the careers and personal lives of international opera singers Anna Sørensen and Nikolaus Sprink. In a small church in Scotland, it inspires dreams of heroism in William who demands that his younger brother Jonathan immediately enlist with him, as their priest, Father Palmer, looks helplessly on. In the Parisian apartment of the Audeberts, it angers Madeleine who excoriates her husband for leaving to fight while she is pregnant with their first child. With nationalistic songs in the background, the men prepare to leave for war.

ACT I In and around a battlefield in Belgium, near the French border, around Christmas Scene one – December 23, late afternoon. A horrific battle is fought between the Germans and the French and Scottish. An attempt by the French and Scottish soldiers to infiltrate the German bunker fails miserably; corpses begin to pile up in the no-man’s land between the three bunkers. When William is shot, Jonathan must leave his brother behind to die.

Scene two – December 23, evening. In the Scottish bunker, Lieutenant Gordon assesses the casualties after the battle. Father Palmer attempts to offer solace to Jonathan in prayer.

In the French bunker, Lieutenant Audebert discovers the French General waiting in his makeshift office who reprimands him for surrendering and threatens him with a transfer. The General leaves and Audebert laments the loss of his wife’s photograph to his aide de camp, Ponchel.

When he is alone Audebert tallies the casualties in the last battle, while missing Madeleine and their child who he 18 CALGARY OPERA 2014-15 SEASON

has not yet seen. He sings of needing sleep, a sentiment echoed by all of the soldiers. As it starts to snow, covering the corpses in no-man’s land, the soldiers slowly begin to sleep. Alone in the German bunker, Nikolaus, reveals to an imagined Anna his despair about war.

Scene three – December 24, morning. In the German bunker, crates have arrived – and little Christmas trees from the Kronprinz. Lieutenant Horstmayer criticizes the Kronprinz for not sending them more useful presents, like ammunition and reinforcements. He receives a directive from headquarters that Nikolaus has been ordered to sing at the nearby chalet of the Kronprinz, along with one Anna Sørensen. Nikolaus departs for the chalet, excited that he will be reunited with Anna again after many months apart.

The French soldiers have received crates of wine, sausages and chocolates from the quartermaster and open them jubilantly. Ponchel, a barber by trade, brings coffee to Audebert and sits him down for a haircut. He is reminded of having coffee with his mother every morning, who lives only an hour away on foot. The alarm clock he carries next to his heart at all times (which shielded him from a bullet in the last battle) rings at ten o’clock every morning to remind him of their daily meeting.

In the Scottish bunker, crates of whiskey have arrived from home. Jonathan writes a letter to his mother, not mentioning his brother’s death.

Scene four – December 24, early evening. At the chalet of the Kronprinz, Anna and Nikolaus perform a duet. Following the performance, they steal a few moments on a terrace outside. Anna notices the cruel effect war has had on her lover’s spirit. She has arranged for Nikolaus to spend the night with her and is angry when he says he must return to his fellow soldiers. She vows to accompany him back to the battlefield.

synopsis Scene five – December 24, night. In the French bunker, Gueusselin volunteers to infiltrate the German bunker, and with several grenades, sidles onto no-man’s land. The Scottish soldiers drink whiskey and play a bagpipe that another unit has sent them, as Father Palmer sings a sentimental ballad about home. The men in the other bunkers hear the song and react to it with sadness, caution and annoyance. Nikolaus arrives; his fellow soldiers greet him with cheers and applause and gasp in amazement at seeing Anna with him. When the song in the Scottish bunker is finished, Nikolaus sings a rousing Christmas song loudly in response and midway through, the bagpiper begins to accompany.

Emboldened, Nikolaus stands atop the bunker raising a Christmas tree as a gesture of friendship. Against the protestations of their superiors, the soldiers from all bunkers stand. Nikolaus bravely moves to the center of no-man’s land. Gueusselin abandons his plan to grenade the German bunker.

Eventually, the three lieutenants, waving a white flag of truce, agree to a cease-fire … but only on Christmas Eve. The soldiers slowly and cautiously move toward each other. They share their provisions, their photos and their names. Anna appears and all of the soldiers are awed by the sight of a woman. Father Palmer has set up a makeshift church and celebrates mass with the men, while Jonathan finds his brother’s body and vows revenge. Father Palmer finishes the mass and urges the men to “go in peace” as bombs explode menacingly in the distance.

ACT II Scene one – December 25, dawn. The following morning, Jonathan tries to bury his brother. Because the truce is officially over, two German sentries are prepared to shoot him, although Father Palmer and Lieutenant Gordon intervene. Looking on, Horstmayer proposes that it may indeed be time to bury all of the dead. The three lieutenants meet and decide that coffee that the truce will be extended until after the dead in no-man’s land are buried.

Scene two – December 25, late morning, early afternoon. The soldiers pile up the corpses, Father Palmer delivers last rites and the soldiers form a processional bearing the wagon of bodies away. Anna looks on with Nikolaus and promises that he will not suffer the same fate.

Scene three – December 25, all day. In the meantime, news of the cease-fire has reached headquarters, and the British Major, the Kronprinz and the French General all react in anger and disbelief. They declare that they will punish the soldiers for their betrayal.

Scene four – December 25, evening. When the truce is over, Nikolaus ridicules Horstmayer for his allegiance to the Fatherland; Horstmayer arrests him for insubordination. Anna takes Nikokaus’ hand and leads him across no-man’s land as Horstmayer orders his men to shoot, but no one moves. Reaching the French bunker unharmed, Nikolaus demands asylum for Anna and himself.

Scene five – December 26, late morning. The British Major admonishes the Scottish soldiers for participating in the Christmas truce. They are to be transferred to the front lines. When a German soldier is seen crossing the battlefield, the Major orders him killed. Jonathan complies and dispassionately shoots the man.

