Edmonton Opera is a professional Canadian opera company in Edmonton , Alberta . In the past they regularly performed at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium , but in recent years have been branching out and performing at a variety of stages throughout the city of Edmonton. The Edmonton Opera office is home to a box office, production space, and costume workshop, and is located at #102, 11442 1168 Street NW, Edmonton AB. Last year, in their 2023/24 season, they celebrated their 60th anniversary season.
20-626: Approximately six amateur opera companies pre-date the Edmonton Opera’s founding in 1963. After Mrs. J.B. Carmichael’s death in 1964, singers who had been involved with the Edmonton Operatic Society approached local pianist and voice teacher Jean Letourneau about working with them. After a number of successful productions, the group changed its name to the Edmonton Professional Opera Association, with David Ker as
40-739: A Member of the Order of British Columbia (2002). He has also been inducted into the Edmonton Cultural Hall of Fame (1988), the Vancouver Hall of Fame (1994), the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame (1994), and the Canadian Opera Hall of Fame (1995). Samuel Ramey Samuel Ramey (born March 28, 1942) is an American operatic bass. At the height of his career, he was greatly admired for his range and versatility, having possessed
60-1002: A member of the faculty at Roosevelt University 's Chicago College of Performing Arts and is currently a distinguished professor of Opera at Wichita State University 's School of Music. He was named an inaugural member of the WSU College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame in 2015. He is a national patron of Delta Omicron , an international professional music fraternity. He reprised the title role of "Duke Bluebeard" in Opera Omaha 's production of Béla Bartók 's Bluebeard's Castle in April 2013 in Omaha, Nebraska . Ramey has made an exceptionally high number of recordings documenting many of his main operatic roles as well as collections of miscellaneous arias, other classical pieces, and crossover discs of popular American music. He has appeared on television and video productions of
80-651: A production of Vincenzo Bellini 's Norma at the Vancouver Opera starring Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne . Other artists whose Canadian debuts he orchestrated included José Carreras , Plácido Domingo , Samuel Ramey , and Beverly Sills . A graduate of the Strathcona Academy in Montréal (1941–1946) and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto (1947–1952), Guttman was awarded Honorary Doctor of Letters from
100-552: A sufficiently accomplished bel canto technique which enabled him to sing the music of Handel , Mozart and Rossini but with enough vocal power to handle the more overtly dramatic roles in Verdi , Puccini , and Meyerbeer operas. Ramey graduated from Colby High School in Colby, Kansas in 1960. He studied music in high school and in college at Kansas State University , as well as at Wichita State with Arthur Newman . At Kansas State, he
120-719: The University of Winnipeg (1995) and the University of British Columbia (2009). His other awards and honors include the Canadian Centennial Medal (1967), being made a Member of the Order of Canada (1988), the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal (1992), the "Rubie" Opera Builder Award from Opera Canada (2001), the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002), and being made
140-666: The Edmonton Opera , the Regina Opera Company and the Manitoba Opera ; the latter of which he served as artistic director from 1977–1998. Guttman was a shrewd judge of talent and helped nurture the careers of several young Canadian singers, including Tracy Dahl , Maureen Forrester , Judith Forst , and Ben Heppner . He also was able to draw several highly acclaimed artists to Canada for their initial appearances; first attracting international attention in 1963 when he mounted
160-902: The Metropolitan Opera in Handel 's Rinaldo . He became a fixture at the Teatro alla Scala , Royal Opera House at Covent Garden , Vienna State Opera , the Paris Opera , the Lyric Opera of Chicago , the New York City Opera , the San Francisco Opera and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires ( Attila , The Rake's Progress , Mefistofele ) since then. In July 1985 he was cast as Bertram in
180-728: The 1875 Bizet opera Carmen . He took over that role as well as the Faustian devils in Gounod 's Faust and Boito's Mefistofele , which was vacated by the early death of Treigle. As his repertoire expanded he worked extensively in European theaters notably in Berlin , Hamburg , London , Paris , Milan , and Vienna in addition to summer festivals in Aix-en-Provence , Glyndebourne , Pesaro , and Salzburg . In January 1984, Ramey made his debut at
