City Opera’s THE HUMAN VOICE starts streaming today
/in Mailout - Special Header, NewsletterA vivid new production of a masterpiece. “The Human Voice” released at City Opera Online The agony of failed love. The coldness of the machine. The voice of humanity. City Opera Vancouver’s first online opera will be released on Monday 11 January 2021, beginning at noon. It is free to all, on our YouTube channel. […]
City Opera News for 15 December 2020
/in Mailout, NewsletterThe Human Voice. La Voix Humaine / Jan 2021 … starring tenor Isaiah Bell, has been filmed at The Cultch Historic Theatre, and is set for release as a series of nightly webisodes in January 2021, sung in a new English translation. Thanks to coach/pianist Roger Parton, Chris Randle (video), Andrew Smith (sound), Sophie Tang […]
Venom of Love and Alice Ping Yee Ho
/in Festival of ContemporaryOne of Canada’s most gifted composers, Alice Ping Yee Ho here offers excerpts from Venom of Love, presented in premiere by Little Pear Garden Dance Company at the Fleck Theatre, Toronto in 2014. Venom is a four-act 60′ musical composition for ballet based on the enthralling Legend of the White Snake 白蛇傳, one of China’s […]
The master. The song.
/in Festival of Contemporaryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIpF-RPw0pw The master. The song. Montréal. 2008
Rachel, Rodney, and three for you
/in Festival of ContemporaryFrom our friends at Music on Main, pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, and composer Rodney Sharman, a hauntingly beautiful and evocative triptych: Voyageur, Watchful, and Notes on Beautiful. While you listen, forbid disturbances. You’ll know why.
Maud Lewis, painter
/in Festival of ContemporaryIn 2016, many Canadians discovered the painter Maud Lewis for the first time, in the film Maudie, starring Sally Hawkins and Ethan Hawke. It was revelation. Someone dismissed as a ‘primitive’ turned out to be a fountain of purity, emotional honesty, directness and courage. Here from 40 years earlier, an NFB documentary about a uniquely […]
James O’Callaghan and Kosuth Variations
/in Festival of ContemporaryOne of Canada’s most gifted and unpredictable composers, James’ work intersects acoustic and electroacoustic media, employing field recordings, amplified found objects, computer-assisted transcription of environmental sounds, and unique performance conditions. He won his first Juno at age 26, for ‘Classical Composition of the Year’. His artistic output spans chamber, orchestral, live electronic and acousmatic idioms, […]
Russell Braun & Russell Braun & Pearl Fishers
/in Festival of ContemporaryIt’s #WorldOperaDay, and how better to celebrate than with… well, you know. Here, the immortal Duet from The Pearl Fishers (1863), by Georges Bizet. In the spirit of Canadian comity for which we are so famous, it is sung by celebrated Canadian tenor Russell Braun, and celebrated Canadian baritone Russell Braun. The duet is abetted […]
Danny Boy on bass, with Gary K and Harmon L
/in Festival of ContemporarySomething about this Festival has attracted a lot of interest from double bassists and their admirers. In a futile effort to appease them, here is the legendary duo of Gary Karr and Harmon Lewis, and a folk song that needs no further.
Meet the Octobass at OSM
/in Festival of ContemporaryL’ Orchestre symphonique de Montréal has long been recognized as the greatest French orchestra in the world. In Canada, the OSM is a major part of our music. In our second largest city, it is a major part of Québec culture. In 2016, the OSM added an octobass to its ranks, in order to play […]





















