Talking with composers: Jonathan Dove

Interview

"I don't try to write anything down until it's already quite a long way to being finished in my mind. Before that, I just keep playing (piano or keyboard) until I have an idea that seems to have a future, and then follow where it leads."

Bon Appetit indeed: don't miss Muse 9's delicious, musical menu

Interview

"Julia Child was a woman of vision and passion, who carved her way through male dominated industry with grace and sense of humour. Even living in this modern day society, we as women are often faced with challenges and roadblocks that differ from men."

Talking with singers: Jennifer Zetlan

Interview

"I love to tell stories and I love great music, and I can't imagine a better blend of the two! That I get to do it for a living constantly astonishes me, no exaggeration."

Don't miss: Macbeth in Vancouver

Interview

"Treachery, swordfights, murders, wild women in the woods telling the future…what isn't to love? And the way Verdi tells the tale musically, he really makes my job easy – I just have to listen to what the music is asking of us."

Thomas Guthrie on puppetry and opera: "It's really magical."

Interview

"The biggest thing is believing yourself that the character is real, is alive. Then it draws on your own experiences, your own emotions, in order to communicate."

Stonewall: "Uplifting and eerily timely."

Interview

"I hope audiences will walk away inspired, with renewed strength to fight back against the oppression of marginalized communities."

Alek Shrader on directing Dido: "Ideas assail me."

Interview

"Tina Fey said 'If you want to be a screenwriter, take an acting class to get a sense of what you’re asking actors to do.' It's another perfect quote from one of my writing idols, and my performance experience definitely informs hypothetical staging."

Talking with conductors: Joseph Mechavich

Interview

"It is essential that both the director and conductor celebrate the singer-actor and love the act of storytelling. The awesome feat of the singer producing their sound and getting that sound into the house should be respected."

Talking with singers: Leonardo Capalbo

Interview

"I will not play Carlo as a wounded bird. He may lament the many things which he has lost in life, but his cries are not in vain."

Talking with singers: Robert Hayward

Interview

"I get a thrill working in opera, a physical and mental high to unravel the personality of different characters and to earn a living from it is an honour. The UK is blessed with great opportunities for singers young and not so young."