Edmonton Opera Pre-season issue by Suggitt Publishers

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SUMMER ISSUE 4 Message from Sandra Gajic, CEO

7 PCL in the Community

9 17th Annual Golf Classic

11 City Lumber Profile

12 Opera al Fresco Program

17 Donor Profile

19 Year-End Matching Campaign

22 Opera Tours Chicago Trip

25 ATB Canadian Series

28 Season Spotlight

30 5 Questions With Angela Brown

contents

@FreewillPlayers

Administration Office: 9720 102 Ave., Edmonton, AB T5J 4B2 Ph: 780-424-4040 Fax: 780-429-0600 Email: info@edmontonopera.com www.edmontonopera.com

Tix-on-the-Square: 780.420.1757

The Edmonton Opera magazine is published by Playhouse Publications Ltd. 950 Bell Tower 10104-103 Ave., Edmonton, Alberta T5J 0H8 Ph: 780-423-5834 • Fax: 780-413-6185 • www.playhousepublications.ca

BUYING OPERA TICKETS HAS NEVER BEEN EASIER! IN PERSON Visit our new Box Office at Tix on the Square Sir Winston Churchill Square 9930 – 102 Avenue MONDAY–FRIDAY.......... 9.30 am – 6.00 pm SATURDAY....................... 9.30 am – 4.00 pm CLOSED SUNDAYS & STATUTORY HOLIDAYS

BY PHONE 780.429.1000 ONLINE www.edmontonopera.com

Message from

SANDRA GAJIC, CEO Dear opera lovers, It is my pleasure to welcome you to the summer issue of Intermezzo, Edmonton Opera’s new magazine. The purpose of this issue is to keep you, our valued patron and supporter in the loop on everything that we are planning for the upcoming season. Well… we still may throw a few surprises your way, but this issue will share most of our plans, a preview on next season, inspiring stories about arts supporters and philanthropists and more. Opera is the most expensive art form and needs constant support in order to bring excellence to the stage. Therefore, we are in the process of our Year-End Matching Campaign, where every dollar donated by new and increased donations will be matched by an anonymous donor. So we are asking you to please consider making a donation that will help us raise artistic excellence; every dollar counts. Whether you are new to the opera, or a lifelong aficionado, we hope that you will be able to join us for the upcoming season and enjoy benefits that are only available to our most loyal patrons. Best seats in the house at discounted prices, special offers available to subscribers only, flexible exchanges, installment plans and more! Also, if you renew or become a subscriber before July 31st, your name will be entered to win a free trip to Chicago, as a part of our Opera Tours in November! A profound thanks to both corporate and individual donors; your support allows us to produce great opera and we couldn’t do it without you. On behalf of everyone at Edmonton Opera, enjoy this summer issue and we hope to see you at the Jubilee in October, for the grandest of all operas, Aida.

4 SUMMER MAGAZINE

Edmonton Opera Magazine is published four times per year by Playhouse Publications Ltd. The contents of Edmonton Opera Magazine 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. 950 Bell Tower 10104-103 Ave. Edmonton, Alberta T5J OH8 Ph: 780-423-5834 • Fax: 780-413-6185 www.playhousepublications.ca

PLAYHOUSE PUBLICATIONS LTD. President & Publisher: Rob Suggitt Vice President: Stephen Kathnelson Art Director & Designer: Christine Kucher Advertising Sales: Barry Powis, Kerry Duperron Administration: Amber Grmek

Summer Patio SaVINGS Vallejo Dining by MALLIN is made of cast aluminum and is in stock, available in 3 different frame and fabric colours with different table sizes, plus optional lounges and benches to choose from.

Edmonton Opera Magazine is a product of Playhouse Publications Ltd., an affiliate of Suggitt Group Ltd. President & CEO: Tom Suggitt President & CFO: Rob Suggitt Playhouse Publications Ltd. also publishes The Citadel Theatre playbill, The Arden Theatre playbill, the Fringe Theatre Arts at the Barns Magazine, Calgary Opera program, Hockey Edmonton Magazine and Hockey Calgary Magazine For advertising exposure contact Kerry Duperron at: 780-701-1951 or e-mail: kerry@playhousepublications.ca

10930 Mayfield Rd, Edmonton, AB ph. 780.486.1401 • fax. 780.489.3009 www.dinettepatio.ca

6 SUMMER MAGAZINE

the Art of Advertising

PCL in the Community

PCL is a leading Edmonton-based international construction company doing business throughout North

America, Australia and the Caribbean. It has more than 3,700 full-time professional and administrative salaried staff and more than 6,500 hourly tradespeople and operates in 31 major centres. PCL has an annual construction volume of more than $6 billion and is involved in more than 700 projects at any one time. The company’s tremendous growth and international footprint can all be attributed to a solid core of values – established in the early days of the Poole family, and thriving in today’s 100% employee ownership model – that have guided the company for over 100 years.

PCL and Edmonton PCL’s roots in Edmonton go as far back as 1922 when the company opened a small office dedicated to overseeing the construction of the Edmonton Public Library. The founder, Ernest E. Poole liked the city and wrote a post card to his future wife saying, “Spent two days in Medicine Hat, one at Calgary and arrived here this morning. This city looks best of all….” Mr. Poole picked right moving the company headquarters from Regina to Edmonton along with his family, his wife Gertrude and their four children in 1932. Over time the company and family established many links with the city, the University of Alberta and Alberta. Today more than half of the buildings on the University campus have been built by PCL, beginning with the hockey rink in 1944. Company folklore has it that the green and yellow that make up the distinctive corporate logo had it’s origin with the University’s colours. PCL’s stamp is evident throughout the City including landmark infrastructure projects like the Edmonton Water Treatment Plant, the city’s two largest hospitals the Royal Alexandra Hospital and the WCM Health Sciences Centre which included Stollery Children’s Hospital named for Bob (PCL’s former CEO) and Shirley Stollery, the Anthony Henday Ring Road, Grant MacEwan University, and the stunning, newly-opened terminal expansion at the Edmonton International Airport. West Edmonton Mall, one of the city’s most famous attractions, was also built by PCL in four phases over 19 years. Today, Edmonton is the home to PCL’s North American corporate headquarters which oversees operations across Canada, the US, and guides the company’s expansion into markets across the globe. While the corporate focus includes a worldwide view, PCL’s local building operations are poised to help Edmonton move into a renaissance in development and revitalization as the City takes its place as an important cultural and economic hub.

C giving back

PCL has considerable expertise in building performance spaces. The company built The Francis Winspear Centre for Music which was started in October, 1955 and was finished five months early. PCL constructed the Four Season Centre in Toronto which is the performance home of the Canadian Opera Company. The project was on the company books from 1991 when it was known as “The Ballet Opera House” as the COC’s visionary leader, the late Richard Bradshaw sought broad support and funding for the project. It was 2003 before PCL was awarded the contract and as it happened Edmonton Opera’s current CEO was at that time the COC’s facility manager and therefore responsible for the three year and 140 million dollar project. The opera house opened in 2006, the same year as PCL’s 100th year being in business. “It was a very big and visible project sitting on a prime city block in downtown Toronto. Richard was adamant that the new centre have impeccable acoustics and sightlines for both opera and ballet. PCL really understood the complexity of performance spaces, brought specialized sub-contractors to the project and were on top of the job 100%,” Edmonton Opera CEO Sandra Gajic said. Other PCL projects in the arts and culture sphere include: the National Archives, the Canadian War Museum in the Ottawa area, Denver’s Performing Arts Complex and the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, as well as the Spencer Theatre for the Performing Arts in Ruidoso, New Mexico. PCL Giving Back to the Community Construction is PCL’s business and giving back is PCL’s passion. As a construction company, PCL has built some of this city’s most recognizable structures. But the company’s employee owners are interested in building more than structures. They also strive to build hope for individuals and families in their communities. That’s why the company has a strong commitment to community support, especially with Habitat for Humanity, United Way and the Red Cross. In 2011, the PCL family of companies contributed more than $6.7 million to humanitarian organizations, food banks, sustainability initiatives, educational organizations, health care facilities, community development drives, and sports and arts organizations. PCL is the title sponsor of the PCL 17th Annual Edmonton Opera Golf Tournament held in June at the prestigious Glendale Golf and Country Club. This year’s event sold out six weeks before the date. PCL is also providing construction consulting expertise to the Edmonton Opera Production Facility. This 22,500 sq. ft. industrial warehouse space in northwest Edmonton is being converted for set building, storage and costume building and means the company can consolidate similar operations now scattered across three inadequate spaces in the city.

passion

onstruction is PCL’s business and is PCL’s

PCL and Performance Spaces

SUMMER MAGAZINE 7

BEDROOM

GARAGE

ENTRYWAY

WALL BED

KIDS

MEDIA CENTER

OFFICE

STORAGE

CRAFT

PANTRY

PCL Golf Classic annual tournament

successful every year

Edmonton Opera is thrilled to host the company’s 17th annual

Golf Tournament on June 14th, 2012.