Lieutenant Audebert returns to his small office and discovers the French General there. The General tells Audebert that he will be transferred to Verdun as punishment for consorting with the enemy and that his unit will be disbanded. Audebert informs the French General – his father – that he has learned he has an infant son named Henri. They vow to survive the war for the child’s sake.

The Kronprinz angrily announces that the German soldiers are to be deployed in Pomerania as punishment.

The soldiers are taken off in a boxcar. The battlefield is now completely empty. Snow begins to fall again.

SILENT NIGHT 19

biographies Kevin Puts Composer

Puts’ orchestral catalog includes four symphonies as well as several concertos written for some of today’s top soloists. In 2005, Mr. Puts received the tremendous honor of a commission in celebration of David Zinman’s 70th birthday, and the result was Vision, a cello concerto premiered by Yo-Yo Ma and the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra. During the same year, his Percussion Concerto

was premiered by Evelyn Glennie with the Pacific and Utah Symphonies. He has also written concertos for marimbist Makoto Nakura, violinist Michael Shih, clarinetist Bil Jackson, and a piano concerto commissioned by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and premiered in 2008 by pianist and conductor Jeffrey Kahane.

Puts has received awards and grants from the American Academy in Rome, the Guggenheim Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, BMI and ASCAP. He has served as Composer-in-Residence of Young Concerts Artists, the California Symphony, the Fort Worth Symphony, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, Music from Angel Fire, and the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society. He received his training as a composer and pianist at the Eastman School of Music and Yale University. Since 2006, he has been a member of the composition department at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Puts received his Bachelor’s Degree from the Eastman School of Music, his Master’s Degree from Yale University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts at the Eastman School of Music.

AWARD WINNING REMEMBRANCE DAY DRAMA

JAKE’S GIFT

WRITTEN & PERFORMED BY JULIA MACKEY DIRECTED BY DIRK VAN STRALEN

Vete rans and m ilitar y perso n n el a t ten d fo r free 160-115 9th Avenue SE • lunchboxtheatre.com • 403 265 4292 x 0 $25 Adults • $20 Students/Seniors • Monday to Saturday 12:10PM • Thursday & Friday 6:10PM

20 CALGARY OPERA 2014-15 SEASON

2014

Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for the opera Silent Night, Kevin Puts has been hailed as one of the most important composers of his generation. His work has been commissioned and performed by leading orchestras in the United States and abroad, including the New York Philharmonic, the Tonhalle Orchester (Zürich), the symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Cincinnati, Detroit, Atlanta, Colorado, Houston, Fort Worth, Utah, St. Louis, the Boston Pops, and the Minnesota Orchestra which commissioned his Sinfonia Concertante, and by leading chamber ensembles such as the Mirò Quartet, the Eroica Trio, eighth blackbird, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.

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Mark Campbell Librettist

Mark Campbell is one of the most in-demand librettists working in opera today, profiled in Opera News as one of 25 people “poised...to become major forces in opera in the coming decade.”

Mark’s most known work is the libretto for the opera Silent Night, which garnered the 2012 Pulitzer in Music for composer Kevin Puts. The opera has received many productions since its premiere at Minnesota Opera and was broadcast on PBS’ Great Performances last Christmas. Other successful operas include: Later the Same Evening, Volpone, As One, Bastianello/Lucrezia, The Inspector, and Rappahannock County. He has collaborated with many notable contemporay composers, including Mark Adamo, Mason Bates, William Bolcom, Conrad Cummings, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, Martin Hennessy, Laura Kaminsky, Paul Moravec, John Musto, Kevin Puts, Richard Peaslee and Michael Torke.

Mark has received many other prestigious prizes for his work, including a Grammy® nomination for best Classical Recording, the first Kleban Foundation Award for Lyricist, two RIchard Rodgers Awards, three Drama

Desk nominations, a Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award, a New York Foundation for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship and the Dominic J. Pelliciotti Award.

As a lyricist, Mark penned all of the lyrics for Songs from an Unmade Bed, a theatrical song cycle with music by 18 composers including Jake Heggie and Duncan Sheik.

The show has since been produced in many venues around the world. Other musicals for which he has written lyrics include: And the Curtain Rises, The Audience, Chang & Eng, and Splendora.

Recordings of Mark’s works include the Grammy®nominated Volpone, (Wolf Trap Recordings), Later the Same Evening (Albany Records), Bastianello/Lucrezia (Bridge Classical) and Songs from an Unmade Bed (Sh-kBoom Records). Songs from an Unmade Bed and Silent Night are also published by Bill Holab Music.

Upcoming operas include: The Other Room (2014, Inner Voices, Marisa Michelson); The Manchurian Candidate (2015, Minnesota Opera, Kevin Puts); Burke + Hare (2016, Music-Theatre Group, Julian Grant); The Shining (Minnsota Opera); Elizabeth Cree (2017, Opera Philadelphia, Kevin Puts); Dinner at Eight (2017, Minnesota Opera, William Bolcom).

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SILENT NIGHT 21

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biographies Joseph Mechavich

David Gately

Conductor

Stage Director

Regarded as a conductor of authority and warmth, Joseph Mechavich is known for his exceptional artistry and infectious energy. Maestro Mechavich presided over Jake Heggie’s highly acclaimed opera Moby-Dick, for both Calgary Opera and San Diego Opera. Engagements for the 2013-14 season include La bohème (Kentucky Opera), L’Incoronazione di Poppea (New England Conservatory of Music), Tosca (Dayton Opera) and La Traviata (The Florentine Opera). Upcoming engagements include Nixon in China (San Diego Opera), Wuthering Heights (Florentine Opera), A Streetcar Named Desire (Kentucky Opera) and Die Zauberflöte (Opera Colorado).

