A Valentine's Day Your Sweetheart Will Never Forget!

Looking for a way to make Valentine's Day extra special for your sweetheart? Purchase an Adult 2 Pack to one of our upcoming performances of Verdi's Rigoletto between now and Monday, February 13 at 1pm and will be entered to win a Personal Serenade by one of our talented artist plus a Dozen Red Roses!

The lucky winner will be announced at 3pm on Monday, February 13th and your gift will be delivered on Valentine's Day at the location of your choosing... maybe your Sweetheart's workplace? What better way that special person in your life a memory they will never forget!

Purchase your Adult 2 Pack to Rigoletto today directly on our website.

The Young and the Opinionated - Paul's 2¢

Paul Just
Tenor and Writer

Giuseppe Verdi is considered a titan among opera composers. He is revered, venerated, and loved by so many because his music is drama and his drama is music. His creations, certainly from his middle and later periods, are of such astounding craftsmanship that it is difficult to choose a favorite, that is if someone is inclined to do so. I am so inclined. For this author and my questionably humble opinion, Verdi's middle period opera, Rigoletto, remains his finest creation.

I would like to preface that I have not always been solidly entrenched in the Verdi fan camp. In fact, it took me quite some time to warm up to a composer whose music I did not fully appreciate because I did not fully understand it. Nothing penned by this musical genius truly captured my imagination. I just never felt that incredible fish hook into my soul. That is, until I pulled a recording of Verdi's jester out of the library. All it took was one listen of the dark-as-night prelude and I was spellbound.

From the outset, the narrative arc reads like a modern-day movie: sex, love, revenge, assassination. It has all the hallmarks of an Oscar-winning drama. However, as a mid-nineteenth century musical melodrama, it had the power of the censors brought down on it, much like the films of Hollywood in the 1930s. Unfortunately, the way that Verdi had originally intended it (the aristocrat and the location had to be changed) was highly unacceptable and he was forced to modify elements of the story in order for the opera to make its way to the stage. When the opera finally did arrive in Venice in 1851, it was a consummate and unmitigated success. Its' success still holds true to this day, as Rigoletto remains one of the most popular and oft-performed operas in the canon. The reason for its incredible success as a music drama, a term usually reserved for Wagner's musical-dramatic productions, is that Verdi took a convoluted French story, courtesy of Victor Hugo, and made a real, human drama that one can so readily feel and become involved in. Verdi's musical narrative is so diabolically visceral that once the chords of the prelude commence, there is no turning back.

The very tenebrous opening notes launch the helpless listener into a vacuum of hopelessness for what seems an eternity of two minutes and then, WHAM, you are thrown into an aristocratic orgy of the basest nature. This is merely the first fifteen minutes of a theatrical masterpiece that without question trumps Violetta Valery's indecisiveness in love in La Traviata, the intense posturing of Alvaro and Carlo in La forza del destino, the fiery incredulity of Princess Eboli in Don Carlo, and the bleak drama and effervescent humour of Otello and Falstaff.

Since the time that I first fully grasped and understood the gravitas of Verdi's incomparable Rigoletto, his other operas, such as Macbeth, Il trovatore and Simon Boccanegra have chiseled their way into my now-Verdi-adoring bosom. Even some of the “galley years” operas, such as Ernani and Giovanna D'Arco deserve attention that they are so often disallowed. However, as magnificent as Verdi's later output might be, his auspicious beginning with Rigoletto, sealed his legacy as one of opera compositions shining beacons.

Some will say that opera is irrelevant and a defunct art form. Those who have never seen an opera will categorically state that it is only for the overeducated, liberal elite. I would challenge said irrational conjectures by giving them my favorite recording of this opera (Merrill/Bjoerling), a synopsis of the plot, a bottle of wine, and a box of tissues.

