The 5 best & worst states for finding an opera house

Editorial

The other day, this Canadian blogger was thinking about the United States. Specifically, I was wondering just how many opera houses there are in a country of over 300 million people. So, I gathered some quick stats on the number of opera houses (or organizations producing professional opera) versus millions of people, in each state.

Vote for a note: crowdsourced songwriting?

Editorial

What do you get when you ask a crowd what a song should sound like? CrowdSound.net is currently completing a melody, generated one note at a time by people on the Internet. Users can vote for each subsequent note in a melody, choosing from a list of diatonic pitches.

Back to school opera: a practical glossary

Editorial

The summer winds down, and school and other seasonal activities (like opera!) are soon back in session. In anticipation of a brand new season of opera-going, I figured a practical crash-course was in order.

Opera culprits: the villain who thinks he's doing good

Editorial

Just like in real life, the most terrifying villains are the ones who firmly believe they're doing good. Sure, there are sociopathic/sadistic types, villains who just like to hurt people. The more fascinating, and dramatically challenging villains are the ones who have reasons behind their villainry. Sometimes the reasoning is good enough to pursuade, to make audiences understand where they come from; with bad guys like Dexter Morgan, Walter White, and even fun version of the Devil, audiences are arguably rooting for them to succeed.

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.

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.

COSI: A day in the life

Editorial

It's the final week of the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy (COSI), a month-long, comprehensive summer training program that immerses emerging opera artists into the complete world of opera. Nearly a decade old, the program's illustrious alumni have gone on to grace the stage of the Met, staff the majority of the current COC Ensemble Studio, and launch opera companies.

Gallery: hiking with the music staff

Editorial

On our last day off together, I invited conductor Against the Grain Theatre Music Director, and fellow music staffer Christopher Mokrzewski on a hike of the Hoodoos Trail here in beautiful Banff. Neither of us are particularly athletic, but we did enjoy a collective "mountain experience" in the meantime. Enjoy a few photos from our day!

Does new opera raise the bar for performers?

Editorial

In a competitive industry, I'm fine with the concept of promoting singers who have acting skills and can learn music fast enough to fit into the woefully short rehearsal time many companies are afforded. Survival of the fittest, I say, and new opera is a beautiful and direct route to honing those skills.

Tim Vernon, Artistic Director²

Editorial

If you've not yet heard the news, Maestro Timothy Vernon has been appointed the new Artistic Director of Opera Lyra Ottawa. Vernon will begin immediately with the 2015/16 season, and he'll maintain his position as Artistic Director of Pacific Opera Victoria. A busy man just got busier.