THE BANFF CENTRE PRESENTS

Stage director David Gately is known for his vivid story telling and lively and clever productions. During the 2013- 2014 season he directed Così fan tutte at the Ft. Worth Opera, La Traviata with the Academy of Vocal Arts, Dark Sisters with Boston University’s Fringe Festival, and The Turn of the Screw with the Siena Music Festival. Recent highlights include Los Angeles Philharmonic for Angels in America, Atlanta Opera for La Traviata, the Fort Worth Opera for Ariadne auf Naxos, and Boston University’s Fringe Festival for Massenet’s Le Portrait de Manon.

MEASHA BRUEGGERGOSMAN CHRISTMAS Saturday, November 29, 7:30 p.m. $25

“A singer of rare gifts and artistic intensity” - San Francisco Chronicle

THE JUDGEMENT OF PARIS WRITTEN BY TOM ALLEN Saturday, January 24, 7:30 p.m. $25 Photo credit: Matt Dunlap

The Banff Centre Box Office 403.762.6301 tickets.banffcentre.ca

24 CALGARY OPERA 2014-15 SEASON

A mix of cabaret, history and story-telling with timeless music by Debussy and Ravel.

Harry Frehner

KARL SINE

Lighting Designer

Fight Director

Harry Frehner has designed more than 50 productions for Calgary Opera dating back to 1992. In the past seven years, six of these productions have been nominated for Betty Mitchell Awards, of which two have won. He has lit productions for opera companies in Canada such as Edmonton Opera, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Vancouver Opera, Opera Ontario, Manitoba Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria.

In the US he has lit productions for San Diego Opera, Opera Colorado, Arizona Opera, and Utah Opera. As well, his work has been seen across the country at such companies as The Banff Centre, Theatre Calgary, Alberta Theatre Projects, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Stratford and Shaw Festivals, Ballet BC and Neptune Theatre.

For Calgary Opera: Debut. Elsewhere: As Fight Director: Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet (TSC); Titus, Land Of The Dead (GZT/Hit&Myth/TSC); Huron Bride (Vertigo); Butcher, The Motherf@#!Er With The Hat (ATP); Liberation Days, One Man, 2 Guvnors, The Great Gatsby (Theatre Calgary); She Has A Name (Burnt Thicket Theatre). As Actor: Othello (TSC); Titus, William Shakespeare’s Land Of The Dead (GZT/ Hit&Myth/TSC); Pride And Prejudice, Enron, A Christmas Carol, Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre Calgary); Queen Milli Of Galt, Mary’s Wedding, Oliver, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (Rosebud); Ways And Means (Lunchbox). Upcoming: Karl will be acting in A Christmas Carol at Theatre Calgary. Karl works as an actor, director and is a certified fight instructor with the Academy of Fight Directors Canada. He wishes to thank his wife Lindsey and his two wonderful kids Olivia and Charlie.

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SILENT NIGHT 25

biographies

Cast listed in order of appearance

Sally Dibblee

Roger Honeywell

Soprano

Anna Sorenson Sally Dibblee, critically acclaimed as a “tour-de-force of vocal control and expressive flexibility,” enjoys success on opera stages and concert halls throughout North America. Recent opera engagements include performances with Pacific Opera Victoria and Vancouver Opera in her role debut as Lady Billows in Albert Herring and in the title role of Madame Butterfly with Calgary Opera. In recital she was the soloist in A Sea Symphony by R. Vaughn Williams with the Flint Symphony and in the Fauré Requiem and Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with Symphony New Brunswick.

Ms. Dibblee continues to teach voice studies as voice professor at Mount Allison University.

Tenor

Nikolaus Sprink Canadian Tenor Roger Honeywell has been acclaimed by Anthony Tommasini as a performer who brings “burnished sound and crisp diction to the sweeping vocal lines, full of leaps and dips.”

Highlights of the 2014-2015 season include a return to Santa Fe Opera for the world premiere of Jennifer Higdon’s Cold Mountain, in the role of Veasey, directed by Leonard Foglia. He is pleased to return to Calgary Opera for the Canadian premiere of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night, Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus with Vancouver Opera, and Danilo in The Merry Widow, opposite Deborah Voigt, at Michigan Opera Theatre.

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26 CALGARY OPERA 2014-15 SEASON

Peter McGillivray

Matthew Bruce

baritone

Tenor

Father Palmer

Jonathan Dale

Saskatchewan-born baritone Peter McGillivray is a seasoned performing artist who first burst on to the scene as winner of the 2003 CBC Young Performers Competition in Calgary. A former member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio and a frequent guest of Calgary Opera (Carmen, Manon, Pagliacci and Moby-Dick), he has also spent a season on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera (La Bohème and Capriccio). Recent credits include work with Manitoba Opera (La Bohème), Edmonton Opera (Die Fledermaus), Vancouver Opera (Albert Herring), Opéra de Québec (Madama Butterfly), Opera Lyra Ottawa (La Bohème) and the Canadian Opera Company (Gianni Schicchi).

Upcoming engagements include appearances with Opera Lyra Ottawa (Marriage of Figaro, Barber of Seville) Saskatoon Opera (Madama Butterfly) and Dallas Opera (Moby-Dick).

Matthew Bruce’s love for music was inspired from an early age. His foundation and appreciation for the performing arts was formed through his parents’ influence, both of whom are professional musicians. Mr. Bruce’s passion for performing inspired him to relocate to Victoria, BC to study voice, acting, and dance at the Canadian College of Performing Arts. Upon graduating, Mr. Bruce continued his vocal training at the Victoria Conservatory of Music where he performed in the Opera Studio program and studied privately with Ms. Nancy Argenta. Mr. Bruce recently performed the lead role of Candide at Opera in the Village, Canada's only summer outdoor opera festival, and is currently participating in his second year of the Emerging Artist Program (Calgary Opera).

The Calgary Opera program is published four times per year by Playhouse Publications Ltd. The contents of The Calgary Opera program may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved by Playhouse Publications Ltd.