~ Paul Just, Tenor and Writer

Editor's Note: Paul Just is a young and talented Tenor based out of Vancouver, BC. He has performed with Vancouver Concert Opera Society twice in the past year; Le Remendado in our inaugural concert production of Bizet's Carmen and as part of the Trio in our Award Winning Production of Leonard Bernstein's Trouble In Tahiti (We featured his "amazing socks" on our blog more than a few times). What we did not know, until recently, is that Paul is a not only a gifted singer, but a talented writer with some very strong and educated opinions. We trust you have enjoyed "Paul's 2¢" and we look forward to more interesting posts from him in the future!

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!

Cast Corner - Frédérik Robert

A TENOR WHO REQUIRES NO INTRODUCTION! For those of you who saw VanCOCO's debut performance of Carmen last January will remember the magic that occurred. Faced with ailing Don Jose, Frédérik stepped in with less than 48 hours notice and sang an utterly moving (and critically acclaimed) performance of Carmen. We at VanCOCO are so glad that he was able to step in on such short notice. Frédérik is thumbs up in our book and he should be in yours as well. We are so excited to have him back to join us for our upcoming February performances of Verdi's Rigoletto where he will be featured as Il Duca (Duke of Mantua). Imagine what he can do when he has had time to prepare! Quite simply, Frédérik is a force to be reckoned with!

Here's what he had to say when we asked him a few inside question.

(Q) We all have a guilty pleasure when it comes to our listening tastes, what do you enjoy listening to that we might find as a surprise?

(A) Guilty? Never! I love musicals and pop ballads from the 80's and 90's. I love my old school Mariah.  The cheesier the better.  As for musicals, the more obscure the better.  ie: if you've ever heard the music from Starlight Express, I'd be super impressed!

(Q) How did you get started with opera?

(A) I started singing opera by accident. In 1999, while I was in full training as a pop and musical theater singer, my voice teacher in Edmonton got notice of a new opera program starting in Edmonton called Opera Nuova. He wanted me to audition as he and I had dabbled in classical music previously. We chose two arias (Pourquoi me reveiller and Che gelida manina) and I went home and started to work on it. Basically I copied Pavarotti's voice, as best I could, and came back to my lesson with my best imitation. My teacher couldn't believe how natural it sounded and how the music suited me. Several months later I did my audition and got the lead in both operas that summer.

(Q)  What would someone who has never experienced opera before enjoy about Rigoletto?

(A) There are very few operas in existence today with so many incredible melodies as you'll find in Rigoletto. If a person is new to opera, they are sure to walk away with the feeling that Rigoletto was one of the BEST shows they've ever heard and seen. They'll be sure to leave the hall whistling one of the tunes from the opera.

Stay tuned for more from "Cast Corner" and don't forget to get your tickets for Rigoletto! February 15 and 17 in Vancouver and February 18 in White Rock where we will be making our debut! Advance tickets are ON SALE NOW and you benefit from savings by getting your tickets early! 

Behind the Baton - Maestro Gordon Gerrard

Making his debut with VanCOCO is Maestro Gordon Gerrard. Maestro Gerrard is no stranger to Vancouver having worked as principal repetiteur with Vancouver Opera a number of years ago. We are fortunate and excited to be able to have him return to Vancouver to take the helm for our upcoming performances of Rigoletto. Maestro Gerrard graciously took some time out of his busy schedule to share with us a glimpse at the man behind the baton.

(Q) What is the most exciting thing about Rigoletto for you?

(A)  I had listened to recordings of Rigoletto for years, and I had even worked on the famous bits (Gilda’s big aria and the famous quartet), but when I moved to New York to go to grad school, Rigoletto was the first opera that I saw at the Met. It’s an experience I will never forget. This music is amazing! Rigoletto is about midway through Verdi’s operas, and by this point he had perfected something magical. The way that he wrote for the voices is unlike anything else in the operatic repertoire. The music is so completely conceived for the human voice. He knew more than anyone before him exactly how the human voice works, and how it can connect with the emotional guts of any listener.

