Opera Notices

Today’s Globe and Mail reports that the federal government is “taking its first steps to promote women on corporate boards of directors … [by creating] a new advisory council for business leaders to promote the cause.”

Figures from study by an advocacy group, Catalyst: 14.5% of directors on Canada’s 500 largest company boards (private and Crown corporations) are women; only 10.3% on boards of publicly traded companies; 46.2% of publicly traded companies have no women on their boards.

That’s a far cry from what one will find on Vancouver Opera's Board of Directors, where 68% are women (15 of 22 directors); I’m sure that is similar to many other arts and not-for-profit boards across Canada. And we’re not talking about an outmoded idea of cookie-baking, tea-serving female board members. Three of the four officers are professional women, all recognized as leaders in their respective fields. Other professions represented by women on our board include financial services, education, manufacturing, medicine, real estate and law. Others have impressive experience in leading not-for-profit organizations and in philanthropy and arts and music leadership roles.

Vancouver Opera’s board is active and committed to the health of Vancouver Opera. In our case, percentages are interesting and informative, but ultimately it’s about the entire board – men and women, professionals and civic leaders, doing their part to serve their community through service on Vancouver Opera’s - and other not-for-profit – boards.



- James Wright, General Director
Vancouver Opera
http://twitter.com/@jwwright61

James Wright General Director

 I don’t know this piece at all, and I’m not acquainted with the writer’s tastes. But he does make some valid points: Another bad modern opera at Covent Garden.

We’ve had wonderful working relationships with the creative teams of all three pieces VO has commissioned in the last few years: Ramona Luengen and Ann Hodges for Naomi’s Road, Veda Hille for Jack Pine, and John Estacio and John Murrell for Lillian Alling. We always were able to communicate back and forth openly and professionally, and each member of those teams wanted success for the opera company as much – or more – than they wished for it for themselves. The results of all three projects were excellent and exceeded all expectations.

But I have witnessed projects going off the tracks in other places and have seen my share of disappointing premieres that sometimes leave opera companies struggling to recover. I agree with the writer that companies must stay on top of the commissioning and producing process and the creative team and the company administration are really one team.

Here’s to many more successful new operas in the future!

- James Wright
General Director, Vancouver Opera
@jwwright61

James Wright General Director

On February 13 I attended the British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction luncheon, where Charlotte Gill was named winner of this esteemed prize. This was my first time attending these awards. It was a very enlightening and entertaining event, and I learned a lot about authors and subjects that I will pursue further.

The British Columbia National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction was launched in 2005 “to honour Canada’s finest writers of non-fiction and to celebrate a genre that stimulates our national conversation and shares knowledge about the complex world in which we live.”

This award is sponsored by the British Columbia Achievement Foundation, which also sponsors the Community Achievement Award, the Creative Achievement Award for Applied Art and Design, the Creative Achievement Award for First Nations’ Art, and the BC Aboriginal Business Award. The Foundation is governed by a board of outstanding and accomplished British Columbians.

The British Columbia Community Achievement Awards celebrate British Columbians “who go above and beyond in their dedication and service to others and who devote time and energy to making their communities more caring, dynamic, beautiful, healthy, and unique. They inspire by their example.”



The British Columbia Aboriginal Business Awards “celebrate the accomplishments of the province's Aboriginal business sector and its contribution to the economy of British Columbia. These awards honour business acumen in seven categories. An independent jury of Aboriginal business experts reviews the nominations and selects the recipients in accordance with the awards' criteria.”





The Carter Wosk Creative Achievement Awards for Applied Art and Design “celebrate British Columbians who through their creativity contribute to the cultural and economic fabric of the Province. The awards recognize individuals whose work has a practical function. Artists and designers who work in jewelry, glass, wood, fibre, clay and metal or in such areas, but not limited to, textiles, furniture, weaving, ceramics, fashion and industrial design are eligible.”


The Creative Achievement Award for First Nations' Art is “a juried competition celebrating artistic excellence and highlighting the cultural significance of the arts of the First Nations in British Columbia.”

I have attended the Award for First Nations’ Art several times in recent years and always find it very interesting and inspiring, and it always makes me so proud and happy to be living here.

I believe in the value of these awards and the recognition they bestow on people who are making a positive difference in the lives of so many British Columbians and Canadians.  I don’t believe anything similar exists for the performing arts in the province: music, dance, theatre, opera, etc.  While local communities have their various award programs (such as The Jessies for theatre in Metro Vancouver). Financial times are challenging right now and budgets for the arts are stretched. But as the economy improves in the future, perhaps a province-wide award for the performing arts – maybe based on the BC Achievement Foundation model or as a component of the Foundation – should be considered.