Inquiries should be made to: Playhouse Publications Ltd. 10177 - 105 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 1E2 Ph: 780-423-5834 • Fax: 780-413-6185 • www.playhousepublications.ca PLAYHOUSE PUBLICATIONS LTD. President & Publisher: Rob Suggitt Art Director & Designer: Christine Kucher Advertising Sales: Barry Powis, Kerry Duperron Administration: Amber Grmek The Calgary Opera program is a product of Playhouse Publications Ltd., an affiliate of Suggitt Publishers.

President & CEO: Tom Suggitt • President & CFO: Rob Suggitt

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SILENT NIGHT 27

biographies David Diston

Stephanie Tritchew

baritone

mezzo-Soprano

William Dale

Madeleine Audebert

Baritone David Diston is a 2014 Masters graduate in Opera Performance from the University of Toronto. Mr. Diston’s performance credits include Mr. Gedge (Albert Herring), Dr. Dulcamara (L’Elisir d’amore) and Dr. Malatesta (Don Pasquale) all with the UofT, Don Giovanni with Opera NUOVA, Guglielmo (Così fan tutte) with Toronto Summer Opera Workshop, Falke (Die Fledermaus) and Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) with Western University, and Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte) and Leporello (Don Giovanni) with the Accademia Europea Dell’Opera in Milan. In concert Mr. Diston recently made his Toronto Symphony Orchestra debut as the baritone soloist in Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3.

Most recently Mr. Diston joined Calgary Opera as an ensemble member in Candide as a part of their summer season, Opera in the Village.

Mezzo-Soprano Stephanie Tritchew recently completed her Opera Diploma at the University of Toronto, under the tutelage of Wendy Nielsen. She holds a Bachelor of Music and a Masters of Music from the University of Western Ontario.

Roles include: Nancy (Albert Herring), Mrs. Grose (Turn of the Screw), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Prince Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), and Mère Marie de l’incarnation (Dialogues des Carmélites). On the concert stage, Ms. Tritchew performed Bach’s Mass in b minor and Handel’s Messiah with Chorus Niagara, soloist with the Niagara Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas POPS! series, and was a Sidgwick Scholar with the Orpheus Choir of Toronto. She is a contemporary music enthusiast and has performed several times with Tapestry New Opera. Ms. Tritchew was a semi-finalist in the 2014 Eckhardt Gramatté competition. Most recently, she toured with The Bicycle Opera Project, a company that focuses on bringing Canadian contemporary opera to communities across Ontario.

Special thanks to our Opera Table Sponsors

28 CALGARY OPERA 2014-15 SEASON

Gala 2014 sponsors

Brett Polegato Baritone

Lieutenant Audebert One of today’s most sought-after lyric baritones on the international stage, Brett Polegato’s artistic sensibility has earned him the highest praise from audiences and critics. Since finishing first among the men at the 1995 Cardiff Singer of the World competition, his career has encompassed over 50 roles in the world’s most prestigious venues. He has made a name for himself in a number of dramatic roles, most notably the title roles of Eugene Onegin and Don Giovanni. He has also sung the title role in Wozzeck for Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre. Recent engagements include Eugene Onegin (Grange Park Opera), Ford Falstaff (Pacific Opera Victoria), Don Giovanni and the Marquis de Posa Don Carlos (both for Vancouver Opera) and Gowan Stevens Requiem (Teatro Colòn).

James Westman Baritone

Lieutenant Gordon Canadian Baritone James Westman has appeared in many of the world’s leading opera and concert halls. A versatile and dynamic performer, Westman created the lead role of Sandy Keith in John Murrell’s opera, The Inventor with Calgary Opera. His signature role, Germont (La Traviata) has been heard in over 170 performances with major companies, including San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Bordeaux, Cologne Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, and the English National Opera. His 2014-15 season includes; New York Philharmonic (Messiah), Pacific Opera Victoria (Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor), Opera Lyra Ottawa (Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro), Canadian Opera Company (Germont in La Traviata) and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (Rimsky Korsakov’s, Mozart and Salieri). Westman has recorded with Decca, BBC, CBC, Naxos, Opera Rara and Centre Disc. His recordings have been nominated for four Juno’s and two Grammy’s. www.jameswestman.com

Alain Coulombe bass

The French General Praised internationally for “his massively deep bass resonating with stentorian authority,” French Canadian bass Alain Coulombe looks forward to debuts at La Scala and the Salzburg Festival creating works

by Kurtag and Battistelli. Recent highlights include Banquo in Macbeth with l’Opéra de Québec, The Casino Director in Prokofiev’s The Gambler with the Netherlands Opera, Arkel in Pelléas et Mélisande with Against the Grain Theatre, le Comte des Grieux in Manon with l’Opéra de Montréal, as well as the World Premieres of Mary’s Wedding with the Pacific Opera Victoria and Waiting For Miss Monroe with the Netherlands Opera. He last performed with Calgary Opera in the 2011 production of Aida.

Vasil Garvanliev baritone

Ponchel Mr. Garvanliev’s 2014-2015 season features his return to Calgary Opera as Ponchel in the Canadian premiere of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night. Last season saw Mr. Garvanliev in recital with the Grachtenfestival in Amsterdam (as a semi-finalist of the Hans-Gabor Belvedere International Singing Competition), and perform a solo concert celebrating 20 years since his first number one single in his hometown Strumica. He returned to Opera Atelier’s production of Persée as Phinee both in Toronto and The Royal Opera House of Versailles, and made his debut with the Victoria Symphony singing Brahms’ German Requiem.

SILENT NIGHT 29

biographies Daniel Okulitch

Robert Clark

Bass-Baritone

tenor

Lieutenant Horstmayer

Kronprinz

Daniel Okulitch has performed in some of the most prestigious opera companies and orchestras throughout Europe and North America, including Le Chatelet, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Colon, Dallas, Washington, and Los Angeles. His engagements in 2013-14 included the lead role of Ennis Del Mar in the world premiere of Brokeback Mountain at Madrid’s Teatro Real, Escamillo in Carmen and Giove in La Calisto with Cincinnati Opera, the title role of Don Giovanni with Vancouver, and the Pirate King in The Pirates of Penzance with Portland Opera. Future engagements include his debut with Grand Theatre de Geneve as Creonte in Medea, the world premiere of Enemies a Love Story with Palm Beach Opera, the title role of a new production of Don Giovanni at Santa Fe Opera, and the world premiere of JFK with Fort Worth Opera.