(Q)  How did you get started with opera?

(A) I came to opera a little later than some. I grew up in a small town in Manitoba, and opera was not high on the list of activities for a Saturday night. I saw my first opera when I was an undergrad at the University of Manitoba (Hänsel und Gretel). I had at this point started to play for a lot of singers at school, even though my degree was in solo piano. I went to a summer art song festival where I met my now friend and mentor, Michael McMahon, who encouraged me to apply for the brand new opera training program, Opera Nuova in Edmonton. I thought I was unqualified to go, and I said to him, “I don’t know anything about opera!” He replied, “Well, it’s about time you learned.” I’m happy to say that I’m still learning.

(Q) What might you say to someone who has never been to an opera before to get them excited about this particular show?

(A) One of the criticisms that’s often leveled against opera is that the people and situations are too unbelievable for us to engage. Rigoletto is not to be included in this category. The first time (and every time) I see this opera, I am bowled over by the inescapable plight of poor Rigoletto himself. There’s a tragic inevitability about the story; we can see the outcome approaching a mile away, and Rigoletto cannot. As the opera charges on, you can’t help but become involved. You want to tell Rigoletto to change course, but of course you are stuck in your seat, helpless.

(Q) And one last question, everbody has a guilty pleasure when it comes to music, what yours?

(A) Eek. Well I’m kind of a music nerd. My iTunes is nearly all classical. I do own a couple of Rufus Wainwright albums. I recently discovered Madeleine Peyroux, Gavin Creel and Zee Avi. Sadly, that’s about it.

Well admittedly, we were sort of hoping to hear that the Maestro likes to listen to a little Jay-Z or Snoop Doggy Dogg when not waving his arms around passionately, but we know what it's like to have an iTunes account and be frustrated at the lack of classical categories like Romantic, 20th Century, and Baroque! To read more about Maestro Gerrard, click here go directly to his bio!

Stay tuned for our next blog update featuring the multi-talented Tenor, Frédérik Robert who will be joining us again to sing Il Duca after an impressive and memorable jump in as Don Jose in our January 2011 production of Carmen!

Cast Corner - Keith O'Brien

Back again with our "Cast Corner" series, we are excited to introduce you to the talented artists that will be hitting the stage in February for our production of Verdi's Rigoletto.

What do you get when you cross a surfer, an oarsman, an architect, and an opera singer?  You get Toronto based Baritone Keith O'Brien! We have known Keith for a long time and are extremely excited to have him joining us in the Title Role of Rigoletto.

As always, we like to give our audience a view of the performer that you might not see from the stage. Here are a few questions to wet your appetite for our show.

(Q) How did you get your start in opera?

(A) I started out as a trumpet player in high school, and went on to McGill in the jazz programme. But I had always been involved with theatre in high school, and so it seemed like opera was a perfect way to combine music and theatre. I had done some singing in high school, so I made the switch to opera in my second year of university. I've done plenty of music theatre along the way, but opera is far more edifying musically as well more intense dramatically. 
 

(Q) What is the most exciting aspect of Rigoletto for you?

(A) Baritones rarely get to play the lead role, so that alone makes this production very interesting for me. In addition, this is a Verdi role, which puts Rigoletto in a special category. Verdi understood and wrote so well for a particular subset of the baritone fach. Since his writing essentially created the category, it became known as the Verdi Baritone. The vocal demands of Verdi's writing for his baritones are far greater than any composer previous to him. The choice to cast the baritone as the lead means that the dramatic demands are greater than usual, but Verdi was always good at creating multifaceted characters for the baritone in all of his operas. Even when he casts the baritone as the villain, which is most of the time, there is a multidimensionality there that goes beyond the simple archetype.

(Q) When you are not immersed in opera what is your favorite pastime.

