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CANADIANS NEXT ON STAGE

Apr 08 - 26 2025

Mahabharata Part One: Karma: The Life We Inherit John Gzowski and Suba Sankaran
Canadian Stage and Why Not Theatre

Bluma Appel Theatre

Apr 11 - 27 2025

Mahabharata Part Two: Dharma: The Life We Choose John Gzowski and Suba Sankaran
Canadian Stage and Why Not Theatre

Bluma Appel Theatre

Apr 25 2025 - May 16 2025

Wozzeck Berg
Canadian Opera Company

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

Apr 26 2025

Madama Butterfly Puccini
Vancouver Opera
Vancouver, BC

Queen Elizabeth Theatre

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"Goose-bumps break out whenever Dufresne sings."

"Goose-bumps break out whenever Dufresne sings."

@pacificoperavictoria's Rigoletto runs until April 29th! Read the full review on our website.

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📸: David Cooper Photography

The @metopera’s Le nozze di Figaro features Cana

The @metopera’s Le nozze di Figaro features Canadian @barihopkins1 as the Count and is scheduled for live broadcast in cinemas across the country on April 26, 2025. Read the review on our website.

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📸: Evan Zimmerman/Met Opera

The Artist of the Week is Canadian soprano @sarahd

The Artist of the Week is Canadian soprano @sarahdufresnesoprano. She will be singing the role of Gilda in @pacificoperavictoria's Rigoletto from April 23rd to 29th. This week, Sarah share her go-to coffee spots, the roles she wants to be singing and her favourite composers. Read on to find out more.

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📸: Camilla Greenwell

Canadian soprano @oliviasmith.soprano takes us to

Canadian soprano @oliviasmith.soprano takes us to Philadelphia, where she is singing the role of Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni with @operaphila from April 25th to May 4th. While in Philadelphia, Olivia shares the history of the opera house, the best place to grab dinner and her favourite stand at the farmers' market. Read on to find out more.

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📸: Amanda Bottoms

The Artist of the Week is French-Canadian mezzo-so

The Artist of the Week is French-Canadian mezzo-soprano @julieebouliannee. She is the mezzo soloist in Mozart's Requiem with @osmconcerts from April 16th to 18th. This week, Julie shares how she approaches new roles, the things she can't live without while on the road and her love of coffee and dogs. Read on to find out more.

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📸: Julien Faugere

@operaatelier’s David et Jonathas is “arranged

@operaatelier’s David et Jonathas is “arranged artfully and colourfully.” Read the full review on our website.

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📸: Bruce Zinger

@manitobaopera's La bohème features a "particular

@manitobaopera's La bohème features a "particularly strong all-Canadian cast of principals." Read the full review on our website.

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📸: Mark Rash

@calgaryopera’s final production of the 2024/25

@calgaryopera’s final production of the 2024/25 season consisted of a double bill Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle and Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. Read the full review on our website.

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📸: LeeHarder Photography

The Artist of the Week is French-Canadian Baritone

The Artist of the Week is French-Canadian Baritone @domicote. He will be singing the titular role in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with @operaduroyaume from April 9th to 13th. This week, Dominique shares the best (or worst) place to take nap, his musical inspirations and his desire to sing more Canadian opera. Read on to find out more.

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📸: Julie Beauchemin

British-Canadian soprano @jessica_muirhead takes

British-Canadian soprano @jessica_muirhead takes us to Copenhagen, where she is singing the role of Eva in Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg from March 16th to April 27th. While in Copenhagen, Jessica shares the beauty of the opera house (or Operaen), must visit museums and the best place to grab a pastry before heading to the opera. Read on to find out more.

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📸: Alexey Kudrik

Opera Glasses season 3, episode 5 is now available

Opera Glasses season 3, episode 5 is now available on all streaming platforms and YouTube!

Growing up in Toronto with a musical theater obsession sparked by seeing Phantom of the Opera at age five, @charlotteannsiegel never imagined herself an opera singer. "I was definitely not that 10-year-old thinking I wanted to be an opera singer," she confesses, "but I always knew I wanted to sing."

Now performing Musetta in Manitoba Opera's La bohème, Siegel finds portraying this extroverted character particularly enlightening as someone naturally introverted. "She's so unlike me... I don't like to be the center of attention, which is funny coming from an opera singer," she laughs. Yet she relishes the challenge, noting how Puccini provides everything needed in the score to bring Musetta's complexities to life.

Siegel's commitment extends beyond performance. Recognizing how subsidized music lessons through Regent Park School of Music shaped her path in life, she co-founded the Marigold Music Program during the pandemic. This initiative provides underrepresented youth with music education access, mentorship and concert opportunities — addressing barriers before university applications. "I know in my bones that I would not be sitting here talking to you if I didn't have access to these kinds of programming when I was younger," she admits.