Kevin Myers Tenor

German Soldier/ German Sentry Tenor Kevin Myers was born and raised in Deep River, Ontario and studied voice there with Peter Morris.

He completed his undergraduate and graduate degrees at McGill University, where he studied with Stefano Algieri and Sanford Sylvan. Highlights from his time at McGill include many roles with the opera program; namely Lysander in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. He was lucky enough to study with renowned coaches Louise Pelletier, Esther Gonthier and Michael McMahon. In 2012, Mr. Myers was selected as a laureate of the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques and toured China performing opera in concert with that organization. In 2013 he performed the role of Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore with Opera NUOVA in Edmonton, and in 2014 he won the grand prize at the Festivale de Musique du Royaume.

30 CALGARY OPERA 2014-15 SEASON

An alumnus of Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artists Development Program, Robert Clark made his mainstage début as Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor with Calgary Opera. Recent performances include the Steersman in The Flying Dutchman, Flask in Moby-Dick and Roderigo in Otello with Calgary Opera, Narraboth in Salome with Edmonton Opera, Tamino in The Magic Flute with Highlands Opera Studio and Macduff in Macbeth with Pacific Opera Victoria. Upcoming engagements include The Vaudevillian in Shot with Nickel City Opera in Buffalo, Arturo in Lucia and First Priest/First Armed Man in The Magic Flute with Edmonton Opera.

Aaron Dimoff bass-baritone

The British Major Bass-Baritone Aaron Dimoff made his Calgary Opera debut last season singing Imperial Commissioner in Puccini’s Madame Butterfly as a member of the Emerging Artist program. During the program, he sang the role of Father in Hansel and Gretel for the Opera in Schools tour at Opera in the Village, as well as Collatinus in Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia. Returning for a second year in the Emerging Artist program, Mr. Dimoff is performing on the mainstage as Antonio in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, and Zuniga in Bizet’s Carmen. Other upcoming performances include Des Grieux in the Emerging Artist production of Massenet’s Le portrait de Manon. Concert appearances last season included Sciarrone in Puccini’s Tosca with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as excerpts of Haydn’s Creation and Mendelssohn’s Elijah with the Festival Chorus Calgary.

Donna Sharpe

Amy Lippold

Stage Manager

Assistant Stage Manager

Donna Sharpe is in her 13 season with Calgary Opera. Select Calgary Opera credits include Candide (Opera in the Village), The Pirates of Penzance (Opera in the Village), Moby-Dick, (Canadian Premiere), Aida, The Flying Dutchman, Madame Butterfly, The Italian Girl in Algiers, La Traviata, Falstaff, Otello, Pagliacci, Gianni Schicchi. Selected assistant stage managing credits include Dead Man Walking (Canadian Premiere), Frobisher (World Premiere), The Inventor (World Premiere), Don Giovanni, Barber of Seville, Faust, Tosca, Sweeney Todd, Little Women, Lucia, Manon, Rigoletto. Ms. Sharpe enjoys working with Calgary Opera’s young artists (The Rape of Lucretia, Così fan tutte and the upcoming Christmas at the Opera), and has stage-managed with Green Mountain Opera Festival (Vermont), Opera on the Avalon (Newfoundland), and the 2010 Winter Olympics (Whistler). th

Nicole Bergen Assistant Stage Manager

Nicole Bergen works as a stage manager and assistant stage manager in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Past shows include The Magic Flute, Carmen, The Marriage of Figaro, and Don Pasquale (SM, Saskatoon Opera), The Flying Dutchman, Madame Butterfly, The Pirates of Penzance, La Traviata, Otello, La Bohème, Moby Dick, Aida, Lucia di Lammermoor, and Manon (ASM, Calgary Opera), Ariodante and What Brought Us Here (SM, Calgary Opera, second stage), and Little Women, Turn of the Screw and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (ASM, The Banff Centre). This season’s shows include Silent Night, The Marriage of Figaro, and Carmen (ASM, Calgary Opera).

Favourite credits include: Stage Manager: Heat of the Night, Jekyll & Hyde, Evelyn Strange (Vertigo), Evil Dead the Musical (GZT/ Hit & Myth Productions), True Love Lies, The Wizard of Oz, Seussical the Musical, The Penelopiad Toad of ToadHall, Shakespeare’s Dog, Robin Hood, Unity (1918), The Drowning Girls, Oliver Twist (ATP), Princess of the Stars (Patria Opera), Così Fan Tutte, La Tragedie de Carmen, Dido & Aeneas (Banff Centre) Little Mercy’s First Murder (GZT), Bat Boy the Musical (Mob Hit Productions). As ASM: The Full Monty, Urinetown the Musical (GZT/Hit & Myth) and multiple seasons as ASM at ATP, Calgary Opera and the Banff Centre. Amy is a new mom to her amazing little man Samuel...all love to him and her fiance Brett.

Cale Thompson Apprentice Stage Manager

Cale Thompson is excited to enter the world of opera with such a wonderful group of people. He has been working as a stage manager for various community theatres in Calgary for the past 6 years. Select stage management credits include Les Miserables, Shrek The Musical, The Last Five Years, Hairpsray, New Canadian Kid (Storybook Theatre) and Young Frankenstein (Front Row Centre). You can also find him working in a few box offices around the city.