The tournament started 17 years ago, as a celebration of one of opera’s most loyal and dedicated patrons Mary LeMessurier’s birthday, and her love and passion for both golf and opera. Along with a group of volunteers and board members, she started planning the event that turned out to be a great success on the golf course, and a good fundraiser for Edmonton Opera. The tournament is a perfect opportunity to spend a day with friends, colleagues and business associates on one of the area’s finest private golf courses, and it’s a repeated success every year. A crowd of about 150 golfers enjoys an entertaining day with friends while enjoying good food and great prizes. Together these generous golfers, sponsors, donors and volunteers help us raise funds that keep Edmonton Opera financially healthy and strong. It’s a perfect opportunity to host your clients, treat your staff or simply gather a group of friends and enjoy a day of golf and camaraderie. A very special “Thank You” goes to Mary LeMessurier for helping us organize such a great event and to PCL Construction, this year’s title sponsor. Additional gratitude goes to numerous sponsors and teams that help us raise funds every year.

e hope you’ll all enjoy the tournament, and look forward to seeing you at the next one!

SUMMER MAGAZINE 9

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DONOR

PROFILE

Robert Rosen,

City Lumber and Millwork

Robert Rosen, President of City Lumber

and Millwork, is a man with a global perspective; one that dictates that “if you want to do business in the 21st Century, you’d better understand the world – and the forces that shape it.” It is clear that a keen awareness of geopolitics/economics substantially influences Mr. Rosen’s strategic planning and is also a catalyst for his desire to promote dignity and respect. As Mr. Rosen stated in a speech to the MacEwan Student Business Conference in January, “…your small actions can have huge implications – and vice versa. We are all part of an interdependent global system of cause and effect.” The City Lumber & Millwork story begins in Northern Manitoba against the backdrop of the Great Depression, where Jack and Zita Rosen envisioned a prosperous and benevolent future for themselves and their family. Married in 1933, Jack, an immigrant who came to Canada to escape the tide of anti-Semitism that had permeated much of Eastern Europe at the time, and his bride, Zita, worked hard to forge a future in the isolated northern community. The couple opened Northern Hardware, where they traded with trappers and fishermen, delivering goods in the harshest conditions of the extreme climate. During this time, Jack also operated three sawmills, which left him little choice but to spend long periods of time away from his family, leaving Zita to operate the store and care for the couple’s three children, Shirley, Beverly, and Robert. In 1949, the couple moved to Edmonton, in search of better educational opportunities for their family, bringing with them a sawmill, a loyal crew of 14, a letter from the Mayor of Flin Flon stating that Jack always paid his debts on time, and the one resource that Rosens knew they could always count on – a willingness to work hard and keep their word. The Rosens also brought to their company, and their new community, the fundamental values of respect, tolerance, and compassion. Today, nearly 75 years since its inception, Jack’s and Zita’s son, Robert, continues to passionately operate the company his parents built from scratch. City Lumber and Millwork is one of Western Canada’s most successful added value stories – a leading supplier of building material and a partner in some of the largest construction projects in the world, specifically in the Alberta Oil Sands. City Lumber’s corporate philosophy has been built upon a foundation of concern for community – local and global. Robert has guided the implementation of initiatives that will increase

Jack and Zita Rosen industry’s commitment to use Alberta products and strengthen and sustain its manufacturing sector. This commitment is behind City Lumber’s decision to use only Alberta spruce when working on the exterior finishes of the new Sir Henry Thornton staff village at Jasper Place Lodge; a choice that has proven to the construction industry that the quality of Alberta wood is second to none. Consequently, recognition of this local product’s attributes will result in more jobs for Albertans, and a lighter environmental footprint due to reduced transport. The values his parents instilled have guided Robert in both his corporate and charitable accomplishments. Albertans have greatly benefited from Mr. Rosen’s quiet interest in arts, culture, healthcare and the promotion of tolerance and compassion among young people. Another important mentor to Mr. Rosen was John Slatter, who had an outstanding reputation throughout Canada as one of the wisest consultants to land developers in the commercial, industrial and real estate markets. In the mid 1980s, some generous Edmontonians approached Mr. John Slatter and asked him if he would revive the Edmonton Community Foundation. These Edmontonians provided $15 million to make the Foundation viable and engaged Mr. Slatter to lead the initiative. Mr. Slatter engineered a new constitution which was designed to ensure broad community support and long term viability for the Foundation. The City of Edmonton, through the Salute to Excellence Program, recognized this outstanding contribution. Among the many local charities supported by City Lumber is the Edmonton Opera and Devonian Botanic Garden. Mr. Rosen understands the value of both organizations and investments in the quality of life. He also appreciates both Opera and Garden’s accessibility to all Albertans and their ability to provide the opportunity for people to together experience something special. Edmonton Opera and Devonian Botanic Garden appreciate Mr. Rosen’s contribution to his vision.

“…your small actions can have huge implications – and vice versa. We are all part of an interdependent global system of cause and effect.” SUMMER MAGAZINE 11

WELCOME FROM EDMONTON OPERA Welcome to the third annual Opera al Fresco! Part of our mandate is to make opera accessible and bring it to unusual yet beautiful settings, making the experience even more memorable. The beauty of human voice is even more enchanting here at the Devonian Botanic Garden – from children’s voices, to professional singers, to our wonderful opera chorus without which no opera is whole. Celebrate summer solstice by allowing yourself to be transported to a magical realm combining the most beautiful garden with the power of opera. Enjoy your evening, and we hope to see you at the grandest of all operas – Aida in October.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE 6:00

COCKTAIL RECEPTION Kurimoto Japanese Garden

7:00

OPENING REMARKS & FIRST PERFORMANCE Kurimoto Japanese Garden

8:00

Primula Dell

Pine Pavilion

Alpine Garden

Sandra Gajic | CEO Edmonton Opera

8:45

Pine Pavilion

Alpine Garden

Primula Dell

WELCOME FROM DEVONIAN BOTANIC GARDEN

9:30

Alpine Garden

Primula Dell

Pine Pavilion

Thank you for joining us in the sensory delight of opera resonating through a forested outdoor garden. These operatic evenings are special with bird song, flowers and glorious sunsets. As you stroll with other patrons along pathways and take in wonderful musical performances, we want you to know that you are welcomed both tonight and in the future to Alberta’s foremost botanic garden. We are growing to be much more than a place of science as we are also a destination for the arts, the artists, and you, the patrons and appreciators of the deep aesthetic of something really special. Thank you for being part of Opera al Fresco. I hope your evening is both magical and enriching.

Dr. Lee Foote | Director Devonian Botanic Garden

12 SUMMER MAGAZINE

CITY LUMBER CORPORATION & THE ROSEN FAMILY In honour and recognition of Zita & John Rosen, Founders

Flower Arrangements Provided by: The Devonian Botanic Garden Crafters Association Devon Parking Courtesy of:

Serving Western Canada Since 1937

KURIMOTO JAPANESE GARDEN EDMONTON OPERA CHILDREN'S CHORUS Edmonton Opera and Victoria School of Arts joined together in an exciting new venture in January 2012, and created Edmonton Opera’s very own Children’s Chorus. Since then, the children have joined the cast of Edmonton Opera to be supernumeraries in the production of Beethoven’s opera, Fidelio and were invited to sing in a 210-voice children’s choir as part of a national conference called Imagination Conversation at the Winspear Centre for Music. Tonight, we are pleased to perform the Street Children’s Chorus from Bizet’s opera, Carmen, as our official debut performance. This chorus is one of the few children’s choruses from the traditional repertoire, and is part of Act 1 where the street children imitate the soldiers during the changing of the guard. The sprightly tempo and lively melody present a fun introduction for children into the genre of opera as an art-form.

JANICE TOLE » Chorus Master

PINE PAVILION EDMONTON OPERA CHORUS Edmonton Opera Chorus has been an integral part of Edmonton Opera’s success since the first production of Madam Butterfly in 1963. Since then members of EO Chorus have been enchanting, moving, inspiring and entertaining audiences with music ranging from Puccini to Mozart, from Gilbert and Sullivan to Janáček, in various languages and under the auspices of numerous conductors and directors. All members of the EO Chorus share love of singing and being a part of a group that brings you the grandest form of combining human voice, theatre, visual arts and music on stage as well as performing at various events in the community.

PETER DALA » Chorus Master Peter has worked with the Basel Ballet and Zurich Ballet in Switzerland, the Hungarian State Opera and the National Ballet of Hungary, with performances in Monte Carlo, Israel, New York, Spain and China. Highlights include Don Giovanni and the ballet A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Singapore and the Hong Kong Festival of Arts. Recently Peter has conducted for The Mikado (Edmonton Opera) and Swan Lake (Alberta Ballet). His upcoming engagements include the 2012/13 Alberta Ballet season including Divertimento No. 15, The Four Temperaments (Balanchine) and In the Upper Room (Twyla Tharp) and Mozart's Requiem (Jean Grand-Maître).

