Victoria, BC – Pacific Opera Victoria’s 2026/27 season brings epic romance, giant-puppet fantasy, and magical Mozartian adventure to Victoria audiences with three beloved operas that explore the search for identity and human connection. Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore, blazing with passion, vengeance, and the unstoppable force of fate, will dazzle audiences in October 2026. In February 2027, a wildly imaginative and visually stunning retelling of Hansel & Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck will delight fairy-tale and opera lovers of all ages. And in April 2027, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s tale of adventure and the transformative power of music, The Magic Flute, will take centre stage.
The season also marks a significant change in Pacific Opera Victoria’s performance schedule and ticket options, with all Royal Theatre productions now performed over two weekends including two matinees, and new Youth ticket prices available for every seat and every performance – both designed to provide greater flexibility for audiences.
“The upcoming season is a breathtaking journey through the diverse landscapes of human expression. Everything from the fiery, dramatic heights of true Italian grand opera in Verdi’s Il trovatore to the whimsical, puppet-infused fairytale magic of Humperdinck’s Hansel & Gretel, from the radiant and classic charm of Mozart’s The Magic Flute to the newly composed operatic retelling of renowned Canadian playwright Michel Tremblay’s Albertine en cinq temps, this season brings it all. While each masterpiece showcases a vastly different side of the art form, they are all bound by the same profound human quest: the courageous search for self-knowledge or the truth of who we are when tested by fate or the shadows that surround us,” said Pacific Opera Artistic Director Brenna Corner.
Emma Parkinson. Photo: Ben Owens Photography
Opening the season in October 2026, Pacific Opera’s production of Il trovatore, a co-production with Vancouver Opera, is directed by Brenna Corner and conducted by Giuseppe Pietraroia, Pacific Opera Principal Conductor. Corner says of the piece, “Known by opera lovers and newcomers alike through musical gems like Act II’s “Anvil Chorus,” it is a true grand opera, full of political intrigue, mistaken identity, love, revenge, obsession, and onstage battles!” The cast includes baritone Grant Youngblood as Conte di Luna, who will be remembered by Pacific Opera audiences as the title character in Verdi’s Rigoletto during the 2024/25 season.
Created by The Old Trout Puppet Workshop and Brenna Corner, February 2027’s inventive production of Hansel & Gretel blends opera with the Trout’s signature large-scale puppetry and imaginative design, transforming the beloved fairy tale into a magical theatrical adventure. The production will be conducted by Jonathan Brandani, Artistic Director of Calgary Opera. Chinese-Canadian mezzo-soprano Emma Parkinson returns to Pacific Opera in Hansel & Gretel as Hansel; she previously played Fox in Pacific Opera’s The Little Prince during the 2024/25 season. Pacific Opera newcomer, Polish-Canadian soprano Karoline Podolak takes on the role of Gretel. Ludwig van Toronto described Podolak’s tone as “gleaming, with excellent agility for the treacherous runs … attractive stage presence, not to mention that intangible something called star power.”
Isaiah Bell. Photo: Lia Crowe
In April 2027, Arts Club Theatre’s Artistic Director Ashlie Corcoran will make her Pacific Opera directorial debut with The Magic Flute. Victoria favourite and local tenor Isaiah Bell returns to Pacific Opera Victoria as Tamino. Bell will be remembered by Victoria audiences for his 2023 solo show The Book of My Shames and last season’s The Turn of the Screw. “The Magic Flute is Mozart’s dazzling tale of adventure and transformation. When Prince Tamino falls for the mysterious Pamina, he undertakes a perilous quest to find her. Filled with soaring arias, radiant harmonies, and striking theatrical imagery, The Magic Flute celebrates imagination and the human search for wisdom and self-knowledge,” said Corner.
This season also includes two significant Canadian works: Remembering Mary’s Wedding, a reimagining of the beloved Canadian play, taking place on November 6 and 7, 2026, at the Baumann Centre. Weaving together text and music from the 2011 opera, composer Andrew Paul MacDonald and librettist Stephen Massicotte reimagine Mary’s Wedding for narrator, two singers, and piano—an intimate reflection on love and remembrance. Originally developed and premiered in Victoria, this new presentation returns following last year’s performances.
Albertine en cinq temps – L’opéra, created by Quebec’s Les Productions du 10 avril and co-presented by The Belfry Theatre and Pacific Opera, will take to the stage at The Belfry Theatre on May 29 and 30, 2027. A landmark of Québec theatre, Albertine en cinq temps – L’opéra follows one woman at five stages of her life as memory, identity, and emotion collide. This new operatic adaptation, performed in Jowal with English and French surtitles, brings Michel Tremblay’s powerful work to the stage in an intimate and striking form.
From grand Italian tragedy and imaginative family storytelling to Mozart’s timeless celebration of wisdom and humanity, Pacific Opera Victoria’s 2026/27 season invites audiences to experience opera’s power to move, inspire, and transform.
Subscription packages that include all three mainstage operas start at $90 and are on sale now. Single tickets to all productions are available August 4, 2026. For information about performance times and subscriptions, please visit Pacific Opera Subscriptions
For more information visit pacificopera.ca
