COC's January Productions and Programs

Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven

3 performances: January 24, 27 and 30, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

145 Queen St. W. (at University Avenue)

The Canadian Opera Company kicks off its winter season with Fidelio, Ludwig van Beethoven’Äôs opera of triumphant courage and love in the face of oppression. In Beethoven’Äôs only opera, Leonore, disguised as the young man Fidelio, works at the prison where her husband is unjustly incarcerated. World-renowned Canadian soprano Adrianne Pieczonka makes her role debut as Leonore and American tenor Jon Villars is her great love, Florestan. Gidon Saks sings the villainous Don Pizarro, who unjustly imprisons Florestan. Mats Almgren, a remarkable Hagen in the COC’Äôs Ring Cycle, is the jailer, Rocco and Virginia Hatfield is Marzelline, his daughter. Fidelio is a co-production with Opˆ©ra national du Rhin (ONR) and Staatstheater Nˆºrnberg, a COC collaboration that began last season with Eugene Onegin. German conductor Gregor Bˆºhl makes his company debut leading the COC Orchestra.

Single tickets are $60 ’Äì $290 (specially priced $20 tickets for young people under the age of 30 go on sale January 17, 2009). Tickets go on sale December 1, 2008 and are available online at www.coc.ca, by calling COC Ticket Services at 416-363-8231, or in person at the

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office, 145 Queen St. W., Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Rusalka by Antonˆ‚n Dvo‰ôˆ°k

1 performance: January 31, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. (Opening performance)

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

145 Queen St. W. (at University Avenue)

The winter season continues with the COC premiere of Antonˆ‚n Dvo‰ôˆ°k’Äôs Rusalka. In this adult fairy tale, inspired in part by Hans Christian Anderson’Äôs The Little Mermaid, the water nymph Rusalka falls in love with a mortal prince. To be with him, she sacrifices her immortality and her voice. Dvo‰ôˆ°k’Äôs dreamy and romantic music, which includes the stunning ’ÄúSong to the Moon,’Äù brings to aching life this beautiful, timeless story.

Julie Makerov returns to sing the title role, and famed Canadian tenor Michael Schade makes his first appearance with the COC in five years as Rusalka’Äôs beloved Prince. Russian powerhouse Irina Mishura, sings Je‰æibaba, the malevolent witch. Richard Paul Fink returns to sing the role of Rusalka’Äôs good-natured old friend, the Water Gnome, and former Ensemble soprano Joni Henson is the Foreign Princess vying for the Prince’Äôs heart. Helikon Opera’Äôs artistic director Dmitri Bertman, who staged the COC’Äôs From the House of the Dead, returns to direct this luminous production from Theater Erfurt in Germany.

Single tickets are $60 ’Äì $290 (specially priced $20 tickets for young people under the age of 30 go on sale January 17, 2009). Tickets go on sale December 1, 2008 and are available online at www.coc.ca, by calling COC Ticket Services at 416-363-8231, or in person at the

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office, 145 Queen St. W., Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FREE CONCERT SERIES IN THE

RICHARD BRADSHAW AMPHITHEATRE

January 15 to January 29, 2009

Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts

145 Queen St. W. (at University Avenue)

The Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre includes concerts, performances and presentations by young musicians, Canadian and international opera stars and COC staff. This is an exciting opportunity for Torontonians to experience the artistic excellence and cultural diversity of the city. All performances are free to the public.

Date	Series	Artist
January 15, 2009 12 ’Äì 1 p.m.	Dance Series	Founded in 1992 by George Randolph, the Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts nurtures Triple Threat’Ñ¢; talent from Canada and abroad. The Triple Threat Cabaret is packed with song and dance, showcasing musical theatre hits, featuring the Academy’Äôs recent graduates as well as current students.
January 20, 2009 12 ’Äì 1 p.m.	Chamber Music Series	Artists of the University of Toronto’Äôs Faculty of Music perform Sound Exploration: New Music Festival Launch. U of T’Äôs distinguished music department perform a series of new works from various chamber ensembles.
January 22, 2009 12 ’Äì 1 p.m.	Chamber Music Series	Tokai String Quartet, poised to become one of Canada’Äôs leading string quartets, presents Dvo‰ôˆ°k’Äôs Quartet No. 12 in F major, the ’ÄúAmerican.’Äù Written during Dvo‰ôˆ°k’Äôs sojourn in the United States, the quartet explores themes and colours from Native American and African American music.
January 27, 2009 12 ’Äì 1 p.m.	Chamber Music Series	Under the direction of Kathleen Rudolph and Paul Widner, the wind and string ensembles of The Glenn Gould School perform a program of Russian chamber music featuring Rimsky-Korsakov’Äôs charming wind quintet as well as music for strings.
January 29, 2009 12 ’Äì 1 p.m.	Piano Virtuoso Series	Pianist Younggun Kim performs Prokofiev’Äôs legendary Sonata No. 7 ’ÄúWar Sonata 2/Stalingrad.’Äù This sonata is a powerful and convincing synthesis of youthful exhibitionism and mature reflection on the most profound issues of the time. The agonizing intensity of the first two movements gives way to an exhilarating jazz-toccata in the finale.