(A)  I work as an Architect in Toronto when I'm not singing.  During my undergrad at McGill and my Masters at University of Toronto I was an oarsman on the varsity rowing team and I enjoyed many chances to compete internationally all over North America, Europe and Asia. Nowadays, my new athletic passion is surfing. Living in the centre of Canada means that I only get a chance to surf when I'm on vacation, so lately I can't imagine taking a vacation anywhere that doesn't offer excellent surfing.

Don't miss this rare opportunity to hear Keith as he debuts the role of Rigoletto with VanCOCO and stay tuned for more from Keith and the rest of our cast!

Take advantage of advance ticket pricing and click here to buy your tickets today!

VanCOCO Celebrates Year One!!! Share your accomplishments and WINTICKETS to Rigoletto!

Vancouver Concert Opera Society

“VanCOCO”

2011 Year In Review

A New Year is upon us and we at VanCOCO have been thinking about our many accomplishments in 2011 and what the New Year has in store for us. While we don't like to use the word "resolutions" because "resolutions" have a habit of falling through the cracks, instead we have decided to present a YEAR IN REVIEW to commemorate our first season.

Did we really do this?

Yes we did! 2011 was VanCOCO's inaugural year and we couldn't be happier with the results. Our Founder and Artistic Director, Natalie Burdeny, began with the observation that there simply weren’t enough professional performance opportunities for the many talented artists in Vancouver and that taking on the financial risk of a production individually was simply not feasible. As a result the solution was conceived; a co-operative! The idea was simple; band together like-minded performers to work in a co-operative fashion and mount a professional scale concert performance where not only the financial risk was shared by the artists involved but in turn, so was the financial gain and the artistic rewards. 

And what a ride it has been! Beginning with our very first concert production of Bizet’s Carmen in January 2011, we performed to a sold-out audience who leapt to their feet in applause at the conclusion (Read the review from Opera Canada here). That performance will always be remembered; wrought with illness, Tenor Frédérik Robert stepped in on 36 hours notice to perform the role of Don Jose and young Bass-Baritone Max Van Wyck also stepped in to cover an ailing Zuniga. With some fearless leadership from Maestra, Rosemary Thomson and our two-handed orchestra, Kinza Tyrrell, the night was spectacular! VanCOCO was officially off to the races.

Throughout the year we were able to perform 5 concerts of Carmen in Vancouver, Victoria, and Richmond. While the financial gains were minimal the artistic rewards and exposure were well worth the effort.

And if “concert opera” wasn’t enough, we found ourselves fully entrenched in our first foray into the cyclone that is the “Fringe Festival”. Plans for the mounting of a staged production of Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble In Tahiti began in the early spring with performances set for September. This time we had sets to build, choreography to learn, find and secure a cast and crew to run the show, and most importantly find someone who could play this challenging piece. In the end, the show was a huge success (reviews here!), we learned a boat-load about self-marketing, and we had so much fun being a part of the “Fringe Family” that we are toying with the idea of a commissioned piece that we could tour with in the future. Of course kudos are in order to Kathleen Gable Lohrenz (our fearless Music Director who held us all together), Andrea Rabinovitch (Choreographer responsible for the "Little White House"), Phil Schultze (Lighting Designer) and Ed Moran who wore just about every hat possible, including directing the show and singing the role of Sam! 

Our season finished off with two final back-to-back performances of Carmen at Minoru Chapel in Richmond in October with VanCOCO newbies Mezzo-Soprano Megan Morrison and Pianist, Michal Onwood joining us for the first time. A delightful venue, again with appreciative audiences, it was a pleasure to be a part of their “Opera Series” and we hope to return to Minoru with a new concert production in 2012.

Lessons learned?

