Stage Door News
Toronto: The Canadian Opera Company’s 2023/24 AGM mentions award-winning “Medea” but not departure of former General Director
Thursday, November 7, 2024
The Canadian Opera Company’s 2023/2024 season saw the company connecting with all new audiences through a critically acclaimed lineup of mainstage programming that included several sold-out performances and a multi-award-winning production of Cherubini’s Medea. In addition, the COC’s long-term audience development strategy was enhanced through several livestreamed concerts and events, as reported today by COC General Director David C. Ferguson at the company’s Annual General Meeting hosted from the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.
“It is an exciting time for the Canadian Opera Company, as we build on the tremendous momentum established throughout our 2023/2024 season,” says Ferguson. “In recent years, the COC has developed a global reputation for artistic excellence and innovation, but we are also deeply passionate about ensuring our local audiences feel inspired and welcome to experience the power of live opera for themselves. We’re delighted to see our long-term audience development strategy taking hold as we welcomed over 7,500 new single-ticket buyers to the opera house this past season and engaged thousands of viewers with our livestreamed programming.”
To view the COC’s full 2023/2024 Annual Report, please visit coc.ca.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
The Canadian Opera Company’s 2023/2024 season opened with Fidelio, the only operatic work by master composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Finnish soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä and American tenor Clay Hilley starred in a desperate woman’s scheme to save her husband who is being held as a political prisoner. In an inspired creative decision, internationally acclaimed director Matthew Ozawa transported the storyline to a modern-day prison facility, creating a powerful reminder of the continued conflict between corruption and justice, tyranny and freedom.
The fall also saw the return of a worldwide audience favourite: La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini. Featuring a diverse cast of some of opera’s most talked-about rising performers, the irresistibly charming production by Tony Award-winning director John Caird and revived in Toronto by director Katherine M. Carter invited audiences on a whirlwind of youthful pleasure and ill-fated romance with young Canadian maestro Jordan de Souza conducting one of Puccini’s most achingly beautiful operas.
In the new year came a thought-provoking adaptation of The Cunning Little Vixen by Leoš Janáček. Director Jamie Manton’s vision for a deforested landscape added extra poignancy to the opera’s cautionary tale. The rarely heard score was beautifully led by COC Music Director Johannes Debus with The Globe and Mail hailing Canadian soprano Jane Archibald for her “stratospheric singing” as the clever fox who refused to be fenced in.
Rounding out the winter, Mozart’s Don Giovanni drew thousands to the opera house as a “visually enthralling” (Toronto Star) new production from Kasper Holten, revived in Toronto by director Amy Lane, elicited wildly enthusiastic ovations at sold-out performances. Audience and critics alike hailed the high-tech revolving set with Canadian bass-baritone and Ensemble Studio alumnus Gordon Bintner delivering a spectacular performance as opera’s infamous predator.
In April, the COC presented a delightful new production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale from the French-Canadian creative team André Barbe and Renaud Doucet. With the action set in a Technicolor take on 1960s Rome, the story of a dueling older bachelor and his lovesick nephew enchanted audiences for eight mainstage performances including a special presentation featuring the rising current and graduate members of the Ensemble Studio.
Lastly, a thrilling new production of Cherubini’s Medea had audiences leaping to their feet over the first presentation in COC history of the rarely performed operatic gem. Italian soprano Chiara Isotton “burn[ed] like a supernova” (Intermission Magazine) in a fiery COC debut. The eye-popping production from renowned director Sir David McVicar and revived in Toronto by director Jonathan Loy went on to sweep the entire opera division of the 2024 Dora Awards, winning all seven categories including “Outstanding Production” and “Outstanding Creative Direction.”
SHINING A LIGHT ON A BLACK CANADIAN MUSIC ICON
The Canadian Opera Company closed its 2023/2024 season with the sold-out world premiere of Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White by HAUI X Sean Mayes. Based on real-life Nova Scotian contralto Portia White, the first Black Canadian concert performer to achieve international fame in the mid-20th century, the contemporary opera sought to reclaim the story of an icon who was the best classical voice of her generation, yet largely forgotten in Canadians’ collective memory. The world premiere presentation took place at the Canadian Opera Company Theatre at 227 Front St. E., with a special Q&A with the opera’s creators following each performance.
EXPANDING AUDIENCES THROUGH DIGITAL ACCESS
Since the groundbreaking installation of high-tech recording and broadcast equipment in the Canadian Opera Company’s 2021/2022 season, made entirely possible through Pamela and Paul Austin’s generous underwriting support for digital infrastructure, the company has been firmly committed to curating as many opportunities as possible for audiences to experience opera from wherever they are in the world.
Once again in 2023, the COC’s Centre Stage: Ensemble Studio Competition was livestreamed from coast to coast to coast and beyond, allowing audiences to witness, live, the thrilling final round of the company’s national auditions forits prestigious career development program. In addition, registered viewers were provided with a link that enabled them to cast their vote for the night’s Audience Choice winner. Over 1,300 households took part in the fun-filled evening that raises vital funds for the COC Ensemble Studio.
On May 29, 2024 the COC marked its first-ever livestreamed concert from the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts with the world premiere of Dustin Peters’ Ekphrasis!, commissioned by W. Bruce C. Bailey.
Audiences across the country and around the world were able to watch the performance in real-time, experiencing the full artistry of the acclaimed COC Orchestra and COC Music Director Johannes Debus.