SILENT NIGHT 31

calgary philharmonic orchestra Music Director Roberto Minczuk FIRST VIOLINS

Diana Cohen - Concertmaster John Lowry - Associate Concertmaster Donovan Seidle - Assistant Concertmaster Janice Amsel Kathryn Corvino Hyewon Kim Olga Kotova Theresa Kraucunas Min-Kyung Kwon Bonnie Louie Robert Penner Laura Reid

SECOND VIOLINS

Lorna Tsai * Stephanie Soltice-Johnson ** Judy Bessel Adriana Bishop Jeremy Gabbert Craig Hutchenreuther Theresa Lane Lenora Leggatt Steven Lubiarz Richard Van de Geer

VIOLaS

Laurent Grillet * Marcin Swoboda ** Arthur Bachmann Jeremy Bauman Peter Blake Carl Boychuk Michael Bursey Julie Westgate

CELLI

Philip Hansen * Britton Riley ** Rafael Hoekman Joan Kent Thomas Megee Tom Mirhady David Morrissey Karen Youngquist

BASSES

Charles Garrett * Sheila Garrett ** Matthew Heller Graeme Mudd Patricia Reid Patrick Staples

FLUTES

Sara Hahn * Gwen Klassen **

* Principal

** Assistant Principal

*** Associate Principal

@CalgaryOpera

32 CALGARY OPERA 2014-15 SEASON

PICCOLO

BASS TROMBONE

OBOES

TUBA

Gwen Klassen ** Jean Landa * David Sussman **

ENGLISH HORN David Sussman

David Reid *

Michael Eastep *

TIMPANI

Alex Cohen *

PERCUSSION

CLARINETS

Tim Rawlings *

Steve Amsel * Jocelyn Colquhoun **

BASSOONS

Christopher Sales * Michael Hope **

HARP

Tisha Murvihill *

LIBRARIAN Rob Grewcock

HORNS

Robert McCosh * Jennifer Frank-Umana *** William Hopson ** Laurie Matiation ** Heather Wootton **

TRUMPETS

Adam Zinatelli * Howard Engstrom **

TROMBONES

James Scott * Michael Thomson **

† Principal Emeritus



Leave of Absence

Extra Musicians: Hal Redekop – Harmonica Andrew Smith – Bagpipes Sarah Gieck – Flute Heather Haydu – Oboe Stan Climie – Clarinet Krista Wodelet – Bassoon Richard Scholz – Trumpet Timothy Borton – Percussion Mike Schuett – Percussion

calgary opera chorus TENORS Réjean Campbell Adrian Dayrit Don Edie Michael Hardcastle David Hume Ned Leavitt Troy Lewis David Matthies Stuart Miller

BARITONES/BASSES Josh Paynter George Ross J.T. Steenkamp Ignacio Munoz Vizcarra Ted Wall Al Weller Chris Willot Eli Yon

Les Antoniuk Mike Bishop Sean Brandenberg Doug Cheke David Daly Jeff Davis Mark Hahle John Hallett Evan Lindberg

Paul Lloyd Kal Macdonald Jason Melnychuk David Ng Graham Paynter Marek Ratz Richard Taylor-Kerr Tim Volhoffer Greg Wagland Payam Zandiye

ONE NATION UNDER THE ARTS We live in a country with a rich and deep appreciation for arts and culture, and we’re committed to fund programs that enable Canadians of all means and backgrounds to enjoy the very best.

Proud supporter of the Calgary Opera and proudly Canadian.

SILENT NIGHT 33

Guilty pleasures. We didn’t crack the eggs. Or splurge on the Belgian chocolate. But we did heat the oven to bake the gourmet cupcakes that’ll be eaten before they’ve had the chance to cool. When the energy you invest in life meets the energy we fuel it with, sweet things happen.

emerging artists

meet the Opera Stars of Tomorrow

Laura Brandt Soprano

Vanessa OudeReimerink Soprano

Beste Kalender MezzoSoprano

Stephanie Tritchew MezzoSoprano

Matthew Bruce Tenor

Kevin Myers Tenor

David Diston Baritone

Aaron Dimoff bassBaritone

2014-15 Emerging Artists Adopt an Artist patrons Terence & Judith Dalgleish Monica Sloan & John Evison Andrea Brussa & David Lyons Cos & Eleanor Gabriele Marian Williams

We acknowledge the generous support of the Dr. R.G. (Bud) Williams Emerging Artist Scholarship Fund

Supported by Emerging Artist Development Program Sponsored by

SILENT NIGHT 35

CALGARY

OPERA

corporate and community support Community Supporters

Alberta Community Development Alberta Foundation for the Arts Alberta Lottery Fund Calgary Arts Development Canada Council for the Arts Canadian Heritage Southern Alberta Opera Development Foundation

Opera in the Village supporters

Cenovus Energy

The Remarkable Experience Accelerator Program - Calgary Hotel Association and Calgary Arts Development Authority The Calgary Foundation The Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage Program - Department of Canadian Heritage ATCO Structures & Logistics Tourism Calgary Province of Alberta CMLC

Season Sponsor

Festival Sponsors

Community Outreach Sponsor

Husky Energy

Emerging Artist Development Program Sponsor Enbridge

Mainstage Media Sponsor The Calgary Herald

FRAM + Slokker Embassy BOSA Big Rock Brewery

Media Sponsors

Calgary Herald Global Calgary Up! 97.7 Pattison Outdoor Playhouse Publications Swerve

Voce Eterna Future Fund

We acknowledge the generous support of Dr. R.G. (Bud) Williams, Emerging Artist Scholarship Fund Brian Grasmuck

Impresario Circle Platinum

Andrea Brussa* Judith & Terence Dalgleish* Stewart & Eileen Ford David & Beverley Foy Brian Grasmuck Diane Hobson John Evison & Monica Sloan* Don Swystun Sheila Wappel-McLean & Brent McLean Marian Williams* * Denotes Adopt-an-Artist Donor

Gold

BMO Financial Group KPMG Nexen Energy ULC RBC Financial Group through RBC Emerging Artists Project Sun Life Financial Talisman Energy

