Talking with directors: Christopher Alden

Interview

American opera director Christopher Alden is in Toronto to direct Pyramus and Thisbe, a new opera by Barbara Monk Feldman based on the very old story of Ovid's. Canadian Opera Company General Director Alexander Neef had the idea to create a triple bill, pairing Monk Feldman's opera with two works of Monteverdi: Lamento d'Arianna (the only remaining fragment of his lost opera, Arianna) and Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda.

Daniel Cabena on air india [redacted]

Interview

Canadian countertenor Daniel Cabena will soon head to Vancouver to collaborate with the British Columbia-based Turning Point Ensemble, and singers Zorana Sadiq and Alexander Dobson on Jürgen Simpson's new opera, air india [redacted]. Presented November 6-11th by TPE and Simon Fraser University Woodward's Cultural Programs, air india [redacted] is an operatic telling of the bombing of Air India flight 182 in June, 1985.

Spotlight on: Sara Schabas

Interview

Canadian soprano Sara Schabas has learned, in her still-young career, how much singing can mean to an audience. She knows that it takes more than technique to move listeners, and she knows that her work is valuable on stages of all sizes and shapes. Sara sings to give back, bringing music to patients in hospitals and care facilities through charities like Songs By Heart and Sharing Notes.

Kyra Millan: Arts Education counts

Interview

Performer, teacher and artist educator Kyra Millan has taught countless students of all ages in school classrooms and in her private studio. She started the GLEESICAL music theatre program at the Classical Music Conservatory, and she leads workshops at the Canadian Opera Company, Opera Atelier, the Royal Conservatory of Music, Workman Arts, and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Check out: MYOpera

Interview

MYOpera is the brand new face of Toronto-based indie opera company Metro Youth Opera. Their commitment to providing professional experience to emerging artists remains the same, but MYOpera has a new name, and a new season. At the aptly chosen Opera Bob's Public House, Artistic Director Kate Applin announced MYOpera's upcoming production of Britten's The Rape of Lucretia in spring, 2016.

Talking with singers: Othalie Graham

Interview

"If I'm cast in something, I show up incredibly prepared, I'm a very good colleague, and I do the things I can do to make it work. There's so much of it that we can't control, as you know. *So much* of it that you can't control. But I do the best that I can every day, I work really hard with the things I can control," she laughs. "Which isn't a lot."

Spotlight on: Cairan Ryan

Interview

"I sing because it is a holistic musical experience. It's the only thing I can think of that comes close to complete participation of your brain, body, and what some people may call a soul. At its peak, it unites all three into a living, breathing instrument, that's always completely unique and arrestingly different. I sing to always find that unity."

Talking with singers: Ambur Braid

Interview

Dramatic coloratura soprano Ambur Braid has been on our interview wish-list since Schmopera's day one. Her choice repertoire consists largely of "evil, crazy royalty," where she can show off her staggering high notes and coloratura so fast you can blink and miss it.

Michael Park: on opera & disease

Interview

Vancouver-based Composer and pianist Michael Park has spent considerable time thinking about how to talk about disease through music. He performed his Alzheimer's Variations (absolutely worth a listen) as part of his TEDxSFU talk in 2013, entitled "Experience disease through music."

Browse Suzanne Vinnik's Opera Diva Dress Collection

Interview

I sometimes wonder what the average number of evening gowns in the closets of opera singers. Probably at least 5 - maybe closer to 10? Having a closet that won't stay shut from all the tulle doesn't actually sound like a bad problem, but it's certainly not practical.