Alexander Neef News

Out of a pool of 175 aspiring opera singers from across the country, theCanadian Opera Company has selectedseven to compete at Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition Gala today, November 25, 2014 at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.

Out of a pool of 175 aspiring opera singers from across the country, theCanadian Opera Company has selectedseven to compete at Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition Gala on November 25, 2014 at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. This year hosted by world renowned Canadian tenor Ben Heppner,Centre Stage is the COC's annual fundraising gala dedicated to the discovery and celebration of the next generation of opera stars. TheEnsemble Studio Competition is the gala's feature event and an exhilarating vocal showcase with the singers, selected from nationwide auditions for the COC Ensemble Studio – Canada's premier training program for young opera professionals – vying for cash prizes ranging in value from $1,500 to $5,000.

Out of a pool of 175 aspiring opera singers from across the country, the Canadian Opera Company has selected seven to compete at Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition Gala on November 25, 2014 at Toronto's Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. This year hosted by world renowned Canadian tenor Ben Heppner, Centre Stage is the COC's annual fundraising gala dedicated to the discovery and celebration of the next generation of opera stars. The Ensemble Studio Competition is the gala's feature event and an exhilarating vocal showcase with the singers, selected from nationwide auditions for the COC Ensemble Studio - Canada's premier training program for young opera professionals - vying for cash prizes ranging in value from $1,500 to $5,000.

The Canadian Opera Company is proud to be invited to present the U.S. premiere of Zhang Huan's theatrically transcendent production of Handel's Semele at the world-renowned Brooklyn Academy of Music in March 2015. The COC's presentation of Semele at BAM is directed by Zhang with distinguished British conductor and Baroque opera expertChristopher Moulds leading the critically acclaimed COC Orchestra and COC Chorus.Semele is scheduled at the Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, NY) for four performances only – March 4, 6, 8 and10, 2015.

The Canadian Opera Company has been invited to present the U.S. premiere of Zhang Huan's theatrically transcendent production of Handel's Semele at the world-renowned Brooklyn Academy of Music in March 2015. The COC's presentation of Semele at BAM is directed by Zhang with distinguished British conductor and Baroque opera expert Christopher Moulds leading the critically acclaimed COC Orchestra and COC Chorus. Semele is scheduled at the Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn, NY) for four performances only – March 4, 6, 8 and 10, 2015.

Toronto – Today at the Canadian Opera Company's Annual General Meeting, the company reported on its artistic highlights, impressive endowment growth, growing attendance and subscription figures, and a general financial overview of the 2013/2014 season.

Today at the Canadian Opera Company's Annual General Meeting, the company reported on its artistic highlights, impressive endowment growth, growing attendance and subscription figures, and a general financial overview of the 2013/2014 season.

The Canadian Opera Company'sGlencore Ensemble Studio School Tourreturns to elementary and middle schools across Ontario from November 3 – 30, 2014. Two engaging and entertaining operas by Canadian composer Dean Burry headline the tour for 2014: The Bremen Town Musicians and The Scorpions' Sting: An Egyptian Myth. These child-friendly operas expect to reach 16,000 students from Kindergarten to grade eight over the course of the tour.

The Canadian Opera Company's 2014/2015 season opens with an opera hailed as the crowning achievement of Verdi's career, Falstaff. This new company production is led by master director Canadian Robert Carsen and COC Music Director Johannes Debus with internationally acclaimed Canadian bass-baritoneGerald Finley making a long-awaited return to the COC in his role debut as the impoverished, loveable knight, Sir John Falstaff. Falstaff is sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM and comes to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts for seven performances today, October 3 and October 9, 12, 14, 25, 29 and November 1, 2014.

The Canadian Opera Company'sFree Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre returns for a ninth season today, September 23, 2014, boasting a varied roster of established artists and rising stars from around the world in a wide range of art forms. The highly anticipated first performance of the 2014/2015 season introduces the young artists of the COC Ensemble Studio in a program of their favourite operatic gems.

The Canadian Opera Company's beloved production of Puccini's heartbreaking masterpiece of love, longing and loss, Madama Butterfly, comes to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts this October. An exquisite production by Canadian theatrical legend Brian Macdonald, designed by Susan Benson with lighting by Michael Whitfield, the COC'sMadama Butterfly has become a Toronto favourite, playing to sold-out audiences at its 1990 premiere and subsequent revivals in 1994, 1998, 2003 and 2009. Madama Butterfly is sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM and runs for 12 performances on October 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 and 31, 2014.

