City Opera Vancouver’s Board of Directors is delighted to announce the company has been awarded a commissioning grant of $250,000 US from the Annenberg Foundation, in connection with the philanthropic multimedia organization Explore.

This extraordinary sum is believed to be the largest single commissioning grant in Canadian history. The working title:  FALLUJAH.

The Annenberg Foundation, a private US-based family foundation, provides funding and support to non-profit organizations around the world. Explore, a signature project of the Annenberg Foundation, developed the concept of the project and presented the commissioning grant to City Opera. It is awarded for the creation of a new chamber opera, to be developed over a two-year period. It is based on the real life experiences of US Marine Corps Sergeant Christian Ellis at the Battle of Fallujah in 2004.

“We would like to express our gratitude to the Annenberg Foundation and Explore for entrusting City Opera Vancouver with this honour and opportunity,” said Dr. Nora Kelly, President of the Board. “City Opera’s role here is one of development. The company will oversee the creation of an operatic libretto and score based on Christian Ellis’ story. Ellis was an American Marine in Iraq, but the story is universal. Our goal is to share a deeper truth about humanity, told through music, and to put a human face to both sides of military conflict.”

Explore documents the stories of leaders who have devoted their lives to extraordinary causes. Upon their first encounter with Christian Ellis, Explore’s Director and filmmaker Charles Annenberg Weingarten and Executive Producer Tom Pollak were immediately inspired by Christian’s remarkable story.

“Christian Ellis’ story is representative of thousands of Marines from around the world returning from the horrors of war,” explained Weingarten. “Christian paints a vivid picture of the harrowing realities he and his comrades faced in Iraq. He tells of his experiences with emotional honesty, and with deep compassion and understanding for the opposing side.”

The libretto will be written by noted American-Iraqi playwright Heather Raffo, in consultation with Christian Ellis, and its score by acclaimed Canadian composer Tobin Stokes. Raffo is based in New York City, and Stokes in Vancouver.

“City Opera is thrilled that Heather Raffo and Tobin Stokes – impassioned and skillful artists – are central to the creative team for this new chamber work,” said Dr. Charles Barber, the company’s artistic director. “Their expertise makes them deft handlers of this sensitive and extremely relevant subject. Heather wrote 9 Parts of Desire, an award-winning play based on her interviews with women in Iraq who survived the war. Tobin is a versatile composer of opera, theatre music and dance who has always shown a gift for the human voice. They are a perfect team for this project.”

As a key step in the development process, City Opera will mount a series of four workshops in Vancouver, starting in May 2011. Through these sessions, a process of testing and development, the new opera will be taken to a viable and performance-ready level. This new work is slated for completion in June 2012. Production funding for the opera will be separate from the commissioning grant announced today.

About the Annenberg Foundation (www.annenbergfoundation.org)

The Annenberg Foundation is a private family foundation that provides funding and support to nonprofit organizations in the United States and globally. Since 1989, it has generously funded programs in education and youth development; arts, culture and humanities; civic and community life; health and human services; and animal services and the environment. In addition, the Foundation and its Board of Directors are directly involved in the community with several projects that expand and complement its grant support to nonprofits. Among them are innovative nonprofit capacity building initiatives, the Annenberg Space for Photography, Explore, and the Metabolic Studio. The Annenberg Foundation exists to advance the public well being through improved communication. As the principal means of achieving this goal, the Foundation encourages the development of more effective ways to share ideas and knowledge.

About Explore (www.explore.org)

Led by founder Charles Annenberg Weingarten, the Explore Team embarks on fact-finding missions to meet the courageous leaders of the non-profit world and document their work through images and films. By sharing their knowledge, Explore seeks to connect people to extraordinary cultures and ideas. These expeditions also serve as a way to identify potential recipients for Annenberg Foundation grants.

NB:  We are pleased to advise that, for the purposes of these workshops,
“City Opera Vancouver engages, under terms of the Independent Theatre Agreement, professional Artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association” — and to thank Equity for its help and cooperation in this endeavour.

The City Opera art auction was a big success. The auction events, which took place in October and December, comprised fifty-two lots generously donated to COV.  Forty-one of these had sold as of December 16th, at prices both above and below the pre-auction estimates.

The proceeds of sale were over $43,000, the entire sum going to City Opera.

We are enormously grateful to the Heffel Fine Art Auction House. The company donated the proceeds of sale, and the staff was extremely generous with their time and expertise. We also thank these friends of the company who gave time, advice, and services that were crucial to our success:

Chernoff Fine Art

Bill Jeffries

Kathleen Laverty

And we would like to express our special gratitude to all the collectors, artists and galleries who donated works, including those friends who wish to remain anonymous and whose names do not appear here.

