On October 20th, Canadian pianist Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu performed the Chopin E minor Concerto at the 18th Frédéric Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, to an astonished and delighted audience; shortly afterwards, he was declared the first Canadian ever to gain the prestigious First Prize – a tremendous win both for the young champion and […]
Marie Clement’s National Film Board documentary, The Road Forward, is a stirring combination of documentary and musical. Originating in the story of Canada’s first Indigenous newspaper, the Native Voice, the film weaves its many strands masterfully, giving vital testimony, in songs of hope and loss, to the expressive power of art and its ability to […]
In this breathtaking recital, livestreamed early in 2020, Canadian master pianist Marc-André Hamelin took us on a grand tour of repertoire from C.P.E. Bach to Debussy, dazzling with his astounding technique and perpetually questing imagination. We were left wanting more – and you will be, too.
Canadian songwriting legend Joni Mitchell has taught us all to better hear the quiet places. Seen here performing one of her most beloved songs for an entranced audience over fifty years ago, she speaks across the years, delighting and enchanting us today, just as yesterday.
Montreal organization La Gang à Rambrou has a mission: to support, through the performing arts, the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities or autism spectrum disorder. In December of 2019, sponsored by L’Opéra de Montréal, they premiered a show, Prends garde à toi!. Inspired by Bizet’s Carmen, with a strong anti-bullying message at its core, […]
Louis Lortie’s 2010 Juno-nominated recording of the Mendelssohn Piano Concertos, paired with that composer’s Reformation Symphony, was revelatory. Working with the OSQ in Québec City’s Salle Raoul-Jobin du Palais Montcalm – a more intimate hall – meant that Lortie already had an advantage in his quest to present the works with a lighter, fleeter sound, […]
In a potent mixture of Arabic, Spanish, and Sephardic tradition, Osvaldo Golijov’s 2004 song cycle Ayre draws on folk material of 15th century Andalusia, juxtaposing the texts’ wide expressive ambit with music full of unexpected detours and lashing eloquence. Here, in an arrangement by Roberto Occhipinti, the Gryphon Trio accompanies the legendary Lebanese-Canadian soprano Miriam […]
Says composer Jeffrey Ryan, “From the first moment I heard Jan Zwicky read from her work—richly layered poems that evoke nature, music, and profound distilled emotional moments—I hoped someday to have the chance to set her words to music.” Thanks to a commission from baritone/piano duo Tyler Duncan and Erika Switzer, the composer’s desire became […]
Premiered in 2017 at Toronto’s Luminato festival, Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef‘s play King Arthur’s Night is now well-travelled, appearing to acclaim at festivals across the country. Centering Down Syndrome in its writing and casting, the play treats Arthurian legend with wonderful whimsy, affording its neurodiverse cast much opportunity for exuberant, hilarious improv – and […]
Starring soprano Robyn Dreidger-Klassen and pianist Terrence Dawson, City Opera Vancouver’s production of Jake Heggie’s At the Statue of Venus went online in July, drawing high praise from the composer himself: “Wow! What a fabulous performance! She is such a great actress – and he is such a fine pianist. Immensely gratifying to hear the […]
On stage at Ottawa music festival Megaphono in 2018, Indigenous artists Jeremy Dutcher and Melody McKiver took a rapt National Arts Centre audience into the magical world of this time-honored classic by Buffy Sainte-Marie. Listen. You’ll be transported, too.
Violinist, conductor, scholar, and educator Jeanne Lamon was a national and international treasure. Her passing in June of this year left an enormous void; over more than thirty-three years as director of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, it was Jeanne’s passionate musicality that shaped and expanded the ensemble, carrying it from strength to strength and establishing […]
City Opera Vancouver is grateful and honoured to work, create and perform on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Xwməθkwəyə̓ m (Musqueam), Sḵwxw̱ ú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl ̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
City Opera Vancouver
PO Box 46922 Stn D
Vancouver, BC, Canada
V6J 5M4