Check out: Opera 5

Interview

Artistic Director Aria Umezawa and General Director Rachel Krehm, also known as the ladies of Opera 5, said to me that although they take their work and their art very seriously, they don't take themselves seriously. I think that's a great way to sum up Opera 5, a Toronto-based company that creates a full opera-going experience for its audiences. They commission new works, put up rarely heard operas, and pair their performances with food, drink, and atmosphere suggestive of the evening's entertainment.

Check out: Urbanvessel

Interview

Based in Toronto, Urbanvessel produces performances that are interdisciplinary, provocative, and based in the human voice. Past shows include Voice-Box, a boxing opera for an all-woman cast, Stitch, an a cappella opera for three women and sewing machines, and this summer's Singing River, which brought dance, poetry, singing and more to the Toronto's Don River.

Idealism & questions about unions

Op-ed

I'll never be quoted as saying that artists deserve to be paid less than they already do. They work incredibly hard in a specialized set of skills. I think it's important, though, to be self-aware in an industry that's ubiquitously almost out of money. Will the unions be the first to adapt to a contemporary opera economy, or should contemporary artists be the ones to take the bold steps for the sake of the industry (perhaps martyring themselves along the way)?

But, why didn't they write opera?

Editorial

Before I got into opera, I dealt with a certain list of composers. J.S. Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Debussy, Chopin, Scriabin, Liszt - all these guys wrote some pretty fantastic music for solo piano. Then, I started working with chamber ensembles, and my composer pool expanded to Bartók, Brahms, Sarasate, Chaminade, Poulenc, Fauré, and Piazzola. I began looking at song repertoire with singers, so I found Hugo Wolf, and realized what the big deal was with Schubert and Schumann.

Spotlight on: Jeremy Hirsch

Interview

American baritone Jeremy Hirsch impressed me last season when he doubled up as both Bottom and Peter Quince in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream at Opera on the Avalon. Jeremy is comfortable on the opera stage, keeping busy with a mix of Mozart and new opera; he also has a great passion for song repertoire.

Beating the heat with Weill

Humour

If you're currently in Toronto, you know the heat is pretty awful indeed. So, the train of thought went thus: ugh, it's hot..."Ain't it awful, the heat?"...That show is so great. Why don't people do it more?...Ice Cream Sextet!

Spotlight on: Laurelle Jade Froese

Interview

I don't think I've met many young singers who work as hard as mezzo-soprano Laurelle Jade Froese. The Winnipeg native is a graduate of the University of Toronto, where I heard her as the hilariously uppity Florence Pike in Joel Ivany's production of Albert Herring. Laurelle has sung at Saskatoon Opera, Highlands Opera Studio, and she just finished a season with Vancouver Opera as a Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist.

Spotlight on: Kimberley-Ann Bartczak

Interview

Kimberley-Ann Bartzcak is a current member of the Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists Program at Vancouver Opera; at VO, she's a pianist, coach and répétiteur, but she's also a driven young conductor who's beginning to make waves. I always thing young conductors are some of the bravest folks around (not to mention a woman in what's arguably a man's world), so I was curious to ask Kim about her experience on the podium.

Banff Diaries: a postlude

Editorial

Opening night brought audiences into a seedy bar, with intimidating bouncers, walls covered in sex toys and a floor littered with latex. Novelty aside, the team delivered in quality with two...arousing?...performances.

Check out: Opera After Hours

Interview

Vancouver based company Opera After Hours is all about looking twice at historical opera repertoire. Led by Artistic Directors Christopher Bagan (historical keyboardist) and Debi Wong (mezzo-soprano), Opera After Hours had its inaugural production last summer, with #DidoAndAeneas; they took the story in a new direction, focusing on issues of cyberbullying and collaborating with Stop-A-Bully Canada.