The Artist of the Week is Canadian-Cameroonian so

The Artist of the Week is Canadian-Cameroonian soprano @taffot_soprano. She will be singing the role of Mimì in Puccini's La bohème with @manitobaopera on April 5th, 9th and 11th. This week, Suzanne chats with us about the artists who inspire her, how important mental preparation is to performing and the roles she wants to sing in the future. Read on to find out more.

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📸: Kevin Calixte

@voiceboxoperainconcert presented two performances

@voiceboxoperainconcert presented two performances of Puccini's La rondine at their new venue, Jeanne Lamon Hall, featuring @cassandra.amorim.soprano, @jeremyscinocca.tenor, @tenor_tranquilli and @bellecao. Read the full review on our website.

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📸: Gaetz Photography and Marion Voysey

The Artist of the Week is Canadian conductor @mar

The Artist of the Week is Canadian conductor @mariafuller.conductor. She is currently assistant conducting Puccini's Manon Lescaut at @narodnidivadlo_opera in Prague. This week, Maria shares her favourite places to make music, that the show must go on even when the lights go out and a sneak peek at her latest compositions and arrangements. Read on to find out more.

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📸: Olga Tiurin

"It was a strong presentation of a classic Mozart

"It was a strong presentation of a classic Mozart work, and the work of all performers showed great promise for the future of this art form in Canada." Read the full review of the Glenn Gould School's Die Zauberflöte on our website.

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📸: Michael Cooper

The Artist of the Week is Canadian soprano and co

The Artist of the Week is Canadian soprano and composer @danikaloren. They will be featured in @soundstreams' upcoming concert with and without you, curated by winner of the 2024/25 Soundstreams New Voices Curator Mentorship Program Brad Cherwin, on March 22nd. This week, Danika shares a bit about their musical upbringing is Saskatchewan, their top coffee picks in Toronto and what they want to be singing right now. Read on to find out more.

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📸: Danika Lorèn

The latest episode of Opera Glasses is now availab

The latest episode of Opera Glasses is now available on YouTube and all podcast streaming platforms!

Cheryl Hickman is reimagining what an opera company can be in Newfoundland. As founder and artistic director of @operaontheavalon in St. John's, she's built an organization that defies conventional wisdom about opera programming, audience development and digital engagement.

Starting with a budget of just $25,000 in 2009 after a successful international singing career, Hickman has grown Opera on the Avalon into a $1.2 million company ranked 12th largest among Canadian opera companies - the only company east of Quebec in the top 30. What makes this achievement remarkable is how it happened: largely by abandoning traditional repertoire.

"When we did Bohème, it really did not sell," Hickman reveals. "The first almost sold-out show we had was Dead Man Walking, because audiences knew it from popular culture." This discovery led to a radical shift toward commissioning and producing exclusively new works that resonate with local audiences. As Hickman puts it, "I'm never going to compete financially with the COC. But I also don't think anyone needs my version of Magic Flute."

During COVID, the company pivoted to outdoor filming across Newfoundland's spectacular landscapes, creating "The Rock Performs" series. This initiative blossomed into OOTA-TV, a free digital platform featuring commissioned mini-operas from renowned composers like Jennifer Higdon and Mark Adamo, collaborative projects with Indigenous artists, and documentaries that have reached worldwide.

Hickman challenges the notion that cultural excellence only happens in major urban centers: "For too long in our country we have decided what good art is and who could do good art... I'm not doing the same art they're doing in Toronto. Mine is different."

Recently appointed as the incoming Chair of the Canada Council for the Arts, Hickman will bring her perspective on regional arts development to national policy. Explore Opera on the Avalon's groundbreaking work at operaontheavalon.com, and discover why this Newfoundland company has something special for all opera lovers.

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Canadian @florie.valiquette.soprano is featured in

Canadian @florie.valiquette.soprano is featured in Chateau de Versailles Spectacle’s recording of Giulietta e Romeo. Read the review on our website.

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Southern Ontario Lyric Opera's Lucia di Lammermoor

Southern Ontario Lyric Opera's Lucia di Lammermoor (@solo_opera) was an "operatic high-wire act." Visit our website to read the full review.

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📸: John Martens

The @metopera's Fidelio is a "top-notch performanc

The @metopera's Fidelio is a "top-notch performance of a great but far-from-perfect opera." Read the full review on our website and catch this production in cinemas across the country on March 15, 2025.

Operacanada.ca

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📸: Karen Almond / Met Opera

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