It was a remarkable milestone for opera accessibility at the COC and one that served as a crucial foundation for the company’s first streaming of a fully staged live performance which occurred the following week for Aportia Chryptych: A Black Opera for Portia White. Due to popular demand and, in order to share the world premiere of Aportia Chryptych with as many audiences as possible, the Canadian Opera Company offered a one-time, livestreamed presentation of the opera on June 15, attracting a viewership of 868 households for the opera and post-performance Q&A.
PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
All season long, audiences are invited to experience the joy of live performances from the stunning Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts with free public concerts offered year-round that showcase Toronto’s vibrant diversity.
In 2023/2024, The Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre, Presented by TD Bank Group hosted 69 concerts from September to May, showcasing 416 artists ranging from vocal to instrumental to jazz and dance with nearly 10,000 audience members attending over the season. Among the series’ many highlights was The Colour of Joy, an exciting mix of new and old works celebrating Black Canadian composers presented by The Canadian Art Song Project, as well as Butterfly Transformation, an interactive performance combining Indigenous hand drumming with contemporary rock from Veronica Johnny, and featuring Butterfly Teaching of Cree Elder Joanne Dallaire.
IN THE COMMUNITY
Adding to the COC’s activities on the mainstage and in the opera house, the company’s Community Partnerships & Programming (CPP) team served over 13,400 young people and community members, engaged with 26 partnerships and 23 programs, and welcomed 47 schools and community groups to experience Canadian Opera Company programming.
The Showcase Series continued to champion increased access to the arts while amplifying the voices of artists from across Asian, African and Caribbean and Latin American diasporas. Since its beginnings in May of 2022, the celebration of Toronto’s rich cultural diversity has grown from season to season, regularly drawing in nearly 500 visitors for every month of culturally responsive programming. In 2023/2024, these community-minded concerts successfully connected with a mosaic of over 1,400 audience members for programming that included Redefining Resilience presented by Artists In Motion in February, investigating the act of resistance and survival while honouring Black joy and pride within the community; and the Opéra Queens in May, showcasing a gender-bending program spanning opera, song, and musical theatre in six languages.
In addition to a number of meaningful new partnerships, including an innovative collaboration with Sick Kids Epilepsy Classroom, CPP once again provided valuable mentorship and leadership-building through the COC Teen Council; behind the scenes access to creative industry titans through Opera Lab events; the unique ability to conceptualize and create an original opera through Opera Makers; hosted enthusiastic new and repeat campers for the COC’s Summer Music Camps; and invited 10 of the country’s most promising singers and two outstanding collaborative pianists to experience life as a working opera professional through the annual Summer Opera Intensive.
NURTURING OPERA’S NEXT GREAT ARTISTS
Since 1980, over 230 young professional Canadian singers and pianists have acquired foundational opera experience through the COC’s Ensemble Studio. Ensemble Studio artists are given unique and unparalleled access to world-class opportunities, including being cast in mainstage roles, working with the COC Orchestra under the direction of Johannes Debus, and participating in private masterclasses with celebrated opera singers, conductors, coaches, and directors. Ensemble Studio artists are also given the chance to audition regularly for prominent agents, artist managers, artistic directors, and opera administrators from around the world. In 2023/2024, Ensemble Studio artists received:
• 550 hours of music coaching
• 206 hours of language and diction training
• 150 hours of performance kinetics coaching on breathing and movement
• 154 hours of professional development (including career coaching, goal settings, and tax and finance seminars)
• 82 hours of group classes (including working sessions, masterclasses, and roundtables)
• 53 hours of dramatic and acting coaching
• 12 hours of mainstage sessions and professional recordings
* * *
The above press release concerning the COC AGM mentions nothing about the biggest Canadian opera story of the year, the sudden departure of former General Director Perryn Leech. Ludwig Van Toronto wrote about it thus:
THE SCOOP | Perryn Leech Steps Down From The Canadian Opera Company ‘Effective Immediately’
By Anya Wassenberg on June 12, 2024
“The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is today announcing that General Director Perryn Leech will be moving on from the organization by mutual agreement.”
In a surprising move, Perryn Leech, till today the General Director and leader of the Canadian Opera Company, has stepped down from his position “effective immediately”. The move was announced by Jonathan Morgan, Chair, COC Board of Directors in a statement posted to the website today, June 12.
David C. Ferguson has been appointed as the Interim General Director. Ferguson is the former president and chair of the COC Board of Directors.
“David brings a strong record of professional accomplishment to this interim role and has a commitment to the COC that extends to his time as both President and Chair of the Board of Directors. Prior to his retirement, David served as Executive Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of BMO Capital Markets,” Morgan continues in the statement.
David Ferguson is a long time opera supporter with a background in finance. Prior to his retirement, he was the Executive Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer of BMO Capital Markets. He holds Bachelor of Commerce and MBA degrees from the University of Toronto.
No reason was given for the abrupt announcement. Perryn began his tenure at the COC in 2021, during the pandemic, and inherited the economic uncertainty that goes along with it.
Perryn came to the COC after a stint at the Houston Grand Opera, as the result of a year-long search after the departure of Alexander Neef. The native of Brighton, England has spent the better part of four decades in the world of opera. He began at the Houston Grand Opera in 2007 as a technical and production manager, and was appointed managing director in 2011.
Recently, the COC announced that it would be mounting the Houston Grand Opera production of Madama Butterfly, rather than creating an original production, and another production was postponed, signs that the company’s finances are a matter of concern.
Along with thanking Leech for his three years with the COC, Morgan’s statement includes a commitment to artistic excellence, and stability while the organization searches for a replacement.
“Beyond Mr. Morgan’s comments, the Canadian Opera Company has nothing further to add regarding matters of personnel,” Avril Sequeira, a COC spokesperson, told the Toronto Star.”