Inside Vancouver Opera
Inside Vancouver Opera is a unique backstage glimpse into the world of Vancouver Opera. Join us as we chat with opera experts, artists, Vancouver Opera staff and others to explore the world of opera on and off the stage. This podcast offers an insider’s glimpse into the artistry, experiences, and perspectives of the talent involved in taking breathtaking opera productions from the page to the stage. Find out more at VancouverOpera.ca
Episodes
Soprano Jonelle Sills came into the world already steeped in music — her mother Desiree sang through her entire pregnancy.
In this Mother's Day conversation, the two of them sit down together for the first time to talk about gospel choirs and opera stages, about coming to Canada with nothing, about the voice Jonelle wanted to keep only for herself, and about what it means to watch someone you love become who they were alway...
Today we're joined by a legendary member of the Vancouver Opera Chorus, Don Wright. We discuss his family's legacy, the life of a chorus singer, the importance of opera in education, and memorable moments from a lifetime in the art form.
Episode Credits:
Don Wright - Chorister, Vancouver Opera Chorus
Ashley Daniel Foot - Host & Creator, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mack McGillivray - Producer, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mimì is one of opera's most beloved heroines. Gentle. Luminous. Dying beautifully in a Parisian garret while the orchestra swells around her.
She was also, in Henri Murger's source novel, a fickle, materialistic flirt her lover described as being "wedded to a thunderstorm." A gadabout. Complicated. Inconvenient. Not particularly easy to mourn.
Puccini made a decision. You've been feeling the consequences ever si...
Maestro Jonathan Darlington on Puccini, broken batons, being mistaken for Richard Gere in Italian lifts, and why La Bohème will undo you — every time.
Jonathan Darlington led Vancouver Opera for nearly twenty years. He's since conducted at the Vienna State Opera, the Semperoper Dresden, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal Swedish Opera, and the Nürnberger Symphoniker, where he's now Chief Conductor. He lives in Paris — ten minutes fro...
Today we are joined by the Vancouver Opera Orchestra's Principal Harpist, Janelle Nadeau. In this episode we explore the versatile and ancient art of the harp, Janelle's journey with the instrument, and the unique beauty of live performance.
Episode Credits:
Janelle Nadeau - Principal Harpist, Vancouver Opera Orchestra
Ashley Daniel Foot - Host & Creator, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mack McGillivray - Producer, Insid...
She walks onto the stage, acknowledges the audience, and gestures toward the piano. There is no one there.
Soprano and pianist Rachel Fenlon has spent the last several years doing something almost unthinkable in classical music — accompanying herself. Singing and playing at once. Not as a gimmick, but as a complete artistic philosophy that has taken her from Vancouver to Berlin to the stages of Europe, and to a debut album — Winterr...
Nicole Lamb is Vancouver Opera’s Director of Artistic and Production. For the last few seasons, she’s been one of the key people deciding what you see on stage and how it all comes together, from season planning and artistic teams to the thousand invisible choices about budget, time, and people that make an opera actually happen.
Episode Credits:
Nicole Lamb - Guest, Director of Artistic and Production at Vancouver Opera
...
Veteran Canadian journalist Paul Wells joins Inside Vancouver Opera for a wide-ranging conversation about journalism, politics, and the role the arts play in shaping public life.
For decades, Wells has been one of the country’s most thoughtful political writers, known for his long-form analysis and deep historical perspective on Canadian politics. In this conversation, he reflects on his early days writing about jazz, his years cove...
Brandon Thornhill joins Inside Vancouver Opera during Black History Month to discuss Ebony Roots, his concert celebrating 300 years of Black music. From spirituals to Soul, he reflects on identity, opera, representation, and what it means to sing Black history in Vancouver.
Today we’re joined by Canadian composer Dean Burry, whose operas for young audiences have been performed across Canada and beyond. His works include The Brothers Grimm, The Hobbit, and today’s focus, The Brementown Musicians, an immersive opera created especially for elementary students.