The Canadian Opera Company's 2014/2015 season opens with an opera hailed as the crowning achievement of Verdi's career,Falstaff. This new company production is led by master director Canadian Robert Carsen and COC Music Director Johannes Debus with internationally acclaimed Canadian bass-baritoneGerald Finley making a long-awaited return to the COC in his role debut as the impoverished, loveable knight, Sir John Falstaff. Falstaff is sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM and comes to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts for seven performances onOctober 3, 9, 12, 14, 25, 29 and November 1, 2014.

The Canadian Opera Company is proud to announce that it has selected Steven Kelley to serve in the opera company's new senior staff position of Chief Communications Officer. Kelley joins the COC in early October, coming directly from Houston Grand Opera where he has been director of marketing for the past four years.

Ten days before the close of its 2013/2014 season, the COC's acquisition subscription campaign for the 14/15 performance calendar is enjoying great success with half of its allotted new value-pricing subscription packages already sold. Value-pricing subscriptions on the Ring 5 and Orchestra Ring levels of the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts are sold out with extremely limited availability on the Grand Ring box level.

The greatest operatic bass in the world today, Ferruccio Furlanetto, makes his Canadian debut this spring in the Canadian Opera Company premiere of the operatic tale of literature's famous dreamer, Don Quichotte by Jules Massenet. Known for an intensely moving portrayal of the title character, Furlanetto stars in this musically lush and romantic homage to Cervantes' iconic hero, Don Quixote. Don Quichotte is sung in French with English SURTITLES, and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts today, May 9 and May 11, 14, 17, 20, 22, 24, 2014.

World renowned American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky returns to the Canadian Opera Company this spring in the ultimate diva role, Queen Elizabeth I, for the COC premiere of Donizetti's Roberto Devereux. The tumultuous final days of the reign of the Virgin Queen are depicted in this powerful drama of show-stopping vocal fireworks, directed by Stephen Lawless and conducted by Corrado Rovaris. Roberto Devereux is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts today, April 25, 29, May 3, 10, 15, 18, 21, 2014.

Internationally renowned director Peter Sellars returns to the Canadian Opera Company this spring with a new company production of Handel's Hercules that propels the Greek myth into the modern day, giving voice to the untold horrors of war and the unspoken complications faced by veterans returning home. The COC premiere of Hercules reunites Sellars with celebrated conductorHarry Bicket and the all-star cast that presented this co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago to unequivocal praise at its debut in Chicago in 2011. Hercules is sung in English with English SURTITLES and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts today, April 5, 11, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, 2014.

The greatest operatic bass in the world today, Ferruccio Furlanetto, makes his Canadian debut this spring in the Canadian Opera Company premiere of the operatic tale of literature's famous dreamer, Don Quichotte by Jules Massenet. Known for an intensely moving portrayal of the title character, Furlanetto stars in this musically lush and romantic homage to Cervantes' iconic hero, Don Quixote. Don Quichotte is sung in French with English SURTITLES, and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on May 9, 11, 14, 17, 20, 22, 24, 2014.

World renowned American soprano Sondra Radvanovsky returns to the Canadian Opera Company this spring in the ultimate diva role, Queen Elizabeth I, for the COC premiere of Donizetti's Roberto Devereux. The tumultuous final days of the reign of the Virgin Queen are depicted in this powerful drama of show-stopping vocal fireworks, directed by Stephen Lawless and conducted by Corrado Rovaris. Roberto Devereux is sung in Italian with English SURTITLES and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 25, 29, May 3, 10, 15, 18, 21, 2014.

Internationally renowned director Peter Sellars returns to the Canadian Opera Company this spring with a new company production of Handel's Hercules that propels the Greek myth into the modern day, giving voice to the untold horrors of war and the unspoken complications faced by veterans returning home. The COC premiere of Hercules reunites Sellars with celebrated conductorHarry Bicket and the all-star cast that presented this co-production with Lyric Opera of Chicago to unequivocal praise at its debut in Chicago in 2011. Hercules is sung in English with English SURTITLES and runs for seven performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on April 5, 11, 15, 19, 24, 27, 30, 2014.