Yes, there were many! While each production had its challenges the overall reward outweighed them all. In the end, we believe we made a positive contribution to Vancouver’s musical scene and met the goals of our mandate to provided high-level performance opportunities to the singers in this community as well as top-notch performances to our audiences. We learned that a good marketing plan is essential and that none of this could be achieved without the hard-working volunteers that have helped us along the way! Fiscally the year could have been better, but as we learn and grow as an organization we are confident that VanCOCO will continue to thrive in the community. We are committed to keeping our ticket prices affordable so that we can continue to entice new audiences through our doors and keep the art of “opera” alive.

What’s next?

As we step into the New Year it is fitting that we also have a new name. In late November of this year we were officially granted our non-profit status and we are now “Vancouver Concert Opera Society” – but you can still call us VanCOCO!!! Our first Founding Board Members meeting will kick off the New Year and will undoubtedly lead to a more focussed vision and concise plan for VanCOCO for the coming years.

And with our new name comes a new production!

February 15 & 17 in Vancouver / February 18 in White Rock

In mid-February we will mount Verdi’s gripping tale of Rigoletto. The talented Maestro Gordon Gerrard will lead us with his baton for these performances planned for February 15 and 17 in Vancouver and February 18 in White Rock. You will see some familiar faces with the enigmatic Tenor, Frédérik Robert returning to us as the Duke of Mantua, along with some fresh faces including Toronto-based Baritone, Keith O’Brien who will make his debut as Rigoletto, and local Soprano, Szu-Wen Wang who will delight you with her sparkling colouratura as Gilda!

Tell us your goals for 2012 and WIN TICKETS!

This is how we intend to ring in the New Year at VanCOCO and we want you to tell us what's in your Year-In-Review. And just for sharing your thoughts with us, we will randomly draw 3 winners from the responses received by January 16 to attend a Rigoletto performance of your choice in February (with a friend of course!).

From all of us at VanCOCO we wish you a prosperous 2012!!!

Seasons Greetings and Gilda's Ginger Snaps!

Seasons Greetings

VanCOCO would like to send each of you a warm Merry Christmas and Seasons Greetings. Each and every one of you have helped us to have a hugely successful 2011 and for that we are truly grateful. We sincerely hope that this season finds you in the presence of those whom you adore most.

VanCOCO started 2011 with a hugely successful production of Carmen, which we have remounted twice this year, and a fully staged production of Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti at the Vancouver International Fringe Festival. What you may not know is that we have now become a fully registered Non-Profit Society and we are now Vancouver Concert Opera Society, but you can still call us VanCOCO because our motto and mandate have not changed. We are still "all about the music" and our goal remains to "create performance opportunities for emerging Operatic Professionals." We made some great connections during these productions and we hope that we have made some long standing fans.
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Big Announcements

We will be opening 2012 with a concert production of Verdi's masterwork Rigoletto. We have assembled a fine group of artists who will be lead by the baton of Maestro Gordon Gerrard and we know that you will not be disappointed. Tickets are currently available for advance purchase on-line and available just in time to make a great stocking stuffer for the opera aficionado on your list.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for entertaining information about our upcoming show.

Click here for Advance Tickets or visit our Facebook Event Page.
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Gilda's 
    Ginger 
         Snaps

We wanted to give all of our fans a new Audi A4 to show our love but our new Board of Directors just wouldn't approve the budget so we decided that we would share with you our favorite Christmas cookie recipe. Make sure to leave some of these out for Santa and maybe he will leave you something extra special under the tree.

• 3/4 Cup Shortening
• 1 Cup Br. Sugar
• 1/4 Cup Molasses
• 1 Egg
• 2 1/4 Cup Sifted flower
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 teaspoon Ginger
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cloves

Cream together shortening, brown sugar, molasses, and egg until light and fluffy. Sift together dry ingredients.  Mix dry ingredients into molasses mixture. Refrigerate dough overnight. Form into small balls and roll in granulated sugar.

Place 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 F for 10 minutes or until cookie tops begin to crackle. (For crispier cookies, bake 10-12 minutes or until just beginning to darken). Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Enjoy with a glass of your favorite holiday beverage and be sure to share with the ones you love.