SUMMER MAGAZINE 13

PRIMULA DELL IRÉN BARTOK » Soprano Irén is best known for the role of Christine Daaé in the original London West End production of The Phantom of the Opera. She also sang the roles of Jellylorum and Griddlebone in the original London West End production of Cats. Operatic roles include the Queen of the Night , Madame Goldentrill, Olympia, Eurydice, Le Feu/La Princesse/Le Rossingnol, Gretel, Musetta, Adina, and Cunegonde. Concert performances include the role of Joan Fletcher in Strike Up the Band for the Gershwin Centenary at Royal Festival Hall with the BBC Orchestra, and Juliette in the British premiere of Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt with the Kensington Symphony Orchestra.

CATHERINE DANIEL » Mezzo Soprano Originally from Edmonton, Alberta, Catherine Daniel recently completed an apprenticeship with the Opera Studio Nederland. She graduated from the University of Manitoba with an Integrated Music/Education degree in 2007. She has since been back to Winnipeg for Manitoba Opera’s Carmen (2010), Handel’s Messiah with University Singers (2010), and Judas Maccabaeus with Canzona (2011). From 2008–2010 Ms. Daniel was a member of L’Atelier Lyrique de l’Opera de Montreal. She has sang La Messagiera in a production of Monteverdi’s Orfeo directed by Pierre Audi (2010) and an excerpt of Wagner’s Parsifal (2011). Her Carmen debut took place in Tilburg, the Netherlands (2011).

LEANNE REGEHR » Répétiteur Leanne Regehr is a versatile pianist who has worked in opera, choral, recital and symphonic settings across North America. She received a Master of Music degree from the University of Alberta and explored further studies at the Banff School of Fine Arts, the Universitat Mozarteum in Salzburg, and the Aspen Music Festival. She recently completed her Doctor of Music in Piano Performance from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. She is the Principal Coach for the University of Alberta’s Opera Workshop program, a piano instructor at The King’s University College as well as the accompanist for the Richard Eaton Singers.

14 SUMMER MAGAZINE

ALPINE GARDEN ROBERT CLARK » Tenor Tenor Robert Clark’s main-stage debut was the role of Normanno in Lucia di Lammermoor with Calgary Opera and his Edmonton Opera debut was Al in The Barber of Barrhead. Recently he sang Beppe in Edmonton Opera’s I Pagliacci, Flask in Calgary Opera's Moby Dick and Jaquino in Edmonton Opera's Fidelio. He also covered the role of Charlie in Pacific Opera Victoria's Mary's Wedding. Upcoming performances include Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus (Cowtown Opera Company), Brighella in Ariadne auf Naxos (Opera Nuova), Tamino in The Magic Flute (Highlands Opera Studio), Macduff in Macbeth (Pacific Opera Victoria) and Roderigo in Otello (Calgary Opera).

BERTRAND MALO » Bass Baritone Native of Joliette, Quebec, Bass Baritone Bertrand Malo graduated from McGill University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance. He has performed for companies such as Opera McGill, Edmonton Opera and Opera Rimouski (Quebec) and has sung in several productions such as Les Pécheurs de Perles, Christopher Sly, Don Giovanni, Fidelio and Le Nozze di Figaro. In the concert arena, he has appeared as a guest soloist in Seven Last Words of Christ by T. Dubois, Canada/France National Anthems at Brive La Gaillarde (France), Requiem by G. Fauré and at the Vermont International Opera Festival galas.

JOSEPH FRIDMAN » Répétiteur Joseph Fridman earned two master's degrees – as a pianist and opera director – from the world-renowned St. Petersburg State Conservatory in Russia. There Joseph worked as an opera director and repetiteur, and performed with the St. Petersburg and Pskov Philharmonics. Mr. Fridman served on the faculty of the Alberta College Conservatory, taught the Opera Workshop at the University of Alberta, and worked at Opera Nuova in Edmonton. Currently, Joseph is a co-director, piano teacher and vocal coach of the Alberta Music Academy. Joseph Fridman performs in solo, collaborative and chamber recitals and has been broadcast frequently on CBC Radio.

SUMMER MAGAZINE 15

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DONOR

PROFILE

What Inspires

young people to come to the opera...

When Jennifer Brown got two tickets to Don Giovanni, she had no idea what to expect. The tickets came through work, and Jennifer decided to invite her mother, Sharon to join her. Jennifer had seen opera in other cities, on occasion, but never the Edmonton Opera. After loving Don Giovanni, Jennifer was left wondering why she wasn’t coming to opera more often. She made a decision and became a subscriber that very season. Now she comes to the opera regularly and has become a supporter of Edmonton Opera. Jennifer is a Civil Engineer by training, and works as a VP of Sherrick Management, a family run business. At work, she’s surrounded by posters of residential land development areas, and because she’s passionate about the arts, she tries to bring art into the areas Sherrick Management is involved in developing. She supports the opera through the business; by being a corporate sponsor during our season, supporting opera’s Signature Events like the Valentine’s Gala and the PCL Edmonton Opera Golf Tournament and others. Jennifer also personally donates directly to the opera; she believes that in order to enjoy such a beautiful and complex art form, we must support it to ensure it stays here for future generations. “My decision to donate personally is because I am so passionate about this artistic form. Young people like me get involved and support different things through families and work. Something that creates an emotional reaction…for me, that was opera,” Jennifer explains. Currently, her favourite opera is The Flying Dutchman, one of Wagner’s more accessible operas, about a captain who made a deal with the devil, and so is doomed to sail the seas for eternity. Every seven years he is permitted to go to shore in hopes of finding a wife to break the curse. By the end of the opera, the Dutchman finds salvation through love, and he and Senta (his love interest) ascend to heaven. Since seeing The Flying Dutchman, Jennifer has found she also prefers dark and serious operas because she finds the experiences much more meaningful and deeper. That said, she’s no stranger

to Gilbert and Sullivan and other lighter operas. For those operas she likes to bring friends who haven’t experienced opera before… ”Sometimes it’s easier to introduce people to opera with something light and funny, like Abduction from the Seraglio or Mikado. Once they see that it’s completely different from what they expected, they come back to see more productions,” says Jennifer. She also notes that in her view having a strong opera company in our city adds to the overall happening scene in the city, which in turn contributes to the quality of city life. “And quality of life is a key economic asset, it is a great tool to attract and retain young talent.” Edmonton Opera thanks Jennifer Brown for letting us share her opera journey with you. We also want to thank her personally and her company corporately for being such great supporters of Edmonton Opera. We would like to share your opera journey as well. If you are interested, please contact us at communication@edmontonopera.com.

“...Young people like me get involved and support different things through families and work. Something that creates an emotional reaction…for me, that was opera,” Jennifer explains. SUMMER MAGAZINE 17

Don’t walk – ruN ” to see this show!

“

– CtV

good seats still available!

August 15–september 2

Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium Photo: Chris Callis

For Tickets Call 1.855.985.ARTS (2787) • Groups (10+) 1.866.971.7469 www.DancapTickets.com JerseyBoysTour.com

YEAR-END MATCHING CAMPAIGN

How often do you get a chance to double your money and help Edmonton Opera? This is your opportunity to make a difference. Donate before

June 30th, and all new and increased donations will be matched by an anonymous donor up to $100,000. Here is our Year in Review, an update on progress and successes of the season that we were able to achieve with your support. Please consider donating and help us reach our goal – there has never been a better time!

Performance Season

Signature Events

A great 2011.12 season – Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci was a wonderful season opening production. The Mikado and its colourful costumes were a great success and attracted lots of young audiences. Fidelio, a first new production in the last seven years plus a Canadian debut of fast-rising international star, Maida Hundeling. We increased our subscriptions significantly, by close to 40% and had a 12% increase in single ticket sales. We are thrilled to be nominated for four Sterling Awards in major categories.

Valentine’s Gala The partnership with CapitalCare results in Edmonton’s most premier Gala, where we show the importance of health care and arts, and how enriching they are to the lives of Edmontonians. This year’s third annual Valentine’s Gala attracted over 850 guests and donations close to $300,000.

Endowment Fund Edmonton Opera’s endowment fund now stands at $3,050,500. Last fall’s contributions to the fund raised $92,587 and we received matching (82%) funds from the Federal Arts and Heritage Sustainability Fund of $75,994.

Individual Giving We have “revamped” our recognition levels and relative benefits for individual giving and have experienced an exciting growth in individual support – doubling that support in relation to the previous year.

Corporate Sponsors This is one of our season’s strong success stories; the corporate support went from well under $100,000 in previous years to $800,000 YTD and expecting it to still grow before the end of June. Our heartfelt thanks go to all the organizations that shared in our vision to grow and raise our excellence on stage!

Education – Opera Alive This season, we launched our new Opera Alive program and visited many schools where we were able to perform and share the magic of opera with children. Over 3,000 students attended our dress rehearsals and enjoyed this season’s performances.

Community Outreach This June we went with three professional singers and a pianist for the first time to Fort McMurray where we had a master class with students and a recital at the new Suncor Centre for Performing Arts. Our chorus performed at a number of functions and at some of the Capital Care facilities bringing the joy of music to our senior citizens.

