Aria guides: [insert Christmas carol here]

Humour

Readers, you've taken a liking to our series of Aria Guides, which offer tips to complement the work you do on repertoire with your teachers and coaches. Our latest guide is less about operatic arias, and more about that other powerful genre, the Christmas Carol. Our short and sweet list of caroling tips is for all holiday singers, professional and otherwise. So pick your favourite Christmas tune, and don't forget the joy!

Bronx Opera: 50 years & counting

Interview

"It took our company a number of seasons, since its inception in 1967, to even realize that there was a possibility for its longevity. When this rather startling thought took hold, we had already formulated our basic missions: to give talented operatic artists an opportunity for meaningful experience and exposure (57 to date have gone to the Met), to nurture new audiences for opera...to expose outstanding and rarely performed works to audiences each winter and to proudly represent the quality of life in our home borough."

Real talk: the unspoken realities of a professional artistic life

Op-ed

Is it okay for us to talk about this openly? Can we be honest for a minute about how difficult this is? After a while I started to notice that I wasn’t the only one feeling the strain, and I definitely am not the only one wondering if it's alright to talk about it. So I'm here to talk about it. Openly, honestly, and publicly. And to invite others to be part of the real talk surrounding our endlessly difficult and confusing line of work.

Talking with singers: Karolina Pilou

Interview

"The idea that one person doing the casting can assess what the thousands of people from different cultures and walks of life in a diverse audience will find attractive or not, is still a puzzle to me. We tell the most fascinating and outrageous stories to audiences, but don't give them enough credit that they can believe a short and overweight tenor or a plus size soprano can be the object of desire in many given opera productions."

He said/She said: a tale of two Messiahs

Review

Herr Handel was welcomed to the stage with all the flair and fervour of the biggest glam-rock superstar. It was heartening to see that kind of reaction. After a few housekeeping announcements disguised as a sketch with Handel, The Earl of Sandwich (apparently it's important to know that it's pronounced ['samɪtʃ]), and a silver tray of what I later found out to be actual turkey sandwiches, we had a quick warm-up and were off to the races.

A must-watch: The Creation on film

News

Happily, the London premiere of Rambert's The Creation was captured on film, directed by award-winning dance filmmaker Ross MacGibbon; starting today, the film is available to stream online. The filmed performance, conducted by Rambert Music Director Paul Hoskins, features over 40 dancers, along with the Rambert Orchestra, the BBC Singers, and soloists Sarah Tynan, James Gilchrist, and Neal Davies.

I'm a singer and it's Christmas

Op-ed

I'm a singer and it's Christmas. It feels like I have a rehearsal or performance every single day. My Facebook feed is full of spam about performances (half of which I'm in) and memories of past statuses congratulating my fellow performers on a job well done. My partner and I are like ships in the night. My Mom guilt is at record levels. So many babysitters, late nights, and not enough sleep for my little guy who still needs Mommy to fall asleep.

Bocelli & Evancho to sing at Trump inauguration, opera folk feel weird about it

Editorial

Personally, I suppose I feel a bit icky that it was within the opera world (which does include popera) where the Trump people found artists willing to perform for his big day. Like it somehow shames by association a whole community of opera singers who are largely liberal-leaning.

In review: The (reimagined) Winter's Tale

Review

Hovering somewhere between medieval inspiration and abstract improvisation, Kim Ashton's music served as evocative incidental music, offering subtext and commentary in what felt like a live version of a film score. With admirable listening skills, the quartet played from memory, removing one more barrier that can separate the audience from the creative process.

It's beginning to look a lot like **SUB NEEDED**

Op-ed

The past few weeks every time I log on to my social media feeds, or open my inboxes, I find the same messages. "Sub needed for Dec 23, 24, 25," etc., outlining the money made per call. This doesn't just happen at Christmas either. I see the same barrage of posts happening during Lent/Easter as well.