Consulting Professionals

Kensington Wine Market

Tunde Agbi Lilien Dobish Cos & Eleanor Gabriele* Christel & Ben Johansson Dawn & Verne Johnson Mary Rozsa de Coquet Kathy & Richard Sendall C.A. Siebens James M. Stanford * Denotes Adopt-an-Artist Donor

Corporate Donors

Official Florist

Silver

Performance & Program Supporters

Canadian Natural Resources Homes by Avi

Opera in the Village Presenting sponsor Imperial

Dr. Phillip Van der Merwe – Company Physician

Official Wine Supplier

Peaseblossoms

Official Piano Technicians of the Arrata Opera Centre Robert Moffatt

Individual Donors Naming Benefactor Arrata Opera Centre Said Arrata

Major Gift Donors

Dick Matthews Memorial Fund at The Calgary Foundation Pyke Family

Anonymous (1) Sharon Bartley Lori Caltagirone Alan D. Castle M.A. Duggan Dan & Susan Ezinga Eldon & Carlie-Jean Godfrey Dick & Lois Haskayne David & Joyce Keith Kevin Konynenbelt Vickie & Russell McKinnnon Pat & Peter Menzies Geri & Alan Moon Patricia & J. Sherrold Moore Heather Peters Helen M. Wells SILENT NIGHT 37

corporate and community support Bronze

Anonymous (1) The Alan D. Castle Endowment for the Arts Helen & Mark Cluett Kirsten Cook-Zaba & Dwayne Zaba Carolyn Dahl Rees David & Roxanne Dunlop Margaret & Robert Fraleigh Michael & Carmen Hardcastle M.J. Kandt Juri & Helle Kraav James Light & Dixie Durling David Lyons* John & Susan McWilliams Roger & Pam Prior Heinz & Cathey Schmitz Cynthia Sim Tamra Stretch Janice Woodward *Denotes Adopt-an-Artist Donor

Core

Anonymous (1) ADEM Engineering Consultants Inc. Irene M. Bakker Micheline Barbeau Dr. Ken Blair / Rev. James Farrell BrightPath Kids Susanne & Michael Brown Ian & Gwen Burgess Dr. Miriam Carey Ioan Dobre & Claudia Cattaneo Walter & Gloria Chayka Judge & Mrs. Mary Jane Cioni Marilyn Conley Brent Cooper Patricia Courtright Andy Crichton & Michele Kalny David Daly Bill & Anne-Marie Duma Paul English & Marion Woodman Michael Fawcett Tibor & Livia Fekete Brian & Stephanie Felesky Angie Gelinas Patricia Glenn & John Holgate Patricia & Paul Godard Niki & Craig Golinowski Joyce Gray

David R. Haigh Stella Hall Lynda Hay Judith Hepner Dr. Mark & Nancy Heule Henry & Johanna Heuver Carrol Jaques & Bob Loov Glenn Johanson & Margaret Gibson Ryan Kalt Kimberley & Paul Lloyd Jay MacGillvray Brian P. Mahoney Sian Matthews & Gerry Leudy Dennis & Maureen McConaghy Lachlin & Julianne McKinnon Denise McMullen W.R. (Bob) McPhee Helen Moore-Parkhouse Bruce & Branca Pachkowski Jocelyne Daw & Bob Page Lorne & Beth Price Gerry & Gail Protti Greta Raymond Agnes & Edward Rewucki Iris Richards Maggie Rigaux Gordon Ritchie Marion Rogers Gordon W. Ross & Richard Cote Gordon Sombrowski & Kevin Allen Amber Stewart Arlene Strom & Colin Jackson Cheryl Swan Kenneth Turnbull & Faye Larson Henriette & Kees van Ittersum Dan & Molly Wares Andy & Krystyna Williamson Maurice & Anne Petrie Yacowar

Individual Donors $500 - $1,249

Anonymous Jennifer Arko & Laura Castle Edna M. Charchuk Ted & Yanka Cochrane Deborah Cullen Tony & Gilean Daffern Gizella Davis John & Donna Ferrara-Kerr John & Audrey Fry Darcie Greggs

38 CALGARY OPERA 2014-15 SEASON

Chris Herman Derek & Nancy Lee Janis & Bruce Morrison Dr. Brian Norford Donna Riback Paul Van den Eynden Melanie Stapleton Richard & Shannon Tanner Robert & Kathryn Worthingham Jerilyn Wright

$250 - $499

Anonymous (3) Tina Antony Michael Gerken Robert & Linda Heidemann Rizwan Hirjee John Humphrey & Laura McLeod P. Kornacki Robert & Linda Lesoway John Martland Outi McEachern Brian Mills & Susan Tyrrell James Murray Jock Osler Pamela Smith Barry & Gail Pollock Francis Price Elinor Rae Vera A. Ross Greg Szuch Rodney Touche

$100 - $249

Anonymous (11) Accu-Tax Consulting Corp.

Carol & Chris Archer Daen Ashantiva Amber Baker Marian Beer Jeanette & Rudy Berger Pieter Bessem & Heather Fraser Greg Bezaire Patrick Blancher Jean Blayney A.J. Brown & R.B. Beaty Katri Bruen Marion R. Burrus Dr. & Mrs. David Butts S. & M. Cameron Anita Carey

