The New Vancouver Opera Festival

The inaugural Vancouver Opera Festival launches on April 28th, presenting three new opera productions and bold programming. In addition to the core opera productions, the 16-day Vancouver Opera Festival will offer a new VO-commissioned visual art installation, performances by superb vocal artists, new collaborations with other Vancouver arts organizations, a massive choral extravaganza, and engaging, immersive experiences for people of all ages.

Vancouver Opera Festival

April 28 to May 13, 2017
Otello, Dead Man Walking and The Marriage of Figaro will be on stage and programming will also include a new commissioned video installation by award-winning artist Paul Wong, performances by vocal stylist Ute Lemper and Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq.

Programming

Full-scale productions of Giuseppe Verdi’s late-career masterpiece Otello, featuring powerful tenor Clifton Forbis in the title role, and Jake Heggie’s modern classic Dead Man Walking, with charismatic bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch as Joseph De Rocher, will be presented in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Award-winning set designer Erhard Rom, who created VO’s internationally renowned 2010 production of Nixon in China, is the scenic designer for both productions.

Mozart’s magnificent The Marriage of Figaro, at the Vancouver Playhouse, will feature a terrific cast of emerging stars, sets designed by Vancouver’s multi-Jessie-Award-winning Drew Facey (Stickboy, 2014) and contemporary costumes by Canadian fashion designer Sid Neigum, who is receiving international attention for his bold geometric creations.

The Vancouver Opera Festival will take place at three venues in downtown Vancouver: the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, the Vancouver Playhouse, and in the 500-plus-seat Festival Tent, which will be erected on the Queen Elizabeth Theatre plaza.

Tickets are currently on sale for all operas in VO’s 2016-2017 season, including the three festival operas, through the VO Ticket Centre at (604) 683-0222 or online.

Check out additional listings for Film Night at the Opera, Master Classes for Young Singers, Young Composers Workshops, The Artistry of Youth, Delta Opera & Performance Academy, Opera Tales, Opera in Context: Forums and Discussions, The Music of Verdi, Heggie and Mozart, Opera Speaks about Ethical Justice, Preview Talks, and more.

The Festival Tent will be a hive of activity every day of the Vancouver Opera Festival. Almost every evening, from 4:00pm to 7:00pm, the tent will be open for Happy Hour with socializing, light refreshments and intriguing programming: talks, panel discussions, performances.

Connect with Vancouver Opera Festival on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook for more programming, event, and ticketing information.