The Experience Presented by Liquor Depot, this wonderful evening resulted in a donation to us of close to $300,000. PCL Golf Classic The 17th Annual PCL Edmonton Opera Golf Tournament is sold out six weeks in advance of the date thanks to lead sponsor PCL and all the other sponsors and golfers. Held at the prestigious Glendale Golf Club, the tournament will net more than $65,000 for the Edmonton Opera. Opera al Fresco More than flowers are coming up on June 22 at the wonderful Devonian Botanic Gardens. Tickets are going quickly and we expect to sell out well ahead of the event. Our Edmonton Opera Children Chorus (new partnership with Victoria School of Arts) will have their first public appearance at the event.

Edmonton Opera in media coverage This area has been significantly improved this season, due to increased efforts and raised artistic quality of operas we present. From international exposure in International Arts Manager, to Fidelio reviews in Globe and Mail, to regular articles in Opera Canada, we were pleased to see raised awareness of Edmonton Opera and our season.

Production Facility Moving into our new production facility means that we’re consolidating three different sites and having our production operate from one warehouse, including costume and set design but also saving costs. The new space will feature costume design space, and will be the only dedicated shop for opera scenery in Canada. On a recent Saturday night, three opera companies in Western Canada used our own sets for their productions, and we are pleased that we’ll have appropriate storage for all of our scenery.

New Box Office In our efforts to be more accessible, and in collaboration with Edmonton Arts Council, we moved our Box Office to TIX on the Square, located on Churchill Square. This comes at the same time as full implementation of Tessitura, so buying opera tickets has never been easier – online, in person or by phone!

Looking Forward It will be a great season with Aida, Les Contes D’Hoffman and Eugene Onegin as our mainstage productions. We’ll launch ATB Canadian Series with Shelter and Svadba/Wedding, and we hope you’ll join us for both. Please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity to see your gift double in size. As one of the most complex and expensive art forms to stage, Edmonton Opera needs your help to thrive and grow. Please donate generously. SUMMER MAGAZINE 19

†

WINE, SPIRITS, & BEER

CHARITY AUCTION AT THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL

OPERA TOURS Come join us for the long weekend

in November on the first in our new series of Opera Tours to the great opera houses of the world, in the company of our CEO Sandra Gajic!

Our destination is Chicago, and in this four-day tour you will see the Lyric Opera of Chicago’s productions of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra and Massenet’s masterpiece Werther, as well as be taken to see some of the art and architecture of a city that is one of the most celebrated in North America for its visual arts, including the famous Art Institute of Chicago. Simon Boccanegra is Verdi’s opera about the clash of personal and private lives centered on the 14th century Doge of Genoa. Originally written in 1857, it was extensively revised in 1881, with a complete new last act to a new libretto by Boito. Verdi was so pleased with Boito’s work that Boito became the librettist of Verdi’s last masterpieces, Otello and Falstaff, and many feel that this new last Act is on the same sublime level of inspiration. The stellar cast includes Thomas Hampton in the title role, Ferruccio Furlanetto as his arch-enemy Fiesco, and the Bulgarian soprano Krassimira Stoyanova as Boccanegra’s daughter Amelia. The production is conducted by one of the most famous conductors of our time, Sir Andrew Davis, and the stage-direction is by one of the most celebrated opera directors, Elijah Moshinksy. It doesn’t get much better than this! Massenet’s Werther is based on the novel by the 24-year old Goethe, which caused such a sensation, and had such an effect on the youth of Europe, that the Pope tried to ban it. Massenet’s opera, first seen in 1892, tells the story of the passionate love of Werther for Charlotte, her marriage to another, and his suicide in despair. It is arguably Massenet’s masterpiece, and the music is some of the most deeply-felt, lyrical, and moving in the French operatic literature. Its North American premiere took place in Chicago in 1894. The marvellous French soprano Sophie Koch makes her Chicago debut as Charlotte, Matthew Polenzani sings Werther, and Sir Andrew Davis is again the conductor.

Our tour starts on Friday morning, with a flight to Chicago and check-in to our hotel. Simon Boccanegra is on Friday evening, and Werther on Sunday. We fly back on the Monday, which is the public holiday for Remembrance Day. Saturday is our day for Chicago’s arts, with an evening visit to the Chicago Symphony to hear the incomparable Charles Dutoit conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a concert that includes Beethoven’s Symphony No.7 and William Walton’s Violin Concerto with soloist Gil Shaham.

Tour to the Lyric Opera of Chicago

November 9 – 12, 2012

In association with Visual Arts Alberta Pre-tour lectures The lectures that are included in the overall package are pre-tour evening talks in Edmonton on the operas and on the visual arts of Chicago. The opera talks will be given by the librettist and music critic Mark Morris, whose voice will be familiar to listeners to CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, as for many years he did intermission talks for the program. For two decades he has written the opera program notes and lectured for Calgary Opera, and writes opera notes for Edmonton Opera, and he is an experienced opera tour guide, having led tours for the University of Alberta. The dates and times of the talks will be announced later in the year.

What the tour includes The tour cost includes the talks, your airfare from Edmonton to Chicago and back (arrangements can be made for anyone wishing to fly from a different destination), transport to and from the hotel, your double-occupancy hotel room in Chicago (breakfast included), and the opera tickets. The tour will be led by Sandra Gajic, the CEO of Edmonton Opera.

More Info: We’ll be happy to tell you more and answer any questions you may have. Simply call our Box office at 780-429-1000.

Booking over the internet: You can book using your credit card on the internet. Go to http://edmontonopera.com/events/tours.php and follow the instructions.

And for the future! For our second tour, we will be going to the Met in New York in March, 2013. Then we are planning in the summer of 2013 to go to Italy to experience some of the wonderful opera festivals held in Italy – a marvellous chance not only to hear great opera, but to travel through Italy as well!

ncluded in the tour: direct flights, accommodation, transport to and from the airport, opera and symphony tickets, exclusive dinner at the Chicago Lyric Opera donor lounge, pre-opera lectures and more!

22 SUMMER MAGAZINE

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THE Press Gallery is proud to sponsor Edmonton Opera

ATB Financial Canadian Series

or the first time in its history, Edmonton Opera is launching a series of Canadian-produced second stage operas. The “Canadian Series” – sponsored by ATB Financial – features a duo of all-Canadian mini-productions showcased at two of Edmonton’s more intimate venues. “ATB is a long-time supporter of the arts,” says Dave Mowat, ATB Financial’s President & CEO. “We’re pleased to support the Edmonton Opera in bringing new, innovative and thought-provoking opera productions created and produced by Canadians for Canadians to Edmonton.” “The rationale behind the series is not only to present new contemporary Canadian works but also to show our current patrons that opera is alive, well and growing – always relevant,” says Edmonton Opera CEO Sandra Gajic. “Our intent is to build new audiences, by introducing them to the best in contemporary Canadian opera.” Edmonton Opera’s first-ever Canadian Series presents two productions: The world premiere of Shelter and Svadba – Wedding which has previously been performed in Toronto. Shelter runs November 15-18 at La Cité Francophone Theatre. We inadvertently published incorrect information; the correct information is as follows:

The opera focuses on a nuclear family adrift in the atomic age. In this fable a father protects his family at any cost, a mother chases storms, and nuclear physicist Lise Meitner is midwife to a child who glows in the dark. When the dashing Pilot enters, our world is forever altered. This production is inspired by Peter Blow’s documentary Village of Widows, and Peter van Wyck and Julie Salverson’s research on Canada’s role in the production of the atomic bomb. The Highway of the Atom (book by Peter van Wyck) begins at the uranium mine on Great Bear Lake, N.W.T., on Sahtúgot’ine Dene land, travels to the Manhattan Project in New Mexico and culminates in the bombing of Hiroshima. Svadba – Wedding will be performed January 12, 13, 16, 18 and 19 at the Eva O. Howard Auditorium at the Victoria School of the Arts. The setting for the opera is the night before a wedding, as girlfriends prepare the bride-to-be in a ravishing and cathartic Balkan rite of passage. This is an intoxicating a cappella tour de force of six female opera singers. The work is dominated and equally brought to life by the actors on a bare stage with minimalist lighting and sets, while the music fires off images, moods and colours. New York’s Opera News called the opera “dazzlingly inventive, recalling in its vitality and tangy harmonies the kind of folk music popularized by Le Mystere des Voix Bulgares.”

EDMONTON OPERA PRESENTS

NEW ATB

World Premiere of

SHELTER

CANADIAN SERIES SVADBA – WEDDING

Palmer & Salverson | November 2012 | 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 Co-Produced with Tapestry New Opera

Sokolović | January 2013 | 12 • 13 • 16 • 18 • 19 Produced by Queen of Puddings Music Theatre

GROUNDBREAKING CANADIAN OPERAS FOR THE LOW PRICE OF $100

780.429.1000 • www.edmontonopera.com SUMMER MAGAZINE 25

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SEASON spotlight A

ll over the world, in the 2012/2013 opera season, opera lovers will be focused on one opera composer in particular, arguably the best loved of them all: Giuseppe Verdi. For 2013 marks the 200th anniversary of his birth, and opera houses are celebrating. Edmonton Opera, of course, has to celebrate, too, and what better way to start the season than by staging the best loved of all his operas, Aida!