Episode Credits:
Dean Burry - Guest
Ashley Daniel Foot - Host, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mack McGillivray - Producer, Inside Vancouver Opera
...In this special episode we delve into the intricate dynamics of Così fan tutte and its portrayal of women. We explore the role of Despina as a voice of realism amidst the comedic facade and how the opera reflects societal attitudes towards women and relationships during the Enlightenment era.
Episode Credits:
Jane Potter - Writer and Narrator
Mack McGillivray - Audio Editor
Ashley Daniel Foot - Producer
Barry Ekko - Cover Il...
A behind-the-scenes conversation with costume designer Donnie Tejani, who brings the world of Così fan tutte to life for Vancouver Opera. We explore how costumes shape character, how disguise functions in Mozart’s comedy, what happens inside a modern costume shop, and how designers balance artistry, budgets, and practicality in today’s opera landscape.
Tracy Dahl discusses her illustrious career as coloratura soprano, her role as Despina in Così fan tutte, and evolution of vocal techniques.
Episode Credits:
Tracy Dahl - Guest
Ashley Daniel Foot - Host, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mack McGillivray - Producer, Inside Vancouver Opera
In this episode we're joined by music journalist Kevin Ng and Vancouver Opera's Jane Potter to explore the complexities of Mozart's most dangerous comedy, Così fan tutte.
Episode Credits:
Kevin Ng - Guest
Jane Potter - Guest
Barry Ekko - Artwork
Ashley Daniel Foot - Host, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mack McGillivray - Producer, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mozart’s Così fan tutte is often described as light, mischievous, even trivial. But sit with it — really sit with it — and it reveals itself as one of opera’s most psychologically perceptive works.
In this episode of Inside Vancouver Opera, host Ashley Daniel Foot is joined by stage director Rob Herriot and Vancouver Opera’s Associate Music Director and conductor Les Dala to explore a distinctly Canadian production of Così fan tutte...
Some people shape culture from center stage, others shape it by showing up early, staying late, and standing just out of the light. Our guest today has built a life inside that second kind of work. Bruce Munro Wright is a former chair of Vancouver Opera, the Vancouver Opera Foundation, and the Vancouver Art Gallery. He is a nationally important collector of Canadian art and a recipient of the Order of British Columbia.
Ep...
In this conversation, Amanda Burrows, Executive Director of First United and new Board Member of Vancouver Opera, discusses her journey through the arts and social justice. She emphasizes the interconnectedness of art and advocacy, the importance of community involvement, and the resilience of the Downtown Eastside.
Episode Credits:
Ashley Daniel Foot - Host, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mack McGillivray - Producer, Inside Vancou...
In this special episode, Jane Potter brings Verdi’s world to life through the story of Rigoletto, a work born out of controversy, courage, and the fight for artistic freedom.
Episode Credits:
Jane Potter - Writer and Narrator
Ashley Daniel Foot - Host, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mack McGillivray - Producer, Inside Vancouver Opera
Lyndon Ladeur - Voice of Giachino Rossini
Mihnea Nitu - Voice of Guiseppe Verdi
Richard Wolfe - Voice o...
Few artists have shaped Canadian theatre and opera as profoundly as Glynis Leyshon, who now brings her formidable imagination to Vancouver Opera’s new production of Rigoletto, re-set in Victorian London, a place where masks, privilege, and secrecy hold sway.
Episode Credits:
Ashley Daniel Foot - Host, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mack McGillivray - Producer, Inside Vancouver Opera
He's one of the city's greatest voices on stage, on air, and lately at City Hall. Today we're joined by Christopher Gaze, actor, advocate, and the visionary force behind Bard on the Beach.
Episode Credits:
Ashley Daniel Foot - Host, Inside Vancouver Opera
Mack McGillivray - Producer, Inside Vancouver Opera
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