Leanne Averbach

Joan Balzar

Enda Bardell

Alan Bell

Brad Chernoff

Julian Clarke

Rosemary Cunningham

Denise Hawrysio

Mick Henry

Estate of Barbara Jean Fraser McCutcheon

Marion Scott Gallery

Gary Pearson

Andre Petterson

Wayne Richards

Lasha Roche

Arnold Shives

Danny Singer

Trig Singer

Reece Terris

Winsor Gallery

If we’ve inadvertently left anyone out, we apologize for the error and would be happy to amend the list.

Why does City Opera need a production fund?

To date, each of our mainstage productions has cost about $150,000.

Until now, we have raised funds for each project separately, starting from scratch every time. It’s a great way to begin, but a difficult way to operate.

Now, we want to move beyond hand-to-mouth fundraising and create a revolving fund with which we can plan and budget long in advance.

This is essential for a professional company, and for our future.

Thanks to you, we have now created our first Production Fund at City Opera Vancouver.

Another one of our great friends is Rena Sharon at the Vancouver International Song Institute. We invite you to visit VISI online at www.songinstitute.ca.

VISI is a UBC-based summer programme that brings together collaborative teaching and learning about song and art song. Performers explore expressive boundaries, scholars consider new research interactions, poets and composers discuss word/music fusions, teachers discuss mentorship, lifetime learners and listeners converge for a banquet of ideas and artistic discovery.

This year VISI runs from 4 to 25 June. We cannot recommend it highly enough.

You can support City Opera and acquire a coveted work of art. Bid from home — or visit the gallery and bid in person.

Second Auction: December 2 – 16. Works in various media.

Works in this benefit auction include paintings, prints, photographs, and a Salish feast bowl. Style and subject matter represent a rich diversity of artistic practice. Artists include Robert Davidson, Gathie Falk, Andre Petterson, Gordon Smith and Reece Terris.

How to see the December artworks – and bid from home

Here’s how to acquire your bid paddle:  www.heffel.com/links/signup/Signup_E.aspx

And here is the art itself:   www.heffel.com/links/UpcomingAuctions_E.aspx

How to see the art works in person

To see the works in person and bid at the gallery, you may visit the Heffel Gallery at 2247 Granville Street (at Seventh) Monday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm.

Registration forms are available and you may bid in person if you prefer.

We are grateful to these collectors and artists for their generosity and their interest in supporting music. We also owe a huge debt of gratitude to Heffel Auction House for donating their time and the proceeds from the sale of these works.

We ask you to take a look — and join in the bidding.

These art auctions will create a production fund for the work of the next two years. This includes Pauline (libretto Margaret Atwood, music Christos Hatzis, and starring Judith Forst as Pauline Johnson), City Opera’s first commission.

The November art auction, a set of fine photographs, earned $27,650. The December art auction, in all media, will help us stage new operas, and access support that will make the company sustainable in the long term.

Thanks!

Can you help?  So far we have received over 50 works, but at this juncture can only accept works with a value over $3000. Please contact Bill Jeffries at bjeffries@telus.net if you have art by artists with recognized names that you would like to donate to this worthy cause.  The auction will be at Heffel Fine Art Auctions from December 3 to 16. Tax receipts will be issued for works donated. Thanks!

Featuring soprano Mariana Valdés, tenor Nicolas Rhind, pianist Dr Greg Caisley, and narrator Tom Durrie, we will be giving opera in recital at the historic Minoru Chapel. This beautiful heritage building, rarely open to the general public, is located just behind the Gateway Theatre, and Richmond General Hospital, at 6540 Gilbert Road near the Westminster Highway. Ample parking.

You will hear music of Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti and much more.

All tickets $20, at the door. Information? info@cityoperavancouver.com. This event is sponsored by the City of Richmond Department of Arts, Culture & Heritage Services, and The Richmond Review. Please join us.

Mad Hatters

We’re helping our friend Adam Abrams, City Opera’s resident media designer, to appear on TV. He wants to win a walk-on role on the acclaimed series “Mad Men”. Please take a second and vote for him at http://bit.ly/VoteForAdam – and spread the word by sharing his viral video at http://bit.ly/AdamsMadMenVideo. You can vote daily, and with just 3 days left for voting, we encourage you to do so. Adam is a very important part of City Opera Vancouver’s enterprise. We owe him a lot. Thanks!

VISI Sings Year Round

Another of our friends is Rena Sharon. On Wednesday 13 October, 7:30pm at The Cellar, 3611 West Broadway, VISI will be presenting an Autumn Serenade featuring Julie Boulianne, Mezzo-Soprano; Tyler Duncan, Baritone; and, Erika Switzer, Piano. Please join us there for an evening of Mahler, Strauss, and more. It will be wonderful. $15 at the door, plus dinner starting at 6pm if you wish.

&  Accent  Inns

City Opera Vancouver partners with Accent Inns to provide accommodation for our artists, and our out-of-town audience.