SUBSCRIPTION SEASON Verdi AIDA October 19, 21, 23, 25, 2012

Offenbach Les Contes d’Hoffmann February 1, 3, 5, 7, 2013

Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin April 19, 21, 23, 25, 2013

ATB CANADIAN SERIES Palmer SHELTER November 15, 16, 17, 18, 2012 (co-production with Tapestry New Opera)

Sokolovic Svadba – Wedding January 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 2013 (produced by Queen of Puddings Music Theatre) 28 SUMMER MAGAZINE

This grandest of operas, on an epic scale but with an intimate and moving love story at its core, was the brainchild of a most unlikely pair: the French Egyptologist and archeologist Auguste Mariette, and his boss, Isma’il Pasha, the ruler of Egypt. The latter had modernized his country, but also had grandiose schemes, one of which was a brand new opera house in Cairo, and another of which was to commission a new opera for it by the greatest composer of the day, one that would reflect Egypt’s glorious past. Hence the scenario, set in the Egypt of the Pharaohs, and hence the grand spectacle – huge choruses, the famous Triumphal March, the mystery of temples by the Nile, the ending with the lovers buried alive – and hence Verdi’s Aida. It triumphed in Cairo, it triumphed at La Scala, and it has triumphed ever since. When Isma’il Pasha visited Paris, he insisted on attending a performance of an Offenbach operetta at the composer’s little theatre in the Champs-Élysées. Everyone knows Jacques Offenbach’s music, even if they don’t know the name, because everyone knows the Can-Can, and everyone knows (again, even if they can’t name it) the gorgeous Barcarolle from Offenbach’s last opera, his masterpiece and the second opera in Edmonton Opera’s season, Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann). The Hoffmann of the title was a real person, the late 18th Century writer and composer E.T.A. Hoffmann, one of the founders of Romanticism, and in the opera Hoffmann tells the stories of three of his past loves. Offenbach succeeded in creating something he had dreamed of – keeping much of that verve and sparkle and Parisian delight of his operettas (not to mention the cast of lovers and students

dmonton Opera’s 2012/2013

by Mark Morris

and courtesans and singers and dancers), and fusing that into something far more substantial. The result seems astonishingly modern, far ahead of its time, with a kind of surrealism, at times almost dream-like, at times intensely dramatic, with an undercurrent of all the events – and loves – being monitored or interfered with by the Devil himself. But it ends up where it should, in the tavern in Nuremberg with the beer flowing and the students singing, and with that gorgeous Barcarolle, describing the beauty of the night in Venice, still lingering on. The third opera in Edmonton Opera’s 2012/2013 season is different again. Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin, deservedly his bestloved opera, is Russian through and through. Based on a famous verse novel by Alexander Pushkin, it tells the story of Tatyana Larina, the innocent young aristocratic woman who falls in love with – and is rejected by – the cynical world-weary 20-something Eugene Onegin. To make matters worse, Onegin flirts with Tatiana’s elder sister, Olga, the fiancée of his best friend, Lensky, and then kills Lensky in a duel. Three years later, Onegin meets Tatiana again. She is now a celebrated society beauty, married to a great aristocrat, Prince Gremin. Onegin, of course, now falls completely in love with her, but too late: duty and the social structures of Russian aristocratic society prevail, and, rejected by Tatiana, he ends up alone, his cynicism now despair. This beautiful, lyrical, and ultimately starkly realistic opera has equally Russian settings. It starts in the Larina country estate in the vast openness of the Russian countryside, settles into the house itself, with a party attended by the local ‘gentry’ (rather than aristocracy), and finally moves for the last Act to the glittering and sophisticated world of St. Petersburg society, having travelled from peasant folk-choruses to the waltzes of the ball room.

is the Tatiana for the Edmonton production. Dina Kuznetsova is one of today’s leading interpreters of the Slavic repertoire, and her recent career has seen her take lead roles at the Met, Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Berlin Staatsoper, and the role of Tatiana at Chicago Lyric Opera. The extraordinarily versatile American Philip Cutlip will be singing Onegin. He has not only sung many of the great baritone roles, but has also specialized in the work of Philip Glass and in collaborations with celebrated dance companies. The cast and company for Les Contes d’Hoffmann reads like a roster of the young up-and-coming artists working in Canadian opera, and the production will be a marvellous opportunity to see and hear the wealth of new talent emerging in Canada. No survey of the season, though, would be complete without mentioning two very enterprising new works being presented in smaller Edmonton venues. Shelter by Juliet Kiri Palmers and librettist Julie Slaverson is the story of a family adrift in the postatomic age, and includes the (real) character of a celebrated woman nuclear physicist, Lisa Meitner. It is part of the U of A’s ‘Festival of Ideas’, and is directed by one of Canada’s outstanding directors of new opera, Keith Turnbull. Svadba – Wedding, by the Serbian composer Ana Sokolovic is a rarity in opera – an a capella work, set in the night before a wedding with the bride’s friends preparing her for the event. From jealousy and treachery on the banks of the Nile, through the remembrance of love lost in the palaces of Venice, to the glittering ballrooms of St. Petersburg – not to mention post-nuclear ages and pre-wedding nights – Edmonton Opera’s 2012/2013 season promises to be one to remember.

For these operas, Edmonton Opera has gathered some formidable talent. Angela Brown, who sings Aida, was the winner of the 1997 Metropolitan Opera’s auditions for new singers. In 2003 she stood in for an ill Aida at a rehearsal, and the Met were so impressed they gave her a debut in the role for 2004. That debut was so successful that it was covered on the front page of the New York Times, and since then she has sung all over the world, specializing in Verdi and in the role of Aida in particular. Equally outstanding

season promises to be

one to remember. SUMMER MAGAZINE 29

5 Questions with

Angela Brown

1. In 2004/05 you made your acclaimed debut with The Metropolitan

Opera in the role of Aida, and were called one of the most promising “Verdi sopranos.” How important is this role to you and do you feel like it has become a part of you, having performed it several times? The role has become very important to me because it is the one that catapulted my career and the role I have performed the most often. Since my Met debut, I have been able to become “one with the character” and make the character more a part of me. I feel like I can roll out of bed and sing her. She’s become so much a part of me that I am able to have fun with her and not worry so much about the vocal, emotional and acting pitfalls.

30 SUMMER MAGAZINE

let you know you can

What attracted you to pursue a career in opera? I was born to perform. I started singing in my grandfather’s church at 5. I remember singing and dancing in the living room. It was what I was meant to do. The opera bug bit me when I was in school at Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama. I found my classical roots through Ginger Beazley, my teacher at Oakwood University. She nurtured me into this music. I don’t think I would have stayed with it without her. She introduced me to the great soprano Virginia Zeani at Indiana University who became the polisher and finisher of my voice. She helped me stand on my own two vocal chords and sing and put it out there. While a student at Indiana University, I competed in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, which I finally won on my fourth try! That gave me an opportunity to cover at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. And, in 2004, I made my debut in the title role of Aida.

Ibe who you are and

We strive to make opera accessible to everyone, whether it’s ticket prices, number and time of the performances, visits to schools etc. With “Opera...from a Sistah’s point of View”, you try to bring opera to schools, to versatile audiences and familiarize them with the art form. Can you tell us how successful that program is? A lot of opera companies have in place educational outreach programs that help to make opera and classical music, as a whole, more palatable to young audiences, and, that’s fabulous. But, sometimes even those programs need a face lift. To have culturally diverse soloists and ensembles go out into the community to perform allows young, budding minds know that when we are singing Madama Butterfly we are telling the story of people in Japan; Porgy and Bess is a story about people in South Carolina; La Forza del Destino is about folks in Seville, Spain; Carmen is about Spanish people too; Aida is about African people in Africa. These stories are about peoples of the world. If no one has ever said it to you that way, you don’t realize that opera is about everybody – rich, poor, people in love, people mad about people in love – basically, life. That’s why I do my program called “Opera... from a Sistah’s Point of View.” I try to let people know that the way I see it is that we are all seen in the characters on the stage – and, that’s opera. It might be a different setting in a different time, but it’s still reflective of people from all places and walks of life. The show has been a hit everywhere and even featured on CNN!

How did you start “Opera...from a Sistah’s point of View”? The brainchild behind “Opera...from a Sistah’s Point of View” was really born out of sheer necessity. I needed something to do between my opera performances. I have been blessed to be able to perform in opera houses, concert halls, even churches, around the world and I noticed that all the audiences looked alike, if you know what I mean – kind of monochromatic. I wanted to see more diversity in the audience and I wanted to dispel the long-held myth in the opera community that you can’t bring your authentic self to opera, that you have to be a “snobbish,” “elitist,”“uptight” person to enjoy classical music. In my show, “Opera...from a Sistah’s Point of View,” I am simply being me. I tell the audience why I like opera in my own words, my vernacular. That makes “Opera...from a Sistah’s Point of View” different. I have performed my show for young school kids, college students, and audiences of all ages to share these stories and expose them to this legendary art form and to demonstrate that peoples of all ethnicities are present in opera stories. I let you know you can be who you are and enjoy opera.

enjoy opera.

