TGIF!

If you are not accustomed to the classical musicians lifestyle it has it pros and its cons. Like any other entrepreneurial job, time away from working on the next project almost never happens, but at VanCOCO we definitely know how to enjoy a good Friday night out.  We checked in with our cast about what they do in their time off and found some interesting answers.

When we asked Maestro Gordon Gerrard what his down time consisted of, this was his response..."I am a bit of a music nerd. It sort of takes over my life most of the time. I do read books when I get the time, and I love to cook for people. I recently joined Netflix, and discovering all the TV series that I’ve missed over the past 10 years has greatly reduced my productivity. Most recently, I watched the entire four seasons of The Tudors in a week. Oops."

Mezzo Soprano Jaqollyne Keath tells us that when she is not in opera she is directing shows around the Lower Mainland, acting/singing in Operetta, or sound designing shows. Oh and she like softball. It sounds a bit like when Jaqollyne is not involved in music, she is involved in music. Good thing she loves what she does!

Now we know that Maestro Gerrard called himself a "music nerd" but when we asked Bass-Baritone Max Van Wyck (singing the role of the Court Usher) we think his answer completely trumps our Maestro... "My favorite pastime is school. I love learning and get so excited after every break away from UBC, and practicing everything from voice to piano to history to solfege."  Max likes solfege?  We all do right? Do-re-me-fa-so-la-ti - DOH!

Baritone Aaron Durand is clearly the "jester" in our bunch! Aaron asked us if we would consider "Brunch" as pastime. Sure why not, everybody loves a good late breakfast after a night out. For more hilarity from Aaron go read his blog post!

Singer, actor, writer, choir manager, arts consultant, and voice teacher, Mezzo Soprano Megan Morrison is one of our biggest multi-taskers. We're not surprized that she replied that she loves "leisurely morning coffees, aimless neighbourhood walks, good wine, and old movies."  Apparently she needs to clear her noggin' from time to time!

And of course there are the foodies! Bass-Baritone Jordan Collalto (Sparafucile) and Baritone Ed Moran (Count Monterone) share an infatuation of food and water. Jordan says, "My only hobby outside of opera right now would be cooking. I love trying to make new things or tweak and perfect my own recipes when I have time! Tonight I'm making my first attempts at Neapolitan pizza… I also really enjoy surfing, but finding a whole weekend to go and do that while I'm in school has been really challenging."  Meanwhile, Ed made his very first pot of Julia Child's French Onion Soup this week and followed it up with a pot of his world famous chili (well at least HE thinks its world famous!). When ever Ed gets the chance he is either on the water in a Kayak or under the water in scuba gear. "Scuba is really one of the most relaxing things that you can do, once when I was doing a decompression dive in Okinawa Japan, I started to nod off under water while I was waiting at my prescribed 45 minute decompression stop at 30 feet down." Uhhh, we're glad he woke up!

By far, the most interesting answer was given by Soprano SzuWen Wang, who will be singing Gilda.  We asked her when she is not immersed in learning a role or teaching her students their next aria what she likes to do and her answer consisted of four words..."I'll never tell..." We think this maybe exactly why she is perfect for the role of Gilda!

Well we hope you enjoy your weekends as much as we enjoy ours. Wishing a safe journey to all of our out of towners who are flying into Vancouver this weekend. Rehearsals begin on Monday morning! We can't wait to hear all these stellar voices in one room!

Stay tuned for pics and clips from rehearsals, and if you haven't purchased your tickets - don't drag your feet - they're selling like hot-cakes! Click on Tickets above... that'll get you to the right place!