Canadian soprano Jennifer Maines is in Victoria, BC preparing to add a seventh role to her impressive list of Wagner roles, making her debut as Brünnhilde in Pacific Opera Victoria‘s production of Die Walküre opening this week. We caught up with her this week to reflect on her career in opera, what inspired her to begin singing, the best part of being an opera singer, whether she believes in fate, and more.
Featured
Canadian Opera Company
Fidelio “Built to a thrilling conclusion that was exhilarating”
Beethoven famously regarded his only opera, Fidelio, as a problem child that cost him dearly, and...
Canadian Opera
La bohème “The attractive power of La bohème is such that even after seeing it countless times, you can be sucked right back into its world after just a few bars”
The Canadian Opera Company mounted its John Caird staging of Puccini’s La bohème for the third...
San Francisco Opera
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs “Olivia Smith was outstanding”
The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs by Mason Bates, with libretto by Mark Campbell, starts with Jobs’s...
OPERA PLACES Miina-Liisa Värelä takes us to Toronto, ON
Finnish soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä is in Toronto making her debut as Leonore in Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Canadian Opera Company with COC Music Director Johannes Debus conducting. She takes us with her to explore the Toronto area this week, marvelling at the majestic beauty of Niagara Falls, the fine acoustics of the Four Seasons Centre, tasty coffee from The Rooster and more.
Park Avenue Armory
Doppelganger featured “Michael Levine’s typically spare and striking design”
What is it about Schubert song cycles that attracts the Regie gang? In recent years Christof Loy,...
San Francisco Opera
Il trovatore “Eun Sun Kim has brought fresh life to the San Francisco Opera”
Giuseppe Verdi’s Il trovatore is about a hallucinating witch and two men who do not know they are...
Artist of the Week 15 Qs for Amina Edris
Egyptian soprano Amina Edris is in Toronto, preparing for the first of five role debuts in her 2023/24 season, singing Mimi in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème, running Oct 6 to 28. This week, she shares seminal moments in her career journey with us and reflects on the importance of investing in yourself as an artist.
OPERA PLACES Kirsten MacKinnon takes us to Montreal, QC
Canadian soprano Kirsten MacKinnon is in her hometown of Montreal making her company debut with Opéra de Montréal kicking off their 2023/24 season with Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, which runs until Oct 1. She takes us to beautiful, colourful Montreal this week to explore mural-filled city streets, cafes with snuggly rescue kittens, and so much more.
Artist of the Week 25 Qs for Anna-Sophie Neher
Canadian-German soprano Anna-Sophie Neher is in Toronto, preparing to return to the Canadian Opera Company’s stage as Marzelline in Beethoven’s Fidelio which opens this Friday, running Sept 29 to Oct 20. This week, we sat down with her to discuss her life and career, singers that keep her inspired, roles she’d like to be singing, and what it’s like to juggle family with a career in opera.