COC Announces Upcoming Concert Events for April

The Flying Dutchman by Richard Wagner
8 performances: April 24, 28, May 11, 14, 17, 20 at 7:30 p.m.; May 2 at 2 p.m. and May 8
at 4:30 p.m.
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
145 Queen St. W. (at University Avenue)

Opening the spring season is the COC's signature production of Richard Wagner's haunting musical drama The Flying Dutchman, featuring the Canadian debut of Russian Evgeny Nikitin in the title role. Johannes Debus makes his debut in the orchestra pit as the COC's new Music Director and renowned American Christopher Alden, returns to the COC to direct. COC favourites soprano Julie Makerov, bass Mats Almgren, and tenor Robert Künzli perform the lead roles. The Flying Dutchman runs April 24, 28, May 2, 8, 11, 14, 17, and 20, 2010 and is sung in German with English SURTITLES^TM.

Single tickets are $62 - $292 (specially priced $20 tickets are available for young people under the age of 30.) Tickets are available online at coc.ca, or by calling COC Ticket Services at 416-363-8231, or in person at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts Box Office, located at 145 Queen St. W., Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

EVENTS

Fine Wine Auction

Wine lovers raise their glasses and bidding paddles at the Canadian Opera Company's 11th Annual Fine Wine Auction on Thursday, April 15, 2010 at Crush Wine Bar. Presenting an exquisite wine collection worth over $300,000, is Toronto's best known auctioneer, Stephen Ranger. Wine and hors d'oeuvres are served at 6 p.m. with the live auction beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $60 per person and can be purchased by calling 416-363-8231. All proceeds go to the COC.

COC's Annual Fine Wine Auction
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Reception at 6 p.m. and live auction at 7 p.m.
Crush Wine Bar and Restaurant
455 King St. W.
Tickets are $60 per person
416-363-8231

FREE CONCERT SERIES IN THE
Richard Bradshaw AMPHITHEATRE

April 1 to April 29, 2010
Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts
145 Queen St. W. (at University Avenue)

***PLEASE NOTE: LATE EDITION OF APRIL 29 CONCERT TO THE FREE CONCERT SERIES SCHEDULE**

The Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre is a unique opportunity to experience diverse artistic programming in what has become one of Toronto's most exciting cultural hubs. Six inspiring series offer concerts, dance performances, and engaging presentations that feature both up-and-coming young artists and established international stars. All performances are free to the public.

Date
Series
Artist

April 1, 2010
12 - 1 p.m.

World Music Series

Klezmer Trajectories: Old World Jewish Fusion meets New World Surprises!
The UofT Klezmer Ensemble, directed by Brian Katz, performs an early form of "fusion" music: an amalgamation of many borrowed Eastern European based folk tunes and musical dialects mixed with characteristic Jewish sounds, jazz, and a multitude of other possibilities.

April 6, 2010
12 - 1 p.m.

Chamber Music Series

Music and Ethics
Is there such a thing as socially responsible chamber music? Join Brian Current and the New Music Ensemble of the Glenn Gould School as they perform works about civil liberties and overseas conflict by Luciano Berio, James Rolfe and others.

April 7, 2010
12 - 1 p.m.
Piano Virtuoso Series
Frites with Salsa
Join pianist Linda Ippolito as she serves up a tasty luncheon treat of French and Latin delights. The program will feature 20th-century gems including Poulenc's Trois Novelettes, selected Improvisations, Ginastera's Danzas Argentinas and other surprises.

April 8, 2010
12 - 1 p.m.
Chamber Music Series
Goldberg Variations
Celebrating their tenth year of collaboration, Vancouver-based Trio Accord, one of Canada's finest chamber ensembles, presents Dmitri Sitkovetsky's masterly arrangement of Bach's monumentAl Goldberg Variations. Join Mary Sokol Brown, violin, Andrew Brown, viola, and Ariel Barnes, cello, for a "transcendent musical experience" (Victoria Times) not to be missed.
April 13, 2010
12 - 1 p.m.
Dance Series
A National Treasure
Under the direction of Deborah Lundmark, the talented young artists of the Toronto-based Canadian Children's Dance Theatre will perform a program of works by acclaimed Canadian choreographers.

COC FREE CONCERT SERIES IN THE Richard Bradshaw AMPHITHEATRE

April 15, 2010
12 - 1 p.m.
Vocal Series
La Serva Padrona
Artists of the COC Ensemble Studio present Pergolesi's rarely performed comic opera, La Serva Padrona, the charming story of the cunning maid Serpina and her aging master Uberto.

April 20, 2010
12 - 1 p.m.

Dance Series

Original Dance
Ballet Jörgen Canada features the works of a bold new breed of Canadian ballet choreographers in a presentation of dance guaranteed to please all members of its audience.
Ballet Jörgen Canada constantly expands its diverse repertoire with new and cutting-edge works by Canadian choreographers. Its Original Dance program showcases works that experiment with, and challenge, the traditional conventions of ballet as an art form.

April 22, 2010
12 - 1 p.m.

Vocal Series

Samuel Arnold's Polly
Samuel Arnold (1740 - 1802) was a gifted musician, highly respected theatre composer, conductor and outstanding musical historian in Georgian England. After extensive research and reconstruction, the opera Polly, from which to date only the overture has been performed and recorded, will have its premiere at this concert by the Aradia Ensemble under the direction of Kevin Mallon.

April 27, 2010
12 - 1 p.m.

Vocal Series

Lyricism in Wagner
Most modern singing of Wagner is characterized more by dramatic power and intensity than by lyricism. Stephen R. Clarke, curator of the acclaimed Stratton Estate, explores the fascinating body of early recordings, often not in German, that show Wagner's music sung with surprising lyricism.

April 29, 2010
12 - 1 p.m.

Dance Series

Isolated Incidents
Smart, sexy and engaging, Isolated Incidents is a collection of solos tracing random incidents in one woman's life. Celebrated as one of Canada's favourite dance artists, Nova Bhattacharya breathes rich life into the spectrum between classical bharatanatyam and contemporary dance in an hour of graceful precision, and a few surprises.


COC FREE CONCERT SERIES IN THE Richard Bradshaw AMPHITHEATRE


*LATE EDITION TO THE FREE CONCERT SERIES SCHEDULE*

April 29, 2010
5:30 - 6:30 p.m.

Chamber Music Series

Tribute to Stanley McCartney
The Canadian Opera Company salutes its principal clarinettist of over 25 years in a special tribute concert featuring principal players of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra performing two of the best-loved works of the chamber repertoire: Borodin's String Quartet No. 2 and Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A Major.