What do you look forward to the most about spending four weeks in Edmonton? Since this is my first visit to this region, I am looking forward to learning more about Edmonton, the surrounding area, the people here and discovering its many treasures. Am I going to have to wear my mukluks???

SUMMER MAGAZINE 31

PLANNED GIVING by Doris Bonora

It takes a lifetime to build up an estate and yet, it seems little time, in comparison, is

spent to determine what should happen with an estate after passing. Preparation of a will is encouraged to ensure that there is proper planning of your estate. A basic will could be done leaving your estate to your family and those who matter to you. However, you may also wish to consider the ability to continue to give back to the community by leaving a charitable gift in your will. A charitable gift leaves money or other assets to those organizations which have given you joy such as the Opera. This would be such a wonderful legacy to you and such a wonderful way to give back on your way out. There is also a significant tax benefit to charitable gifts.

hen you include Edmonton Opera in your estate plans, you provide a foundation for great opera in Edmonton to future generations. If you wish to know more about giving to the opera you are welcome to contact Sandra Gajic, Edmonton Operaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CEO at 780-424-4040. Doris Bonora is a partner with the law firm of Reynolds Mirth Richards and Farmer LLP and can be reached at dbonora@rmrf.com or 780.497.3370.

Where the Music Begins

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32 SUMMER MAGAZINE

Rob Hood Fund

Dr. Irving Guttman is the Artistic Director Emeritus of

the Edmonton Opera. He was instrumental in its formation and early success. Dr. Guttman shared his memories of Mr. Hood.

“I first met Robert when he joined our chorus in 1965. Two things were clear between us, we both loved opera and while he was serious and dedicated about his singing, we agreed that it was important to pursue one’s passions but not necessarily aspire to singing on the Met stage! He contributed to Edmonton Opera as both a board and guild member. That said, I believe his work in our chorus was seminal to his fine appreciation of the power and presence of the human voice. With his personal experience as a base, his respect grew for the voices of the operatic greats of the time. He liked to call it ‘fine singing’! Aside from his avocation, Rob was well placed in his work with the Alberta Government’s culture portfolio. He was always committed to high standards, personally and professionally and I am certain those were valued qualities in his work thus making him known and respected in the arts community in the province and beyond. Rob loved fine things and was very sensitive to beauty in all its forms. He was also very principled in his belief that there were certain ways to

The Edmonton Opera recently received a very generous gift from the Rob Hood Fund. Mr. Hood’s direction was that the Edmonton Opera use the legacy funds to attract operatic singers of the highest calibre.

do things, which extended to being a rather private person, to dressing properly and to being immensely loyal to his friends and colleagues. Rob generously endowed a fund in his name to the Edmonton Opera. What a fine legacy. His wish was that the fund be used to attract and support “fine singing”…dedicated to bringing some of opera’s leading voices to Edmonton so we can all appreciate their immense talents and operatic presence. It is our great pleasure to announce that the first part of the gift is awarded to Metropolitan opera stars, Angela Brown and Carl Tanner, two of the lead singers in Aida. Angela will appear in the role of Aida, and Carl in the role of Radames. How wonderful that Edmonton Opera is leading off the 2012.13 season with Giuseppe Verdi’s, Aida, October 19, 21, 23, 25, 2012. Rob was a knowledgeable and appreciative aficionado of all of Verdi’s work and 2013 is the 200th anniversary of the great composer. It is all coming together… be part of it…and enjoy Rob Hood’s legacy and his contribution to our enjoyment and the success of the Edmonton Opera.”

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L’ELISIR D’AMORE

LIVE - Saturday, October 13, 2012 ENCORE - Saturday, November 17, 2012 ENCORE - Monday, November 19, 2012

Announcing the 2012 - 13 Live in HD Season

OTELLO

LIVE - Saturday, October 27, 2012 ENCORE - Saturday, November 24, 2012 ENCORE - Monday, December 3, 2012

THE TEMPEST

LIVE - Saturday, November 10, 2012 ENCORE - Saturday, January 12, 2013

LA CLEMENZA DI TITO

LIVE - Saturday, December 1, 2012 ENCORE - Monday, January 21, 2013 ENCORE - Saturday, January 26, 2013

UN BALLO IN MASCHERA

LIVE - Saturday, December 8, 2012 ENCORE - Saturday, February 9, 2013 ENCORE - Monday, February 11, 2013

AIDA

LIVE - Saturday, December 15, 2012 ENCORE - Saturday, February 23, 2013 ENCORE - Monday, February 25, 2013

LES TROYENS

LIVE - Saturday, January 5, 2013 ENCORE - Saturday, March 9, 2013

MARIA STUARDA

LIVE - Saturday, January 19, 2013 ENCORE - Monday, March 18, 2013 ENCORE - Saturday, March 23, 2013

RIGOLETTO

LIVE - Saturday, February 16, 2013 ENCORE - Saturday, April 6, 2013 ENCORE - Monday, April 8, 2013 ENCORE - Wednesday, April 24, 2013

PARSIFAL

LIVE - Saturday, March 2, 2013 ENCORE - Saturday, April 20, 2013

FRANCESCA DA RIMINI

LIVE - Saturday, March 16, 2013 ENCORE - Saturday, May 4, 2013

GIULIO CESARE

LIVE - Saturday, April 27, 2013 ENCORE - Saturday, June 1, 2013 ENCORE - Monday, June 3, 2013

Transmission of The Met: Live in HD in Canada is made possible thanks to the generosity of

Jacqueline and Paul G. Desmarais Sr. The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor

The Neubauer Family Foundation Global corporate sponsorship of The Met: Live in HD is provided by

The HD Broadcasts are supported by

*Encore performances at select locations. Dates may vary by market.

PLEASE SEE REVERSE SIDE FOR ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT NEXT SEASON

VISIT CINEPLEX.COM/EVENTS FOR TICKETS AND PARTICIPATING THEATRES

edmonton opera board of directors 2011-2012 season

Kyle Murray, Chair Joanne Beaton, Past Chair Irv Kipnes, Vice Chair Ken Keenleyside, Treasurer Robert Bessette Katherine Braun Bill Campbell Julie Conlin Craig Corbett Laura Fitzgerald

Peggy Garritty Jeffrey Jansen Bertrand Malo Lynn Mandel Axel Meisen Reza Mostashari

Francis Price Robert Rock Katie Soles Stella Varvis Duane Vienneau

edmonton opera staff CEO

Box Office

Sandra Gajic

Tara-Lee LaRose, Box Office Manager Rebecca Anderson, Box Office Clerk

Administration Gwen Horvath, Administrative Assistant Analee Roman, Director, Finance

Development Darren Staten, Fund Development Manager Adrienne Wong, Fund Development Coordinator Kelly Sheard, Grant Writer

Marketing Jelena Bojic, Director, Marketing & Communications Cameron MacRae, Creative Coordinator Lauren Tenney, Marketing Coordinator Amanda MacRae, Education & Community Outreach Coordinator

Artistic Administration Michael Spassov, Artistic Administrator/ Chorus Master Ha Neul Kim, Company Manager/ Stage Manager

Production Tim Yakimec, Director, Production Clayton Rodney, Technical Director Jeff McAlpine, Assistant Technical Director Court Laslop, Technical Systems Manager Megan Spaner, Archivist Deanna Finnman, Head of Wardrobe Greg Brown, Head Scenic Carpenter/Shop Supervisor

Stage crew courtesy of I.A.T.S.E. Local 210

SUMMER MAGAZINE 39

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The Director’s Circle recognizes those patrons whose significant financial support and on-going commitment enable Edmonton Opera to continue to produce award-winning and compelling art in our community. Bravo and thank you! For more information about the Director’s Circle or to become a member, please call the donor services line at 780-392-7834.

