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Page 6 The OSCAR - OUR 40 th YEAR MAY 2012<br />
By Jim Watson,<br />
Mayor of <strong>Ottawa</strong><br />
In October 2011, I held a Seniors<br />
Summit to discuss the issues facing<br />
our City’s seniors. During the<br />
election campaign, I had promised to<br />
hold a Seniors Summit during my first<br />
year in office and I kept that promise<br />
with an event that was both educational<br />
and informative for those who attended.<br />
Now in year two of my mandate, I<br />
am hosting a day-long Youth Summit<br />
By Lisa Drouillard<br />
A<br />
new and innovative opera<br />
company will launch its first<br />
season at the Mayfair Theatre<br />
May 29 and 30. I met up with the Capitol<br />
City Opera’s (CCO) founder to ask him<br />
about his motivations and hopes for this<br />
bold new initiative. Rory McGlynn is<br />
a singer himself with a background in<br />
musical theatre. After singing opera<br />
professionally in Toronto for a few<br />
years, he found a lot of roadblocks for<br />
young singers looking for opportunities<br />
to develop their repertoire in lead<br />
roles. “I wanted to create a company<br />
that supported young artists and those<br />
that couldn’t break into the union for<br />
whatever reasons” says McGlynn,<br />
“these singers love the art form so much<br />
MAYOR’S MONTHLY COLUMN<br />
on October 12, 2012 at City Hall along<br />
with the honorary chair of the event,<br />
Councillor Mathieu Fleury.<br />
The Youth Summit aims to provide<br />
a forum for youth (ages 16-25) to speak<br />
freely about issues they are concerned<br />
about and encourage information<br />
sharing among all participants. There<br />
will be guest speakers and information<br />
sessions for those in attendance but<br />
a special focus will be placed on<br />
hearing from our youth to learn what is<br />
important to them.<br />
Our City boasts three universities,<br />
Youth Summit<br />
two colleges, and many high schools.<br />
From these groups and others I want<br />
to draw a diverse group to the Youth<br />
Summit so that they can tell us about<br />
the challenges they face, learn about<br />
how the City can help, and help us go<br />
forward with a better understanding of<br />
how we at City Hall can improve our<br />
services for <strong>Ottawa</strong>’s youth.<br />
The planning of this summit is<br />
already underway with a steering<br />
committee meeting regularly.<br />
Registration will open up later this<br />
summer and I expect that spots will go<br />
Capital City Opera Comes to the Mayfair!<br />
they pay to be in operas to help smaller<br />
opera companies stay afloat.”<br />
The CCOs approach to casting<br />
and publicizing its first season made<br />
the most new media. Whereas opera<br />
has a reputation of being an archaic art<br />
form, its appeal to younger audiences is<br />
apparent in the increasing numbers of<br />
opera program applicants and increased<br />
festival participation. The CCO has also<br />
capitalized on the interest in auditions<br />
as entertainment, with the popularity<br />
of shows like Idol, America’s got<br />
Talent and Bathroom Divas. They used<br />
online auditions and voting through<br />
social media to cast young artists.<br />
In this process, CapitalCityOpera.<br />
ca got 39,500 page views in 7 days<br />
from the voting period of March 10<br />
to 17 - engaging both newcomers and<br />
established figures in the opera world,<br />
such as Gil Wechsler from the Met.<br />
The casting process also gave a big<br />
kickstart to the promotions for the new<br />
opera company, by capturing the energy<br />
and networks of the singers to boost the<br />
profile of the company and its inaugural<br />
season.<br />
With a range of different venues<br />
in <strong>Ottawa</strong> for an opera, the CCO chose<br />
our Mayfair Theatre. I asked Rory why.<br />
“Lee Demarbre is a great guy and was<br />
very accommodating and excited to hear<br />
that opera was a possibility in his theatre<br />
… I wanted more comfortable seating<br />
than church pews for people watching<br />
our shows and I also wanted a laid back<br />
atmosphere for the opera newbie. We<br />
are “Jeans Allowed Opera”.<br />
The CCO’s first production will be<br />
La Boheme. The work was chosen as<br />
a work that could connect with a broad<br />
audience. “The libretto consists of<br />
themes like love, jealousy, camaraderie,<br />
betrayal, loyalty and ultimately loss set<br />
with a group of four friends and two<br />
couples that are artists and idealists in<br />
19 century Paris.”<br />
The young opera company has<br />
been strongly supported by the help of<br />
Join us for our spring fundraiser,<br />
Hike for Hospice on May 6, 2012,<br />
in support of The Hospice at May<br />
Court. Hike along the streets of <strong>Ottawa</strong><br />
<strong>South</strong> in an effort to raise funds and<br />
awareness for The Hospice at May<br />
Court.<br />
The Tracy Arnett Realty Hike<br />
for Hospice is The Hospice’s second<br />
largest annual fundraiser, and this year<br />
marks the tenth anniversary of the hike.<br />
People are asked to gather pledges and<br />
then hike to raise awareness for hospice<br />
palliative care.<br />
“Hospice palliative care is currently<br />
under funded and under recognized,”<br />
says Dave Hogberg, Executive Director<br />
for The Hospice at May Court, “Our<br />
fundraising goal for this hike is to bring<br />
in $120,000 for The Hospice.”<br />
fast so keep an eye on www.ottawa.<br />
ca for news on the event or follow the<br />
City on Twitter at @ottawacity (@<br />
ottawaville en français).<br />
Just as we want to interact with<br />
youth on the day of the summit, so too<br />
do we want to hear from you in the leadup<br />
to the summit. If you have any ideas<br />
for potential guest speakers, topics for<br />
discussion, or just something you think<br />
would work well as part of the summit,<br />
please email youth@ottawa.ca or<br />
jeunesse@ottawa.ca.<br />
local businessman Bart Tecter, who has<br />
supported the venture financially and<br />
organizationally. As you can imagine,<br />
the company will be looking for more<br />
help from interested volunteers to<br />
contribute to the promotions, event<br />
coordination and administration, the<br />
things all arts companies need.<br />
New arts initiatives take an<br />
enormous amount of energy to get<br />
started, but McGlynn seems buoyed<br />
by the prospect of changing the arts<br />
landscape in <strong>Ottawa</strong>: “I now get to put<br />
on operas that I love and hire singers<br />
that are passionate and eager … I hope<br />
the public sees this company and its<br />
chosen venue as an alternative to the<br />
video broadcasts and more expensive<br />
opera companies. “<br />
The Mayfair Theatre will host<br />
Capital City Opera’s production of<br />
Puccini’s La Boheme at 7pm May 29<br />
and 30 Tickets are available at the<br />
Leading Note on Elgin, or you can have<br />
them delivered to you by calling 613-<br />
421-1325. For more information go to<br />
CapitolCityOpera.ca<br />
Come out to<br />
The Tracy Arnett Realty Hike for<br />
Hospice on May 6 and support<br />
The Hospice at May Court<br />
Registration for the Hike is $25 –<br />
this covers a shirt, coffee and snacks,<br />
lunch, entertainment, and a day with<br />
friends and family supporting a<br />
noteworthy cause. The expected turn<br />
out is about 400 hikers, with 100 per<br />
cent of the proceeds raised by hikers<br />
going towards funding The Hospice’s<br />
four major programs: Home Support,<br />
Day Hospice, Residential Care, and<br />
Family Support.<br />
“The hike really is a great<br />
opportunity to raise funds for our<br />
programs here at The Hospice, while<br />
bringing the community together for a<br />
great morning,” says Dave Hogberg,<br />
“we’re looking forward to seeing<br />
everyone, and are so grateful for our<br />
committed supporters.”
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