200-559: The 2014 animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall . In 1996, he gave a concert at New York's Avery Fisher Hall titled "A Date with the Devil" in which he sang 14 arias representing the core of this repertory. He continued to tour with the program throughout the world. In 2000, he presented the concert at Munich 's Gasteig Concert Hall . The performance was recorded live and was released on compact disc in summer 2002. He formerly served as
220-831: The Alberta Craft Council and the Shumka Ukrainian Dancers. The Edmonton Opera is also the largest employer of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra . Irving Guttman Irving Guttman (October 27, 1928, in Chatham, Ontario – December 7, 2014, in Vancouver ) was a Canadian stage director who had a profound impact on the field of opera within his own country. Described by The Canadian Encyclopedia as "the father of opera in Western Canada", he co-founded
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#1732859521412240-593: The Stars 4. Die Walküre This history may be incomplete, but is based on a timetoast page hosted by the company here. With the aid of technology, the company is able to share operatic resources across northern Alberta, including educational guides, programs and other resources. Field trips for students in Edmonton are arranged for the second dress rehearsal, when they can visit the Northern Alberta Jubilee, watch
260-491: The Vancouver Opera, to come to Edmonton. The artistic director from 1966 to 1998, Guttman would be a part of all four Western Canadian opera companies — Vancouver (founded 1958), Edmonton (founded 1963), Manitoba (founded 1969) and Calgary (founded 1972). Until 2008, the opera guild was one of many forms of support for the opera. Founded by Thelma Gregg, the group held many successful fundraisers and ensured everyone backstage
280-408: The dramatic repertoire, Ramey has been acclaimed for his "Three Devils": Boito's Mefistofele , Gounod's Faust and Berlioz 's dramatic legend Damnation of Faust . Other dramatic roles of his have included Verdi 's Nabucco , Don Carlo , I masnadieri , I Lombardi and Jérusalem , as well as Offenbach 's Tales of Hoffmann (he portrayed all four villains). In 1990, he sang
300-539: The first president and Letourneau as the music director. "Professional" was dropped from the company’s name in August 1966, as the then-artistic director, Irving Guttman , argued that it should be obvious to all if a company is professional. The first season, 1963/64, featured two productions: Madama Butterfly in October 1963, and Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci in April 1964. In 1966, Letourneau convinced Guttman, then at
320-711: The historic revival in Paris of Giacomo Meyerbeer 's Robert le diable . Ramey has sung in Mozart 's Don Giovanni and The Marriage of Figaro and, in the bel canto repertoire, in Rossini 's Semiramide , The Barber of Seville , Il Turco in Italia , L'italiana in Algeri , and La Gazza Ladra ; in Donizetti's Anna Bolena and Lucia di Lammermoor and Bellini's I puritani . In
340-453: The performance, and often, chorus and cast members come out to the lobby to chat during intermissions. Between 1973 and 1984, Edmonton Opera on Tour brought opera to children in schools across Alberta, from bigger centres such as Grande Prairie to smaller communities such as Holden. Through this program, there were approximately 200 performances per year. The Edmonton Opera has partnered with many other arts organizations in Edmonton, including
360-456: The role of Joe in Jerome Kern 's Show Boat in a concert performance at Avery Fisher Hall with Jerry Hadley and Frederica von Stade . A number of previously obscure operas with strong bass/bass-baritone roles have been revived solely for Ramey, such as Verdi's Attila , Rossini's Maometto II and Massenet's Don Quichotte . He provided the voice for The Beast, the main antagonist of
380-787: Was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. Ramey was in the chorus of Don Giovanni in 1963, with Norman Treigle in the title role, while studying with the Central City Opera in Central City, Colorado . After being an apprentice with the Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe, New Mexico , he worked for an academic publisher in New York City before he had his first breakthrough while at the New York City Opera debuting on March 11, 1973, as Zuniga in
400-535: Was well-fed. The number of productions each year varies from two operas to as many as five, although five operas have been presented only twice in the company's history, in 1992/93 and 1993/94. Repertoire includes the classic operatic works, as well as a handful of more contemporary pieces, especially in more recent years. The 2024/25 season offers four main shows and other satellite events and productions alongside their season. The main productions will be: 1. Die Fledermaus 2. Bluebeard's Castle 3. Aquarius: Songs of
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