David Caulfield Catrin Coe Frances V. Cormack Greg Coupal Susan Cowan Craighead Family Anne-Marie Crawford James & Terry Creusot John & Mari Jo deWaal Ann Donald C. Morag Dornian Earl & Judy Dreeschen Denis & Patricia Duke Edi J. Dygert Ms. Judy Ernst & Mr. Gary Gelderblaum Miriam & Stephen Field Barbara & Larry Fish Mr. Scott Forsyth Linda M. Fraser L. & M. Gregoret Ileen Hagen Gregory & Alison Hild David & Anne Hills David Hobill Carla Hos Sandra Hunt McDonald Helen Isaac Jellicoe Family Birgit Kostera Dennis Kreptul & Anne Tierney Larissa Kurennaya Normand Landry Michael Lee Hing Doreen Lougheed Al & Sandra Lucas Peter Mauro Karen McCullough James & Donna McDonald Sean McInnes Karen D. McKay K. Millard Rose Monea Dr. Darlene Montgomery Gail Niinimaa John & Jean Partridge A. Patterson Barry Paxton Justice Carolyn S. Phillips Roger Pilkington Norm & Marlene Raymond Chere Reilly Paul Sacco Mr. & Mrs. James Scott Laura Scott

Doris & Gerard Sheilan Joan & Geoffrey Simmins Alane Smith Leonard Smith Doug Soeder Kathie and Bill Stell Greg Stirling David Tavender Peg Taylor Alan Waugh Caroline Weisgerber Mr. & Mrs. T. W. Wilson Bryan Wright Frederick G. Young Herrat Zahner John Zubis

Silent Night Fund

Anonymous (1) B D Consulting Ian & Gwen Burgess Martha Cohen Brent & Karen Cooper Carolyn Dahl Rees Anne-Marie & Bill Duma David & Beverley Foy Henry & Johanna Heuver Sian Matthews Mary Rozsa de Coquet

Training Fund

Anonymous (2) Rashida & Mohamed Ali Phyllis Balm Sharon M. Bartley Ken Berg Joan & Sean Booth Ann & Robert Calvert Bruce N. Calvin Walter & Gloria Chayka Ms. Mavis Clark Coril Holdings Christopher Mokrzewski & Caitlin Coull Judith & Terence Dalgleish Morris & Ann Dancyger L. Shawn Davis Kevin Dehod David & Roxanne Dunlop Glen Eastwood Essential Energy Services Ltd. Wayne Foo David & Beverley Foy

Fatima Fuentes Dr. Gary Gelfand John & Mary Lou Halliwell Dick & Lois Haskayne John Holgate Rebecca Hotchkiss Clarke Hunter Christel & Ben Johansson Dawn & Verne Johnson The Late Zeenab Kassam Paula Leslie Michael & Catherine Loughlean Riaz Mamdani Terrance McKibbon John & Susan McWilliams Dale Meister Peter & Pat Menzies Marilyn Milavsky National Bank Gary Nissen Pacific Wine & Spirits Mrs. Sheila O’Brien Barbara Palmer Trudy Payne Louisa Powell Una Power Sarah Raiss Ruth & Garry Ramsden-Wood Fred & Judy Rea Agnes & Edward Rewucki Gregg Scott Patrick Poulin & Tammy Shaw Howard B. Small Patricia & Bob Steele Dana Ursulescu Sheila Wappel-McLean & Brent McLean Dan & Molly Wares Wayne Whitlock Andy & Krystyna Williamson Henry Wilmot Elaine & Gerry Wood Deborah Yedlin & Martin Molyneaux Kenneth Young

Memorials

In Loving Memory of Ilse Grasmuck In Memory of Tom & Karen Jones Dedicated to the memory of A.R.P., gentleman and Canadian War Veteran

2014 Opera Gala Silent Auction Donors

Amy Dryer Audrey Mabee Azuridge Estate Hotel Inspirati Fine Linens The Banff Centre Vertigo Theatre The Fairmont Banff Springs Nikola Clothing Bonterra Trattoria Trialto Wine Group Limited Bellstar Resorts Bill Duma Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra Calgary Polo Club Carl White Chef Chris Shaften Rachel Goldenberg Copeman Healthcare Centre Early Music Voices DESIGNhaus Henry Singer Jerilyn Wright & Associates Calgary Jewellery Jim Norton Glass Studios The Lake House Laurier Lounge Sheila Wappel-McLean Inglewood Art Gallery Michel Arsenau Nathalie Boisvert Photography National Captioning Canada Parkside Resort Hotel and Spa Pat Menzies Pippa Fitzgerald-Finch Rubaiyat SAIT Culinary Campus Sol Optix Swirl Fine Art and Design Inc. Tracy Proctor Willow Park Wines & Spirits Matias Grum Kyle Clapham Structured Abstraction Mindham Fine Jewellery RGO Office Products Porsche Centre Calgary The Post Hotel

2014 California Wine Fair Silent Auction Donors

Alberta Theatre Projects Theatre Calgary Keys Please - The Driving Alternative Waterton Glacier Suites Creative Restaurant Industries Cibo Urbana Cucina Alberta Ballet Gabor L. Nagy Fine Art Paint Nite Calgary Vero Bistro Heritage Park Janet Horbacio Photography Fleur De Sel Yoga Mandala Sidewalk Citizen Bakery FRESH! Wellness Group Banff Caribou Lodge Jerome Salon Obscura Lucida Photography Julya Hajnoczky Greg Gerla Photography Decidedly Jazz Danceworks White Owl Ceramic Studio Peasant Cheese Shop Jim Norton Glass Studio Cowtown Opera Michelle Minke Calgary Jewellery Urban Venus National Music Centre Mary Adams Fine Jewelry Gemstone Wonders Cheryl Swan

Opera in the Village Special Thanks CHARCUT and Sidewalk Citizen Bakery – look for both opening in the Simmons Building in East Village in 2015.

SILENT NIGHT 39

eclectic!

A proud sponsor of the Calgary Opera

40 CALGARY OPERA 2014-15 SEASON

indulge for a day, two, three...

Reservation: 1-800-661-1586

spotl

t h ig

The second year of Opera in the Village

reveals that our festival is well on its way to becoming a key attraction in Calgary’s summer months!

Although the weather was cool and rainy, our spirits were high as our mainstage performance of Candide brought audiences to their feet with energetic applause. Thank you for running away to the circus with us and we hope to see you next year!

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