Manitoba Opera
{{Infobox company
| name = Manitoba Opera
| image = Centennial Concert Hall, Winnipeg Manitoba 01.JPG
| image_caption = The Centennial Concert Hall, as part of the Manitoba Centennial Centre is the performing home of the Manitoba Opera.
| trading_name = Manitoba Opera Association
| genre = Opera
| founder = Justice Kerr Twaddle
| hq_location = Centennial Concert Hall
| hq_location_city = Winnipeg
| key_people = Larry Desrochers (General Director)
| website = {{URL|mbopera.ca}}
}}
Manitoba Opera is a full-time professional opera company in Winnipeg, Manitoba, based at the Centennial Concert Hall.
Founded in 1969, Manitoba Opera is one of several western Canadian opera companies that flourished under the so-called "father of opera in Western Canada," Irving Guttman.{{cite web|last1=King|first1=Betty Nygaard|last2=Wyman|first2=Max|title=Irving Guttman|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/irving-guttman-emc/|website=The Canadian Encyclopedia|publisher=Historica Canada|accessdate=26 January 2017|location=Toronto}}
Live music for Manitoba Opera productions is provided by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
The Opera also serves northwestern Ontario, Saskatchewan, and the Dakotas in the US.
History
Manitoba Opera was founded in 1969 and incorporated in 1970, with its first production being a concert version of Giuseppe Verdi's Il Trovatore in 1972.{{cite web|last1=Moore|first1=Christopher|title=Manitoba Opera Association|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/manitoba-opera-association-emc/|website=The Canadian Encyclopedia|publisher=Historica Canada|accessdate=26 January 2017|location=Toronto}} The Opera's first fully-staged production was in March 1973 with Madama Butterfly.{{Cite web |title=The Company |url=https://mbopera.ca/about/the-company/ |access-date=2025-04-19 |website=Manitoba Opera |language=en-US}}
From the 1970s through 1998, the Opera led by the artistic direction of Irving Guttman, known as the "father of opera in Western Canada." Guttman would be instrumental in the development of many young Canadian singers, including Winnipeg native Tracy Dahl (soprano) and Winkler's Phillip Ens (bass). Both have gone on to international careers.{{cite web|last1=Moore|first1=Christopher|title=Manitoba Opera Association|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/manitoba-opera-association-emc/|website=The Canadian Encyclopedia|publisher=Historica Canada|accessdate=26 January 2017|location=Toronto}}
In November 2007, the company staged its first full-length original production, Transit of Venus, composed by Victor Davies, with a libretto by Maureen Hunter, based on her stage play of the same name.
Larry Desrochers has been the General Director since November 2000.{{cite journal|title=Manitoba Opera has announced.|journal=Opera Canada|date=2012|issue=Winter|page=7}}
Alumni
Directors and conductors at the company have included Richard Bradshaw, Tracy Dahl, Nikki Einfeld, Herman Geiger-Torel, Anton Guadagno, Irving Guttman, Imre Pallo, and Alfredo Silipigni.
The company has also seen various notable singers in leading roles, including Victor Braun, Judith Forst, Maureen Forrester, Richard Margison, Allan Monk, Leona Mitchell, Diana Soviero, and Heather Thomson.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official|http://www.manitobaopera.mb.ca/ }}
{{Opera companies in Canada}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Musical groups established in 1969
Category:Canadian opera companies
Category:Musical groups from Winnipeg
Category:1969 establishments in Manitoba
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