- James Wright
General Director, Vancouver Opera
@jwwright61

James Wright, General Director Vancouver Opera

Phillip Glass has written a new opera for the Teatro Real in Madrid: The Perfect American, based on the novel by Peter Stephan Jungk about the last months of Walt Disney’s life. The work was originally commissioned by New York City Opera during the brief time Gerard Mortier was the company’s general director. When he left in a huff over budgets before he even really got there, he apparently took this and other projects with him, including Charles Wuorinen’s Brokeback Mountain. Read a good summary of this from The Washington Post’s AP story here.

New York City Opera continues to struggle while it appears Teatro Real is forging ahead with exciting projects. It will be interesting and informative to follow these new works’ progress in Madrid and elsewhere. While The Perfect American and Brokeback Mountain are considered “American” stories, they have plots, themes and characters that give them audience appeal far beyond the US and North America. Walt Disney’s legacy is everywhere - for better or worse – and the struggles of the characters in Brokeback Mountain have struck a chord in millions of film-goers, opera lovers, and readers.

I first read the story Brokeback Mountain in the New Yorker magazine when it was first published in 1997; it is in author Annie Proulx’s collection of short stories, Close Range: Wyoming Stories (Scribner, 1999). I’m a big fan of hers, and especially of her short fiction set in Wyoming: Close Range and Fine Just the Way It Is: Wyoming Stories 3 (Scribner). Here’s an interesting interview with Annie Proulx from the LA Times in 1998.

City Opera Vancouver’s website states “City Opera Vancouver is making plans to give the world premiere of Brokeback Mountain in 2015. This will be the unique chamber version….”. I am somewhat familiar with Wuorinen’s music and while I know Glass’s work I don’t know anything particular to The Perfect American. I look forward to learning a lot more about each of these new works.

- James Wright
General Director, Vancouver Opera
@jwwright61

General Director James Wright

“…fortepianos were awful, the sound muffling all over the place when the hammer hit the keys… and modern grands were unspeakable. None had that direct pluck of plectrum on string for which he loved the harpsichord…”

Gustav Leonhardt

Craig Tomlinson Harpsichord builder

A group of friends and I attended the celebrated Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner Sunday evening at Floata Restaurant.

Todd Wong (or Toddish McWong as he is also known!) started this multicultural event more than a decade ago and it has blossomed into a much-anticipated party that acknowledges BC’s Scottish and Chinese influences. Along with the piping of the Haggis we also witnessed a dragon parade!

Toddish McWong

We enjoyed a wee scotch tasting, a fabulous, multi-course dinner prepared by Floata which included – believe me – haggis shumai and dumplings, plus wonderful Chinese dishes and our own haggis at each table.


As the evening progressed through Robbie Burns tributes, the addressing of the haggis, Scottish songs with Mandarin lyrics, Todd presented the Inaugural Gung Haggis Fat Choy Intercultural Awards of Awesomeness! I happily shared the stage on behalf of Vancouver Opera, and the award, with two truly inspiring gentlemen: Jim Wong-Chu and Fred Wah.

Tetsuro Shigematsu (left) and Todd Wong (right) present the Intercultural Awards of Awesomeness to James Wright, Fred Wah and Jim Wong-Chu. Photo by Charlie Smith.

The accomplished poet Fred Wah was born in Saskatchewan, but grew up in the interior British Columbia. His Canadian-born father was raised in China, the son of a Chinese father and a Scots-Irish mother, and his mother was Swedish-born Canadian. His diverse ethnic makeup figures significantly in his writings.

Jim Wong-Chu is a co-founder of Asian Heritage Month and a poet whose book Chinatown Ghosts was the first poetry book by an Asian Canadian writer. Jim is also the founder of the Asian Canadian Writers Workshop and Ricepaper magazine.

Bring on the Haggis shumai!

Todd cited Vancouver Opera’s commissioned opera Naomi’s Road, along with our other community engagement programs, as important steps in multicultural understanding in Vancouver.

I was honoured to accept his accolades for the company, and truly honoured to share this award with such distinguished an accomplished men as Jim Wong-Chu and Fred Wah.

- James Wright
General Director, Vancouver Opera
@jwwright61

La Bohème

The Pirates of Penzance

Each brings something (actually, many things) very special to this piece: Christopher’s tremendous sense of theatre and comic timing; Judith’s exquisite vocal production and stunning theatricality; and Jonathan’s incredible musical passion and refinement: all in the cause of a timeless and classic work guaranteed to make you laugh out loud while appreciating the genius of its creators, Messrs. Arthur Sullivan and W.S. Gilbert.

Tea: A Mirror of Soul

The Magic Flute