Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Chorus to Present BraVO! Concert, 6/2

Vancouver, BC ~ On June 2, four of Canada's most talented singers will join forces with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Vancouver Opera Chorus for a celebratory concert featuring timeless opera favourites. BraVO!, a rare treat for music lovers, will be conducted by VO Music Director Jonathan Darlington and will recognize the retirement of VO's General Director James W. Wright, after 17 years at the head of the company.

Tickets are affordably priced, starting at $25. BraVO! is generously sponsored in part by Martha Lou Henley, C.M.

BraVO! is onstage for one performance only. Approximate running time: 90 minutes.

Thursday, June 2, 2016 • 7:00 pm

Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Georgia & Hamilton Streets, Vancouver, BC.

Tickets from $25 are available exclusively through the Vancouver Opera Ticket Centre, 604-683-0222 or online at www.vancouveropera.ca.

Visa, MasterCard and American Express are accepted. Special pricing for groups of at least 10, and for families, is available by phone.

THE SINGERS

Canada's premiere coloratura soprano Tracy Dahl has appeared throughout her career with such opera houses as the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Teatro alla Scala and the Théâtre du Châtelet. Ms. Dahl sang Chiang Ch'ing in VO's Canadian premiere of Nixon in China (2010) and appeared at VO's Golden Anniversary Concert in 2009.

Hungarian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó has become highly sought after in both North America and Europe as an artist of supreme musicianship and stagecraft. She made her Lincoln Center début in Così fan tutte at the Mostly Mozart Festival where she was praised in the New York Times for being "clear, strong, stately and an endearingly vulnerable Dorabella." Ms. Szabó was most recently seen on the VO stage as Sesto in 2011's La clemenza di Tito, as Musetta in 2012's La bohème and as Donna Elvira in 2014's Don Giovanni.

On the international stages of opera, concert, and recital, Canadian tenor John Tessier has garnered attention and praise for the beauty and honesty of his voice, for a refined style and creative versatility, and for his handsome, youthful presence in the lyric tenor repertoire. The Juno Award-winning artist has worked with many of the most notable conductors of our day. Mr. Tessier has appeared several times on the VO stage, most recently as Tamino in 2013's First Nations-inspired The Magic Flute and as Titus in 2011's La clemenza di Tito.

Acclaimed as "flat out brilliant" by Opera News, Canadian bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch is a leading interpreter of Mozart roles, which he has performed at New York City Opera, Teatro Colon, Los Angeles Opera, Vancouver Opera and several other companies. Mr. Okulitch has also excelled in creating leading roles in contemporary opera, most notably the roles of Ennis del Mar in Charles Wuorinen's Brokeback Mountain at Teatro Real in Madrid, Seth Brundle in Howard Shore's The Flyat the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and at Los Angeles Opera, Willy Wonka in Peter Ash's The Golden Ticket at Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Atlanta Opera, and Herman Broder in Ben Moore's Enemies, A Love Story at Palm Beach Opera. Mr. Okulitch sang the title role in VO's 2014 production of Don Giovanni and will sing Joseph De Rocher in next season's company premiere of Dead Man Walking.

THE PROGRAM

Ms. Dahl, Ms. Szabó, Mr. Tessier and Mr. Okulitch will sing opera excerpts by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Johann and Richard Strauss, John Estacio, and Ramona Luengen.

The VO Orchestra will play selections by Johann Strauss and Pietro Mascagni and will accompany the VO Chorus in the stirring "Va, pensiero" from Verdi's Nabucco and the "Humming Chorus" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

JAMES W. WRIGHT CREATIVITY FUND

To further honour James Wright, VO's Foundation has established a special fund, the James W. Wright Creativity Fund, which is dedicated to supporting new works and innovation in all aspects of opera production in the years to come.

Anyone can contribute to the James W. Wright Creativity Fund when they purchase their tickets to the June 2 concert, or at any time, online at www.vancouveropera.ca or by calling the VO Ticket Centre, 604-683-0222.

To post a comment, you must register and login.