They have a Richmond / YVR location that is 17 minutes by car from the Frederic Wood Theatre at UBC, and that offers free shuttle service to and from YVR, and the Canada Line. (The Frederic Wood Theatre, btw, is just steps from The Chan Centre. Park at the Moose and Squirrel end of the Chan Parkade and you’re there!)

If you have friends coming in for the show, Accent Inns will offer them a special discount. It’s easy to obtain. Here’s how. Please visit their website at www.accentinns.com/city-opera-vancouver-sumidagawa-curlew-river

OR call them at 1.800.663.0298, and mention City Opera Vancouver.

That’s all there is to it. (And please make sure your friends order their tickets soon…)

Thanks!

PS:  Don’t forget to visit our Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/pages/City-Opera-Vancouver/297764267658?ref=ts

All best wishes for 2010!

In order to create Sumidagawa & Curlew River in May 2010, we have made a co-production agreement with UBC Theatre and Film, and Blackbird Theatre.

We would like to tell you about Blackbird’s new production of the American classic, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee. It runs from 27 December to 16 January at The Cultch. It stars Gabrielle Rose and Kevin McNulty as Martha and George, and Craig Erickson and Meg Roe as Nick and Honey. Its director is John Wright, who is also directing Curlew River for us.

We are proud to tell you about this and, BTW, it is going to be a smash success.

“To spend an evening with George and Martha is to be on the battlefield of an alarmingly ferocious, caustically funny marital war.  It’s a fight to the death.  You don’t even think about doing this play unless you have a truly superb cast — and we have.” JOHN WRIGHT, DIRECTOR

ticketstonight.ca

604.251.1363

www.blackbirdtheatre.ca

SUMIDAGAWA & CURLEW RIVER

Two Great Traditions.  One Great Story.

May 26, 27, 28 at 7:30 – May 30 at 2:30

Frederic Wood Theatre at UBC – $40.00 general – $26.00 student ID

TICKETS ON SALE AT

Sikora’s Classical Records

ticketstonight.ca

A double bill in May.

From the immortal Noh drama Sumidagawa, two modern tellings.

~  Natsu Nakajima’s Butoh dance, Sumida River

~  Benjamin Britten’s chamber opera, Curlew River

An event premiere in Canada.

We build great bridges, crossing five centuries and two cultures in one narrative. We tell the story of a woman driven mad by the loss of her child. It is agonizing and beautiful.

Japanese dance.   Western opera.   Together.

Motomasa’s Sumidagawa will be told by the legendary butoh artist Denise Fujiwara, coming from Toronto, in a choreography made for her by Natsu Nakajima.

After intermission, the same story will be told again. In this telling, Britten’s chamber opera Curlew River will be given. It offers the same plot and characters, and the same dramatic arc – but from a Western vantage.

Consider Rashomon. Just when we think we understand, we are called upon to think again.

Our production is endorsed by explorASIAN, the Japanese Language School and Hall, the National Nikkei Museum and Heritage Centre, the Powell Street Festival, Sikora’s Classical Records, The Bulletin of the Greater Vancouver Japanese Citizens’ Association, the UBC Alumni Association, and the UBC Department of Asian Studies. It is supported by Accent Inns, Tom Lee Music, the Michael O’Brian Foundation for the Arts, Yoshiko Karasawa, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the McLean Foundation of Toronto.

Our principal partners are UBC Theatre and Film, and Blackbird Theatre. We have also partnered with Denise Fujiwara Dance Inventions, and the Vancouver Cantata Singers.

*******

Starring as Madwoman in Sumidagawa is the legendary Denise Fujiwara, joining us from Toronto. Her work, drawn from the original Noh play and now given as a one-woman performance, is mesmerizing.

Denise Fujiwara/Madwoman Isaiah Bell/Madwoman

Starring as Madwoman in Curlew River is the remarkable young Canadian tenor, Isaiah Bell. Twenty years from now, you will be able to say that you heard Isaiah in his first starring role. He is that good.

John Minagro, who moved audiences as Death in Der Kaiser von Atlantis, will appear as the Abbot, and the splendid baritones Sam Marcaccini as the Ferryman and Joel Klein as the Traveller. The male chorus comes to us from the Vancouver Cantata Singers.

John Minagro/Abbot Sam Marcaccini/Ferryman Joel Klein/Traveller

Janet Lea and Nora Kelly are the producers. John Wright directs. Robert Gardiner is the scenographer, Marti Wright the costumier, Bob Eberle our production coordinator, and Charles Barber leads the music.

Free talks

To promote Sumidagawa & Curlew River we are giving free talks across Metro Vancouver. If you would like a presentation we have DVDs, CDs and print materials, and can offer from fifteen minutes to ninety. Interested? artisticdirector@cityoperavancouver.com

Production logo designed by JADE - www.twentyfourworks.com