APRIL 21, 2023, VANCOUVER, B.C. – Traditional territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations – Vancouver Opera is excited to announce the 2023–2024 season. In October, Mozart’s The Magic Flute will begin the season followed by Donizetti’s Don Pasquale in February 2024. Closing the season will be Bizet’s much loved opera Carmen for five performances in April and May 2024.
“We are excited to present an incredible season of opera “classics” to expose our great art form to new audiences,” said Tom Wright, Vancouver Opera General Director. “Two of the operas have not been seen in over a decade and one has only been produced once in our 64-year history. Each of our productions feature returning directors who wowed VO audiences in the past and understand the magic and passion that courses through these stories. We are excited to be presenting these spectacular productions that burst with colour and energy, reach the very core of our humanity and illicit passion, smiles and tears with their sweeping compositions.”
Opening the 2023–2024 season is The Magic Flute by Mozart, directed by Ashlie Corcoran (The Barber of Seville, February 2020) and making her VO debut is Conductor Tania Miller. This opera is a fairytale within a fairytale, immersing the audience in a magical, wild journey of high drama and whimsical delight. Owen McCausland is Tamino and making her Vancouver Opera debut is Vancouver native Kirsten MacKinnon as Pamina.
In February, dive into a 20th-century Technicolour makeover of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale by acclaimed creative duo of costume/set designer André Barbe and director/choreographer Renaud Doucet (La Bohème). This all-Canadian production features Maestro Jacques Lacombe returning to Vancouver Opera (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) to conduct Donizetti’s finely-calibrated music in this comic masterpiece. Gregory Dahl is Don Pasquale with Elizabeth Polese as Norina, Victoria native Josh Lovell makes his Vancouver Opera debut as Ernesto and Phillip Addis as Dr. Malatesta.
Concluding the season is one of the most beloved and widely performed works in operatic history, Carmen by Georges Bizet. This passionate story is told through seductive arias and enduring, richly coloured melodies. Rachel Peake returns to Vancouver Opera (The Pearl Fishers) to direct Carmen alongside conductor Leslie Dala (The Flying Dutchman) for a five-show engagement. Carmen will be portrayed by Sandra Piques Eddy and Carolyn Sproule with Jonelle Sills as Micaëla. Alok Kumar and Matthew White will both perform the role of Don José.
Adds Wright, “together, the storybook enchantment of Mozart’s The Magic Flute, a vivid pop art reimagining of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale and the fiery passion of Bizet’s Carmen make for a season of grand scale, dazzlingly immersive experiences.”
Vancouver Opera will also be presenting several other special events including the return of Opera in the Park. On Sunday, July 16 audiences will be entertained through an evening of duets, arias and more led by Music Director Emeritus Jonathan Darlington. This is a free, family-friendly event with activities beginning at 3pm, and the concert beginning at 7:30pm in Deer Lake Park in Burnaby.
In partnership with re:Naissance Opera and H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, the world premiere of Sanctuary & Storm will take place November 17 – 19 opening IndieFest 2023. An imagined debate between the two most powerful women in Medieval Europe—Hildegard of Bingen and Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of the Normans—frames this striking new chamber opera by award-winning composer Tawnie Olson and librettist Roberta Barker. With the omniscient Angel of History acting as commentator, the brilliant and unconventional women struggle with how to move beyond the oppression of patriarchal society, but risk losing sight of their common goal: a world reborn.
Vancouver Opera continues its community engagement with its work in schools, arts organizations, and community groups. Vancouver Opera in Schools brings fully-staged operas to children and families throughout British Columbia. Project Opera sees students working with VO artists and teachers to design and deliver their very own opera.
Starting in spring 2024, Vancouver Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria are remounting their co-production of The Flight of the Hummingbird, resuming a school tour across the province. The opera is based on an Indigenous parable from the Quechuan people of South America. The opera is influenced by the graphic novel written by acclaimed Haida artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas and includes elements of his dramatic Haida-manga illustrations. In it, the animals of the forest are inspired to come together by Dukdukdiya, the Hummingbird, to save their beautiful home from a raging fire.
Single tickets go on sale July 12, 2023. Subscribers have until June 9, 2023 to renew their subscription for the 2023-2024 season. For more information about the 2023–2024 Vancouver Opera Season, and to subscribe, please visit vancouveropera.ca.
2023–2024 VANCOUVER OPERA SEASON
THE MAGIC FLUTE
by Georges Bizet
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Sung in German with English SURTITLES™ projected above the stage
Saturday, October 21, 7:30PM | Thursday, October 26, 7:30PM
Saturday, October 28, 7:30PM | Sunday, October 29, 2:00PM
DON PASQUALE
By Gaetano Donizetti
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLES™ projected above the stage
Saturday, February 10, 7:30PM | Thursday, February 15, 7:30PM | Sunday, February 18, 2:00PM
CARMEN
By George Bizet
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Sung in French with English SURTITLES™ projected above the stage
April 27, 7:30PM | April 28, 2:00PM | May 2, 7:30PM
May 4, 7:30PM | May 5, 2:00PM
ABOUT VANCOUVER OPERA
Vancouver Opera creates extraordinary experiences that engage, inspire and entertain through voice, music and theatre. Vancouver Opera is the second largest professional opera company in Canada and is regarded worldwide for its fine mainstage productions, country-leading education programs and innovative community programs. Learn more at www.vancouveropera.ca.
Vancouver Opera has the continuing support of The Canada Council for the Arts, Government of Canada, the BC Arts Council and BC Provincial Government, the City of Vancouver Cultural Services and Vancouver Civic Theatres. Vancouver Opera’s season sponsors are BMO, Mission Hill Family Estate, and the Alan and Gwendoline Pyatt Foundation.
