The board and staff at Opera Canada are saddened to let you know that Wayne Gooding, our beloved editor for more than 25 years, passed away in hospice in the early morning hours of September 20, 2024.
He is mourned by his partner, Peter, by their family and friends, and by all of us in the Canadian opera community.
Over the past week, so many of you have shared beautiful memories of Wayne. A former writer at Opera Canada shared that Wayne’s “vibrant intelligence, care and sensitivity, wonderful smile and kind sense of humour helped me in my first stages of being a critic.”
We are continuing to collect your memories of Wayne. We will share them all with Peter as a comfort to him in this difficult time, and we will use some of them as part of a tribute to Wayne in an upcoming issue. Please click here to share your reminiscences.
While there will be no service or reception, there will be a visitation on Friday, October 4, 2024, beginning at 12:30 pm at Elgin Mills Cemetary (1591 Elgin Mills Road East, Richmond Hill, Ontario). Peter has requested no flowers, but recommends, in lieu of flowers, that people consider making a donation to Opera Canada magazine.
We tell OPERA stories with a CANADIAN twist. If you have a news that fits that description, please email editorial@operacanada.ca with your tip.
