Frances Thielmann We're thrilled to announce that Frances Thielmann is joining our artistic team at Edmonton Opera! Frances will act as Head Coach for all productions in our upcoming season and contribute to the artistic values at the company. "I'm extremely excited to return to my hometown and work with the incredible talent that is at Edmonton Opera right now. Edmonton is quite a cultural hub, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it." Frances Thielmann, of Vancouver, completed her master’s degree in collaborative piano at the University of Toronto where she studied with esteemed piani ..read more

Edmonton audiences may know Rossini as the genius behind blockbuster comic operas like The Barber of Seville and Cinderella, but his final comedy Count Ory (or Le comte Ory in French) is only now gaining popularity at opera houses across the world. “For the life of me, I don’t understand why Le comte Ory isn’t the most produced of all Rossini operas,” says Brian Deedrick, director of this Western Canadian premiere. “It’s one grand and glorious cartoon! From the moment the curtain goes up, you sort of know that everything is going to turn out just fine in the end, which allows you to sit back a ..read more

Mezzo soprano Andrea Hill and soprano Lida Szkwarek will be playing the dynamic brother-sister duo in Hansel & Gretel. They recently sat down to chat about the music in this opera and their impressions of Edmonton Opera’s new production.  Andrea: What makes the music in this opera so compelling?  Lida: The way Humperdinck has composed music for each character really gives you a feel for their personalities. For example, the children’s music is so pure and shows their sporadic ideas, whereas the parents’ music is more stable. Another compelling part happens in ..read more

A major theme in Hansel & Gretel is hunger and the extent to which it can affect family relationships. Throughout the opera, starvation is an imminent reality for the children, and we see the amount of stress it causes the parents. The Mother’s shame and anger at being unable to provide for her children causes her to lash out and tell them to forage for food in the forest. The Father, on the other hand, often comes home drunk. Though Hansel & Gretel is a fairy tale, their family’s story is a reality for many people in our own community. After changes were announced to the Canada Food G ..read more

Is it based on a popular kids’ fairy tale? Yes. Does it have cutesy rhymes and folk melodies? Sure. But Hansel & Gretel is definitely not just for the little ones. In fact, if you bring kids to experience this opera, they will be at a pretty high level of music appreciation by the end of it. They’ll be ready for The Ring Cycle next! The maturity and complex musical themes in Hansel & Gretel are no surprise considering composer Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921) trained under Richard Wagner, who created masterpieces such as Parsifal, Tristan und Isolde, The Flying Dutchman, and of cours ..read more

As a Feature Celebration Site for Alberta Culture Days 2018, Edmonton Opera offered three days of free, family-friendly arts events at locations across the city from September 28-30. Albertans were welcomed to discover the diversity of arts and culture in our province by attending these exciting events! Our action-packed weekend began with an Open House at the Edmonton Opera Centre, where visitors were able to get a first look at the set of La Traviata in the rehearsal hall. They also received tours of our 22,000 square foot facility and interacted with production staff, who were in the midst ..read more

When I was first approached by Edmonton Opera General Director Tim Yakimec to direct Hansel & Gretel, he gently requested the piece not be a ‘lollipop and candy canes’ version of the opera. There was a desire to have something darker, which I believe suits the piece much better than a light-hearted fairy tale approach. The eerie elements of Hansel & Gretel have existed from its creation. Going back and reading the Brothers Grimm story, I realized this wasn’t a light little fairy tale. For example, in the original, the kids get kicked out of their house by their stepmother (not mother ..read more

As she prepares to wow Edmonton audiences with her talent, we asked soprano Laquita Mitchell to share some insights about her character in La Traviata and what she looks forward to in this production. Edmonton Opera’s La Traviata marks not only your company debut, but also your first time performing in front of a Canadian audience. What are you looking forward to the most for your Canadian debut? I’m looking forward to working with the esteemed creative team behind this wonderful production! As well as the music making that goes along with preparing one of Verdi’s greatest opera’s. You’ve been ..read more

Our 2018/19 season opener La Traviata is part of a remarkable moment in Canadian opera history. For the first time, five of Canada’s leading opera companies — Edmonton Opera, Manitoba Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, Vancouver Opera, and Opéra de Montréal — have come together to create a spectacular new production of Verdi’s masterpiece. Directed by Alain Gauthier with designs by renowned Stratford Festival designer Christina Poddubiuk, this new Traviata is set amidst the glamorous entertainment scene of 1920s Paris. The era is apparent in both seductive costumes and a lavish set, which was buil ..read more

When Laquita Mitchell was just fourteen years old, a bright-eyed young high school student in Manhattan, she had the opportunity to experience opera for the first time. Far from the usual ‘starter operas’ like Madama Butterfly or Carmen, Laquita went to see part two of Wagner’s Ring Cycle epic — Die Walküre at the Metropolitan Opera starring the great soprano Jessye Norman, who had also bought Laquita’s ticket to the performance. That was a turning point for her. “When I saw Ms. Norman step on stage, I thought to myself, ‘oh my goodness, this is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen’…it j ..read more