Season SponsorS $250,000 Dianne & Irving Kipnes Rob Hood Estate Production SponsorS $150,000 Francis Price & Marguerite Trussler Visionaries $25,000 Jim & Sharon Brown C.J. Woods MaestroS $15,000 Thomas & Melanie Nakatsui $10,000 Glenn & Sandra Woolsey LEADERS $7,000+ Arnold & Grace Rumbold $6,000+ Thomas Fath Axel Meisen & Barbara Girard Kyle & Colleen Murray Gabe & Connie Shelley

$5,000+ Larry & Ellen Eberlein Fraser Milner Casgrain Sandra Gajic Fred & Alma Gojmerac Mark & Nancy Heule Laurence Jewell Steven & Day LePoole Oline Markine Jack & Esther Ondrack Ed Wiebe & Marcia Johnson PATRONS $4,000+ Laurel McKay Kelly Redinger $3,000+ St. David’s Welsh Society Stephen & Lynn Mandel Eira Spaner Chris & Vivian Varvis BenefactorS $1,750-$2,999 Tricia Abbott Darlene Acton James Archibald & Heidi Christoph Sam & Sonia Azer Rhonda Baker David & Carol Cass David & Patricia Cassie Mary Chisholm Bill & Carol Clark Marian Clark Elaine Coachman Patrick & Joan Dea

Anne Marie Decore Christine Dirsen Heinz & Donna Feldberg Dr. Joseph & Mrs. Pat Fernando Laura Fitzgerald Peter & Astrid Griep Linda Hamilton Brian & Jeanne Hetherington Karen & Pamela Hofmann John & Susan Hokanson H.L. Irving Jeffrey Jansen William Johnston & Mary Ritchie Harold Kingston & Marie Desrochers Juri & Helle Kraav Christine Kyriakides Mary LeMessurier Joan Lopatka & Bill Rutledge Hillard & Nancy Macbeth Bertrand Malo Carman & Averie McNary Hugh McPhail & Yolanda Van Wachem Mary McPhail Michael & Mariette Meier Arliss Miller Ken & Gerda Miller Neil & Susan Miller John Oberg Eleanor Olszewski Parlee McLaws Linda & Gene Pilarski Aline Pratch Russell & Marjorie Purdy Leonard Ratzlaff Alan Rose & Judy Schroder Rosanna Saccomani David Steer & Larissa Whiting Stella Varvis & Paul Grossman Joyce & Peter Walton Paola Zanuttini Gerhard & Inge Zmatlo SUMMER MAGAZINE 41

FRIENDS of Edmonton Opera

Sincere thanks go to the following individuals who, through their gifts, have demonstrated their belief in making opera a vital part of our cultural community. To donate or for additional information, phone the donor services line at 780-392-7834 or email individual.giving@edmontonopera.com. SustainerS

Peter & Elaine Watson Dan & Winnie Wiart ($1000-$1749) Leyland & Martine Adams Bill Winter Leon & Vonnie Zupan Bill & Dorothy Astle Beresh Cunningham SUPPORTERS Aloneissi ($500-$999) Douglas Bingham & Ackroyd Barristers Sheila Janki-Bingham & Solicitors Wayne Branch John Adria Joyce Buchwald Amalco Mgmt Ltd Branko Calic Janine Andrews Doug Cannam Joan Bensted Vern Chichak & B.A. Beresh Patricia Armitage Jennifer Brown Marian Clarke Blair Chahley - Lawyers Richard S. Cook, Esq Sheila Davidson John & Ann Dea Mary Jane Dawson Brian Deedrick John Dea George Dundas & Louis & Marcelle Desrochers Grant Townsend Duncan & Craig LLP Robert Dunseith Emery Jamieson LLP Donald Edie Robert & Doreen Fessenden Ivan & Ksenia Fedyna Lorna Gawlinski Phyllis Fleck Hans & Susanne Forbrich Rod J A Gregory A R Grynoch Marie Foster James & Hasmik Houlder Gabor Gyenes Johnson & Dunseith P Gunn Law Group William Johnston Kent Haryett Loretta Klarenbach Hastings Ilagan Design Lorne Kott The Havin Family Devon Mark & IBM Allen Vander Well William & Patricia Jaschke Royce & Mary Ann Johnson Alan Mather James Mcginnis Patricia Kiel Miller Thompson LLP Brian & Elena Kucey Moreau & Co Libuse Kuzel Les Moss Peter & Jean Moustarah & Co Langford-Jones Wesley Pedruski Florence Lede George & Mark & Nina-Leigh Teresa Pemberton Lindsay Barr Picard Judy & Stuart Mackay Norman W. Picard Mary Mcphail Fay Plomp Bertrand Malo Clarence & Elizabeth Preitz Risha Milo James E & Vivian Redmond Barbara Poole Marlene Regehr Aline Pratch Ian Reid Robert Prybysh James & Vivian Redmond Devin Sears & Hayley Wan Michael & Nance Smith Attia Reeve Sponsorship Of Angel Alan Rose Patricia Taverner Hilary & David Rose Joan Welch Michel & Sylvie Sauve Bill Winter Warren Schmitz Maria Schneider CONTRIBUTORS Laura Stevens ($250-$499) Michael & Elizabeth Thain Larry Anderson Martin Thorne Len & Andree Aston Dennis Todoruk Lucie & Armand Baril Catherine Von Hohenbalken Stella & Walter Baydala Jack Watson 42 SUMMER MAGAZINE

Donna & Doreen Blasius-Pitzler Janet Carle Phyllis Clark Craig Corbett Brenda Dale Danielle Dalton Milton Davies Frederick & Tamara Day Iris Diduck-Rudnisky Ken & Judith Duffin David Finlay Kevin & Rachel Foster Janet Franklin Shirley Funk Peter D Gibson Betty Grever Sheila Gyane Kalil Haymour John Henderson Lois Hingley Douglas & Dorothy Hollands Barbara Howarth Pavel & Sylva Jelen Juthner-Krtschan Donna Kanewischer James & Yvette Koshman David & Sandra Kraatz Don & Lorna Kramer Igor & Galia Kwetny Legal Education Society of Alberta Victor Lirette Neil & Jean Lund Brenda MacDonald Kelly MacFarlane Lloyd Malin Bob & Debbie Mandlis Devon J Mark Sue Marxheimer Timothy Mavko Robert Mauro Denis & Ruth McGettigan Keith Mcnicol Jacqueline Meffen Catherine Miller Chady Moustarah Ruth New John Oberg Aaron Oshry Hanne Ostergaard Edward & Geri Papp Steven Phipps Nancy Power Peter Purdon David Rees Susan Richardson Gunter & Ingeborg Richter Orla Ryan Kathleen Ryks

Alexandra Sanderman Charles Shelley J Douglas & Devika Short Kevin Short Barbara & Gerry Sinn Alexandra Smith Paul & Carolyn Sully C.T.S & Rosaling Sydie Tryzub Enterprises Donna Valgardson Frank Van Veen Ian Wachowicz Ezekiel Weis Joan Welch James & Sheila Wheatley Lorraine Wilgosh Doris Wilson Matthew Woodley Hu Eliot Young George & Gloria Zaharia

MEMBERS

($100-$249) Amy Abbott John Agrios Kelly Aisenstat Peter Allen Sonia Allore Amelio Prof Legal Co Steve Andrew Patricia Attwood Nancy Aust Kathryn Baars Diana M Bacon Kevin Barclay James Barnie Vicki Barrow Jim & Barbara Beck Robert Beck Alan Bell Carl Betke Gary Biasini Myra Bielby Lucille Birkett Dennis Blumenthal Chereda Bodner Michelle Bogovics Grace Bokenfohr Doris Bonora Vivien Bosley Marion Boyd Robert Bradford Ray Bradley Marvin Braun Alisa Bray Annabel Brophy Donald Buchanan Robert Buck Marta Burns Aubrey Burrowes Brian Burrows Grant Cameron

David Cantine Arman Chak Chris Chandler Cheng-Hsin Chang John P Chang Donald Chisholm Terry Clackson Bill Clark Janet M Clark Kenneth Cleall Roger & Carol Cohen Sharon Cohen Mark Comeau Karin Conradi Meghan Conroy Clarence Copp Jean Coutts Diane Cox Shelagh Creagh Michelle Crighton Debbie Croden Adrian Currie D B Denis Prof Corp Joan Dalwood David Cunningham Pro Gwen C Davies Kelly Dawson Frank De Angelis Karine De Champlain Tony De Jong David De Vere James Defelice Dan Dennis R.J. Dmytruk Betty Lou Docherty John Donahoe M Donnelly Wendy Doughty Arthur & Heather- Belle Dowling Allison Downey-Damato George Dundas Frank Dunnigan R.J & Janet Dmytruk E Mirth Professional Marion Elder Daniel Ellerington Marilyn Elliott E. Ruthanna Elson June Emery W.D Ethier Noella Fagnan Gordon Falconer Leslie Fauvel Jane Fedorak Werner Fenske Lois Field Tullio Filice Ferdinand Filiplic Brian Fish Melissa Fleck Karin Fodor

Michel Fontaine Frank P.K. Friesacher Julie Gagnon Charles Gardner Allan Gatenby Adam Germain Shannon Ghasri Duncan Gibson Shirley Gifford Jason Glabb Margaret Golberg G Goldsand Marie Gordon Carol Graham Charles Grant Danielle Green June Greig Donna Groves Sheila Gynane Mary Ellen Haggerty Scott Hammond Donald Harbridge John Hautmann T Hayashi Kalil Haymour Kenneth Heavenor Patricia Henderson R Henderson Cathryn Heslep Judith Hibberd Richard Hilborn Stephen Hiller Hladun & Co Geoffrey Ho Georgette Holyk Ronald Hopp Sheila Hughes Felicity Hunter Elizabeth Hurley Louis Hyndman Erik Jacobsen Janet Jansen Prem Jaskowiak Allyson Jeffs Elizabeth Johnson Yvonne-Marie Johnson Valerie Keates Jacob Kellerman Lindsay Kelly H.S. Kent Janine Kidd Cherisse Killick-Dzenick Jeff Klassen Valerie Kneteman Ron Kruhlak Lorraine Kucey John P Kudrinko Bud Kushnir John Kuzyk Thierry Lacaze-Masmonteil Walter & Kay Lachman Jack Latham