EDUCATION & OUTREACH

After School Opera Program

The Canadian Opera Company’Äôs popular After School Opera Program returns. The program, which introduces young people to all the exciting elements that make up an opera, is $10 for a 10-week session and is held at four convenient locations in Toronto: East York Community Centre; Barbara Frum Community Centre; St. Christopher House Music School; and the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre. Under the guidance of Canadian composer Dean Burry, young people ages 7-12 create an original operatic work based on their own ideas and improvisations. Mr. Burry has worked closely with the COC over the years, composing several children’Äôs operas, including Isis and Seven Scorpions and The Brothers Grimm. No previous music experience is necessary.

After School Opera Program

$10 per session

LOCATION 1 EAST YORK COMMUNITY CENTRE 1081-1/2 Pape Ave. (Pape and O’ÄôConnor) Winter Session: January 12 ’Äì March 9, 2009 Time: Mondays, 4 ’Äì 6 p.m. Call 416-396-2896 to register	LOCATION 2 BARBARA FRUM COMMUNITY CENTRE 20 Covington Rd. (Lawrence and Bathurst) Winter Session: January 13 ’Äì March 10, 2009 Time: Tuesdays, 4 ’Äì 6 p.m. Call 416-395-6122 to register
LOCATION 3 ST. CHRISTOPHER HOUSE MUSIC SCHOOL 248 Ossington Ave. (Dundas and Ossington) Winter Session: January 14 ’Äì March 11, 2009 Time: Wednesdays, 4 ’Äì 6 p.m. Call 416-532-4828 to register	LOCATION 4 JOEY AND TOBY TANENBAUM OPERA CENTRE 227 Front St. E. (Front and Berkeley) Winter Session: January 15 ’Äì March 12, 2009 Time: Thursdays, 4 ’Äì 6 p.m. Call 416-306-2377 to register

For more information please contact the COC’Äôs Education and Outreach department at 416-306-2377 or visit www.coc.ca.

The After School Opera Program is generously supported by the Imperial Oil Foundation and

Kraft Canada.

Opera 101

The Canadian Opera Company presents Opera 101, a FREE event that treats young adults to a friendly, interactive, and informal discussion. Hosted by CBC Radio’Äôs Brent Bambury, special guests Adrianne Pieczonka and Virginia Hatfield discuss Beethoven’Äôs only opera, Fidelio. World-renowned soprano, Adrianne Pieczonka makes her role debut as Leonore in Fidelio, and soprano Virginia Hatfield, a graduate from the COC Ensemble Studio, returns to sing Marzelline. Together they discuss their experiences in the production; Ms Hatfield as an up-and-coming artist and Ms Pieczonka as an established artist.

Opera neophytes have the chance to enjoy drinks and free munchies while getting the scoop on what opera is all about. Topics covered in the past include the design, production and directorial decisions involved in creating an opera. New this season, audience members are invited to stick around following the discussion to enjoy FREE, live musical entertainment.

Opera 101

FREE

Drake Hotel (1150 Queen St. W.)

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

at 7:30 p.m.

For more information please visit www.coc.ca.

The Opera Exchange

The Canadian Opera Company, in collaboration with the Jackman Humanities Institute, the Munk Centre for International Studies, and the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, presents

The Opera Exchange, a symposium that provides a thorough and entertaining look at the operas performed during the COC’Äôs 2008/09 season. An extraordinary array of academic specialists present lectures, followed by panel discussions with members of the COC’Äôs creative teams.

During the second instalment of the series, participants have the opportunity to discover new insights about Love and Liberation: Beethoven’Äôs Fidelio, in which a panel of experts explore Beethoven’Äôs only opera. Topics include: the revolutionary and philosophical roots of the opera, its relevance today; the music, politics, and themes of triumph, love and tenderness, highlighted by musical excerpts performed by members of the COC Ensemble Studio.

Love and Liberation: Beethoven’Äôs Fidelio

Saturday, January 31, 2009

9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

$25 per participant ($15 for U of T Faculty and $5 for students)

Walter Hall, Edward Johnson Building,

The Faculty of Music;

80 Queen’Äôs Park (at Museum subway station)

Order online at www.coc.ca

or call COC Ticket Services at 416-306-2377