"I'm chuffed!"

Editorial

Did you hear? Against the Grain Theatre is partnering with the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Canadian Opera Company to premiere a new opera training program! Led by AtG's artistic director Joel Ivany and music director Christopher Mokrzewski, eight singers will have the chance to workshop operatic skills in an innovative way.

#COC1415

Editorial

“I’m particularly proud that the 14/15 season is comprised entirely of productions owned or co-owned by the COC. Our three new productions have been created with the world’s best opera companies and the three revivals are essential pieces in the company’s history."

The Case for Music Education

Op-ed

So, in 1993 there was a study published in Nature by Francis Rauscher to try and measure the effect of classical music on spatial skills in children. The study found that 10 minutes of Mozart improved the spatial reasoning skills of college students and rats, and 10 minutes of piano or singing lessons did the same for preschoolers.

opera on reddit: did you know about it?

Editorial

For those who know what Reddit is: there's an opera subreddit! For those who don't: www.reddit.com is a website where all the content has been submitted by users in the form of links. The links can be to anything. ANYTHING.

I Love a Gala

Editorial

On Friday night, PBS aired Richard Tucker at 100: An Opera Celebration. The performance was recorded on November 17, 2013, in time to honour the centennial of late American tenor Richard Tucker. As of Sunday, the event has been etched into Internet stone, and even a Canadian can watch it.

Bills and Business Models

Editorial

2013 was a bad year for the business of classical music. New York City Opera was North America's big story in the ever-widening category of struggling or bankrupt opera houses. Seattle Opera suffered large cutbacks in order to stay alive, and the Minnesota Orchestra's standoff with the board has cost them at least a season and a half. And although outside of our stated calendar year, Canadians certainly felt this week's closure of Opera Hamilton.

Young Pups and Puccini

Op-ed

George Carlin said on playing the blues, "I'll tell you a little secret about the blues: it's not enough to know which notes to play, you have to know why they need to be played."

"We don't have the cash to carry on."

Editorial

Let's make no fat-lady-singing jokes; this is just sad. Opera Hamilton announced today that it would "cease operations." The company has canceled its upcoming gala Popera, scheduled for Saturday night, as well as its production of Carmen that was set to go up in April.

Shiny New Operas

Editorial

Starting in 2014, the operatic repertoire will grow with fresh and intriguing new pieces. Here are a few to which I look forward.

Humility and Hadrian

Op-ed

"That is what, most of all, is shrinking audiences for contemporary music: not any particular musicians, stylistic approaches, or programming, but rather a pernicious idea that contemporary music can only succeed if it bets against itself, and pretends that losing was really winning all along."