Vancouver Opera Announces First-Ever 2020-2021 Digital Season

Vancouver Opera has announced a reimagined 2020-2021 season embracing digital content with diverse and high-quality series of programming marking their first-ever digital season.

"Vancouver Opera is taking the performances off the stage and reimagining a season for the screen and at-home enjoyment," explains Tom Wright, Vancouver Opera General Director. "This fully digital season, a first-ever for Vancouver Opera, is an opportunity to continue to share and experience this incredible art form until we can return to live performance at the theatre again."

This season will include four chamber operas never produced by Vancouver Opera and will profile local Canadian talent alongside members of the Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists Program. Throughout the season, Vancouver Opera will continue their commitment to community partnerships, virtual education programs, new podcast episodes and intend to offer smaller in-person events and experiences.

The 2020-2021 season premieres with La voix humaine by Francis Poulenc with its digital premiere Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. This powerful lyrical tragedy is led by an all-female, all-Canadian trio: director Rachel Peake with soloist Mireille Lebel and Music Director Kinza Tyrrell, Vancouver Opera's Principal Répétiteur.

Saturday, December 12 at 7:30 p.m. is the digital premiere of Amahl and the Night Visitors by Gian Carlo Menotti. Sarah Pelzer directs this holiday classic with Maestro Leslie Dala and stars Maestro's son, Andreas Dala, as Amahl. In 1951 this opera was specifically composed for television audiences with a Christmas Eve broadcast premiere making it a perfect addition to the Vancouver Opera 2020-2021 digital season.

The season continues in 2021 on Saturday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m. with the Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists presenting the digital premiere of The Music Shop by Richard Wargo. In this charming comedy, a meek husband desperately searches a music shop for a song requested by his wife. But if only he could remember the title or the tune of the song! His Wagnerian wife appears in a series of hilarious hallucinations during his mad scramble through the ill-fated music shop.

La Tragédie de Carmen, Peter Brook's and Marius Constant's ground-breaking reimagining of Bizet's beloved masterpiece strips the story down to its four principal characters, Carmen, Don José, Micaëla, and Escamillo. Premiering on Saturday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m., this 90-minute adaptation is visceral, sensual and explosive with a few surprises. Starring the members of the Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists Program with members of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra.

For more information about the 2020-2021 Digital Season, and to subscribe, please visit vancouveropera.ca.

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