F Albert Lavergne William Lawless Ferne Le Reverend Angela Lee Vincent Lee Allan Lefever Brian Lesyk Kevin Lieslar Thrulow & Barbara Lieurance Philip G. Lister Rena Liviniuk Shelly Lloyd Atkinso F C Loehde Richard Loken Doug Longley Javier Lozano Barbara Luckhurst Terry Lui Richard Lyne Marion Macintyre George Magnan Bill Mahon Berniece Malone Antoinette Marchand Peggy Marko Joan H Marshall Dawn Matchett John & Cathleen Matthews Elizabeth McAra Jean Mcbean Lawrence Mccallum Joyce Mccann Bill Mcelhanney Hugh Mcphail Gary Mcquaig

Linda Medland-Davis Jacqueline Meffen Paul Messner Peter Michalyshyn Ronald Middleton Janet Millar Miller Capital Corp Andrea Moen Marion Morgan Ronald Morin Marney Mustard Judy Nail John Neilson Charlette Nodrick Denis Noel Jen Nowacka Mike O’Dell James Ogle John Ogilvy Richard O’Gorman Allan Oliver Atul Omkar Rob & Ursula O’Neil Kirsten Ostler Fred Otto J Ouellette Isabel Paddon Frank Palko C.H. Parks Mary Pemberton Del Perras Ryan Persad Brian Peterson Homsanith Phetlathy Mary Phillips-Rickey Robert Philp

Karen Platten Eraldo Pomare Eugene Ratsoy Derek Redman Yvonne Rekken Phil Renaud Nancy Reynolds Bruce Ritchie Keith Ritter Terry Romaniuk Carolynne E Ross Joanne Ross Peter Royal E J Rudnisky Ena Rudovics Ryan Ruotsalainen Kathleen L Savey Jelena Savic Tom Sawyer Wendy Schelske Oliver Schnider Bill Schultz Werner Schulze Anton Schwabenbauer Barbara Seadon Richard Secord Sheelagh & Andrew Semper Alison Seymour Robert Shaigec Sanjay Sharma Kelly Sheard Paul Shelley R & W Sherbaniuk Todd Shipley Randal Shopik

James Skitsko Jerome Slavik Janice Smith Kierstin Smyth Matthew Snowdon Thomas Snyder Darin Sprake Joseph Stang Sheila Steinhauer-Mozejko W Stevenson M. Deborah Stewart Timothy Stonhouse Anne Strack Ronald Streeter Martin Stribrny Jordan J Stuffco Jean Sult Doreen Sulyma David Syme Kevin Tamblyn Hilary Tanasichuk Louis Te Sylvia Tensfeldt Kent Teskey Michael Thain The Counsel Network Claus Thietke Dennis R.G Thomas Janette Thorvaldson Michael Thwaites Rhonda Tibbit William Tonn Marissa Tordoff Karen Trace Lisa Trach Laurie Trahan

Donna & Marv Weisler Karen Whiting Jolanta Wiens David Williams E Marie Williams Paul Daryl Wilson Darlene Wong Morley Workun Doug & Mary Wright Frank Wuest Susan Yare Phillippe L Diane Young

Dennis Vance Maureen Vandenberg Terry Veeman Trudy Velichka Aran Veylan Mark Vigrass A.C. Visman Shawna Vogel Ernest Walter Todd Wandio Scott Watson Janice Webb William Wedderburn

Donations made in memory of Ernie LeMessurier: Sandra Gajic Louis & Mary Hyndman Dianne & Irving Kipnes

Stephen & Lynn Mandel Hilary Rose

Donations made in memory of KIMBERLEY HEARD: Monique & Curtis Bandura James & Kelly Barnie Reta Berte Gail Dennis-Moisey Nicole Duhamel Christine Jones Maureen Yates-Millions & Keith Millions

Motion Industries (Canada) Ltd. Derek & Glenda Pickering Salisbury Composite High School Laura Svajlenko Dennis & Sharon Turner

Only 2011/2012 season donations and/or pledges processed until May 25, 2012 are listed. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of our donor information. If we have made an error or omission, please call the donor services line at 780-392-7834. We apologize for any inconvenience. Although space limitations allow us to list only charitable contributions of $50 or more, we gratefully acknowledge all donations. Each gift, regardless of size, helps to make Edmonton Opera performances possible. Thank you!

FRIENDS OF EDMONTON OPERA DONOR BENEFITS CHART benefits Income tax receipt E-Newsletter Acknowledgment on Edmonton Opera website Acknowledgement in production playbills Voting privileges at Annual General Meeting Invitation for two to pre & intermission receptions Two tickets at 10% off for each main stage production Complimentary poster from our current season Two tickets at 30% off for each main stage production Invitation for two to each dress rehearsal Invitation for two to one VIP reception Exclusive membership opportunities*

donor

$50+

• • •

member

$100+

• • • • • •

contributor supporter

$250+

• • • • • • •

$500+

• • • • • • • •

sustainer directorS’ circle

$1,000+

• • • • • • • • • • •

$1,750+

*As a Director’s Circle member, you will have an array of added benefits such as reserved premium parking, invitations to opening night receptions during and after the show and other exciting opportunities! Visit edmontonopera.com for a complete list of Directors’ Circle benefits and call 780-392-7834 to make your contribution.

• • • • • • • • • • • •

SUMMER MAGAZINE 43

Aria Legacy Help Edmonton Opera Sing Forever Edmonton Opera creates award-winning and compelling art, and strives to keep that art accessible for the Edmonton community. Aria Legacy is your opportunity to share that dream in a focused and personal way, with a gift to our endowment program that will last into perpetuity. Endowment gifts of any size are appreciated. For more information on how you can help sustain Edmonton Opera for generations to come, please call the donor services line at 780-392-7834.

Edmonton Opera

ENDOWMENT FUNDS Edmonton Opera applauds the following visionaries for contributing to or establishing a legacy of support for the future of opera in our community. Many of these contributions have been matched by the Canadian Arts and Heritage Sustainability Program. Thank you. Edmonton Operaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Endowment Funds:

2011/2012 Endowment Donors & Aria Legacy Members

Sam & Sonia Azer Family Fund Frederic & Alma Gojmerac Family Fund Canadian Arts and Heritage Fund Edmonton Opera Staff Contributions Fund Edmonton Opera Endowment Fund Irving Guttman Opera Endowment Fund The Dianne and Irving Kipnes Opera Fund John and Barbara Poole Family Fund Francis Price and Marguerite Trussler Family Fund Dwight Purdy Memorial Fund David Cook Fund for Edmonton Opera

Tricia Abbott John Adria Jelena Bojic Katherine Braun Erin Clyde Glenda Dennis Maggie Dower Ivan & Ksenia Fedyna Laura Fitzgerald Karin Fodor

Sandra Gajic Gwen Horvath Laurence Jewell Betty Kolodziej Franklin C Loehde Amanda MacRae Cameron MacRae Stephen & Lynn Mandel Devon J Mark

Oline Markine Jeff McCune Kyle & Colleen Murray Clarence Preitz Francis Price Reynolds Mirth Richards & Farmer Clayton Rodney Analee Roman Hilary Rose

Kelly Sheard Darren Staten Catherine Szabo Marguerite Trussler Chris & Vivian Varvis Joan Welch Adrienne Wong Tim Yakimec

Additional financial contributions from members of the Edmonton Opera Chorus. A generous endowment gift has been made by the Edmonton Opera Guild In honour of the Edmonton Opera Chorus.

SUMMER MAGAZINE 45

DISCOVER

EDMONTON

OPERA’S NEW SEASON SUBSCRIBE BEFORE JULY 31, 2012 FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A TRIP TO CHICAGO VALUED AT $2,950! MAINSTAGE SERIES

3 Grand Operas from as low as $96

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ATB CANADIAN SERIES 2 Groundbreaking Canadian Operas for $100

LES CONTES D’HOFFMANN

SHELTER World Premiere!

EUGENE ONEGIN

SVADBA – WEDDING

Offenbach | FEBRUARY 2013 » 1 • 3 • 5 • 7

Tchaikovsky | APRIL 2013 » 19 • 21 • 23 • 25

Palmer | NOVEMBER 2012 » 15 • 16 • 17 • 18

Sokolović | JANUARY 2013 » 12 • 13 • 16 • 18 • 19

Tickets » 780.429.1000 2012–2013

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SUMMER MAGAZINE 47

PARTNERS

SPONSORS OF

GOVERNMENT & FOUNDATION SUPPORT

SEASON SPONSORS

the canadian series Sponsor

golf tournament SPONSOR

OPERA al FRESCO SPONSOR

Dianne and Irv Kipnes Production SPONSOR FIDELIO

Opening Night SPONSOR FIDELIO

Education Dress Rehearsal Sponsors

Francis Price and Marguerite Trussler