Volume 8 Issue 7 - April 2003

COVER STORY
OPERA
·OD
by Christopher Haile
THERE HAS never been a better
time to be doing opera in Ontario.
This is the general consensus of
eight heads of opera companies
canvassed on the topic in mid
March.
Yes, perennial questions of
funding and governmental
commitment to the arts remain,
further clouded by new concerns
over what effect a war will have
both psychologically and
economically. And cutbacks to
music education have also had
negative effects. Despite this, the
outlook of those leading opera in
Southern Ontario into the 21st
century is almost uniformly
upbeat.
ON OUR COVER:
LEFf, Curlis Sullivan,
the Count in Opera Atelier's
"Marriage of Figaro":
RIGHT, Matthew Galloway,
Jimmy Moonwalk in the
Canadian Children's Opera
Chorus/SoundStreams
production of Harry Somers'
·~ Midwinter Night's Dream"
6
PHOTOS:
MICHAEL HUDSON (SULLIVAN)
DEN CruL (GALww Av)
CONCEPT/ART:
ROCKET DESIGN
The unprecedented
numbers of gifted Canadian
singers, the dedication and
enthusiasm of Ontario audiences,
and the willingness on the part of
companies and audiences to
explore unfamiliar repertoire
make this, they say, the most
exciting time opera in Ontario
has ever seen. ·
One large part -
of this excitement is the growing
sense of confidence that the
Canadian Opera Company's
dream of a new opera house will
now become reality. Ground-
• breaking for the Four Seasons
Centre for the Performing Arts
at the corner of Queen Street and
University Avenue is slated for
April 11. And if all goes as
planned, the new opera house
should open in the summer of
2006, after an agonizingly
prolonged struggle.
This is a great victory for the
COC and its General Director
Richard Bradshaw. "A new
opera house and Wagner's Ring
on the horizon" he says. "It's all
any company in the world could
wish for."
The new opera house will also
provide an occasional new venue
for the Canadian Children's
Opera Chorus, who produce
shows independently as well as
performing with the COC and
occasionally with the National
Ballet. But, quite independent of
the issue of use of the facility,
other companies see benefit in
, whatever qements the reality of
opera in the public consciousness.
As Guillermo Silva-Marin,
Artistic Director of the Toronto
Operetta Theatre and Opera in
Concert, declares, "What
benefits one of us benefits us
all".
A second factor
making this time particularly .
special for Canadian opera is the
incredible wealth of Canadian
singing talent that has emerged
over the past few years. Russell
· Braun, Frances Ginzer, Ben
Heppner, Richard Margison,
Brett Polegato, Michael Schade
already have international
careers. But others like Isabel
Bayrakdarian, Adrianne
Pieczonka and Daniel Taylor
have joined them and many more
are waiting in the wings.
When he spoke to me,
Guillermo Silva-Marin had just
returned from auditioning 106
applicants for 34 spots in his third
enterprise, the Summer Opera
Lyric Theatre, overwhelmed by
the talent he encountered. "Fully
halfofthose [I] heard, an
incredibly large number, were
deserving of a career." He feels
privileged to head three
organizations that provide
www.thewholenote.com
showcases for the talent that is
out there, a view shared by Dan
Sherman, chairman of Toronto
Opera Repertoire and Daniel
Lipton, Artistic Director of
Opera Ontario, wbo is proud
that all his singers (with two
exceptions) for the entire 2002-03
season are Canadian.
Also, Ontario opera
companies are clearly benefitting
from a continent-wide burgeoning
of interest in opera. According ·
.to the (U.S.) National
Endowment for the Arts, from
1992-97 "opera's share of the
total arts audience grew by
12.5%, more tlian any other art
form" . During the same period
"opera had the only arts audience
whose median age decreased".
A case in point is the newest of
the eight companies I surveyed,
Opera Mississauga, that became
a fully professional company .
under Artistic Director Dwight
Bennett in 1994. Over the past
three seasons itS subscriber base
has grown by an astonishing
394%.
While the sheer numbers are
impressive, opera leaders in
Ontario are even more impressed
by their audience's attitude. The
COC's Richard Bradshaw came
to Toronto from the San
Francisco Opera, where the star
system reigns. He sees a great
April 1 - May 7 2003