COC Announces October 2017 Performances & Special Events

The Canadian Opera Company opens its 2017/2018 season with Richard Strauss' Arabella. This lyric comedy stars world-renowned Canadian sopranos, Erin Wall and Jane Archibald, as two sisters navigating their way through the changing society of turn-of-the-century Vienna.

Never before presented by the COC, Arabella has its company premiere with a glamorously opulent staging conceived by acclaimed Toronto-resident director Tim Albery. Rising star German conductor Patrick Lange leads the COC Orchestra through Strauss' lush and charming score.

Donizetti's delightful romantic comedy The Elixir of Love returns to the Canadian Opera Company with a charming new production from director James Robinson, set in an idyllic small town before the First World War. In this Cinderella story with a twist, a poor and uneducated young man seeks to win the heart of a rich, clever and beautiful woman through the aid of a magic elixir.

Donizetti's instantly appealing score is a showcase for the return of three recent graduates of the COC Ensemble Studio now making their way on the world stage: tenor Andrew Haji is the love-sick Nemorino, soprano Simone Osborne is the rich and beautiful Adina, and baritone Gordon Bintner is Belcore, Nemorino's rival for Adina's affections.

All performances take place at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts (145 Queen St. W., at University Ave.). Regularly priced single tickets range from $35 - $235, and box seats, when available, are $350. Specially priced $22 tickets are available for people under the age of 30. To purchase tickets, go to coc.ca, call COC Ticket Services at 416-363-8231, or visit the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office (145 Queen St. W.).

The Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre is a unique opportunity to experience diverse artistic programming in what has become one of Toronto's most exciting cultural hubs. Six inspiring series offer concerts, dance performances and engaging presentations that feature both up-and-coming young artists and established international stars. All performances are FREE to the public, with admission on a first-come, first-served basis. Concertgoers are encouraged to arrive early as late seating is not available.

Led by music director and conductor Alex Pauk, artists of the Esprit Orchestra are joined by Hungarian-Canadian mezzo-soprano and COC Ensemble Studio graduate Krisztina Szabó for Luciano Berio's rousing song cycle, Folk Songs.

The University of Toronto Jazz Orchestra (UTJO) is the flagship ensemble of the Jazz Studies Program at the Faculty of Music. Directed by Gordon Foote, UTJO performs a wide variety of music, from jazz standards to works by internationally known composers and arrangers, and contemporary music written by UofT students and faculty.

Nineteenth-century opera is considered by many to be the pinnacle of romantic vocal writing. From Donizetti to Delibes and from Verdi to Wagner, artists from UofT Opera invite you to join them for a performance highlighting opera's golden age.

Dreamwalker Dance presents a collection of discrete visual poems featuring six exceptional artists-Brendan Wyatt, Yuichiro Inoue, Kristy Kennedy, Joshua Van Tassel, Simon Rossiter, and Andrea Nann-meditating on togetherness and causality in shifting environments of light, sound, story and memory. It is a moving "concept album," unfolding layers of consciousness to reveal the presence of past and future in every moment.

The winners of the two most prestigious prizes for emerging orchestral musicians perform solo repertoire as part of a partnership between the Canadian Opera Company and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. The winners of the NYO Canada 150 Commemorative Award and the Canada Council for the Arts Michael Measures Prize perform a joint program focused on Spanish repertoire.

Hailed for his thoughtful interpretations and outstanding virtuosity, Hungarian pianist Daniel Lebhardt presents a program of two contrasting sonatas by Mozart and Prokofiev, as well as two contrasting sets of mazurkas by Chopin and Thomas Adès.

The Canadian Opera Company opens the doors of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on October 1, 15 and 22, 2017 with 90-minute tours for the general public. These extensive tours include backstage access and are exciting opportunities to learn more about the first purpose-built opera house in Canada, its history, architecture and innovative acoustic design. Starting at 10:30 a.m., each tour is led by a trained docent and includes information and access to the magnificent Isadore and Rosalie Sharp City Room, the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre and R. Fraser Elliott Hall, as well as backstage areas like wig rooms and dressing rooms, the orchestra pit, and other spaces that only a stage door pass could unlock.

Tickets for public tours are $20/adults and $15/seniors and students, and can be purchased in advance at coc.ca or at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office, located at 145 Queen St. W., Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tickets will also be available on the morning of the tour starting at 10 a.m. at the welcome desk located in the main lobby.