Opera Lyra Ottawa
Encyclopedia
Opera Lyra Ottawa is a professional opera company founded in 1984 by soprano Diana Gilchrist after the demise of the National Arts Centre
's summer festival opera productions. The company's current leadership team is General Director, Elizabeth Howarth and Artistic Director
Tyrone Paterson. Heading into its 25th anniversary 2009-10 season, Opera Lyra Ottawa (OLO) presents two fully staged productions each year, one opera-in-concert and a number of emerging artist activities and special events.
In 1986 the company moved to the National Arts Centre's 2,100 seat concert house, Southam Hall, for its staged presentations, often contracting the National Arts Centre Orchestra
for instrumental accompaniment. It also has given concert performances of operas, evenings of opera excerpts, and concerts featuring the music of composers such as Kurt Weill
, Andrew Lloyd Webber
, and Stephen Sondheim
. In 1988 Opera Lyra Ottawa took its staged production of La bohème
to Kingston, Ontario
. The Opera Lyra Ottawa Guild also presents DVD screenings of operas at Library and Archives Canada
throughout the year and pre-show opera discussions.
From 1987, under the artistic direction of Jeannette Aster, the company continued its policy of presenting most operas in French or English and, in 1990, it began to give lectures for adults, school programs, and workshops for children. Also in 1990, the company formed the Opera Lyra Ottawa Boys' Choir led by Laurence Ewashko, formerly conductor of the Vienna Boys' Choir.
In 1990, the company produced a program of "Canadian Opera Treasures" with Thirteen Strings, the Cantata Singers of Ottawa, and soloists including Sandra Graham, Rosemarie Landry, John Fanning, and Michael Schade
. The concert included excerpts from eight operas including Lavallée's The Widow, Oscar Telgmann
's and George Frederick Cameron
's Leo, the Royal Cadet
, and Quesnel's Lucas et Cécile.
A search committee from the Opera Lyra Volunteer Board selected Tyrone Paterson as General Director in 1998. Maestro Paterson has a wealth of experience in opera and had conducted performances of Aïda and Tosca for OLO. He undertook both the management of the business side of operations, as well as artistic leadership. Under Paterson's guidance, OLO has increased its budget and the number of subscribers and donors to all-time highs. Since Paterson's arrival, the company has explored new repertoire to critical acclaim, including operas such as The Pearl Fishers, Salome, Roméo et Juliette, Un ballo in maschera, Falstaff, and Otello.
Writing for the Ottawa Citizen, Richard Todd noted that OLO's 2006 version of Verdi's Falstaff "was an overall success and a major feather in the company's cape [sic]. It is easily the most ambitious production the company has undertaken to date."
Maestro Paterson has also continued to grow the Young Artist Program, now called the Opera Lyra Opera Studio, holding Silver Cast matinees and opera performances for children in schools and at the NAC Fourth Stage, giving emerging singers much needed professional stage experience and bringing the artform to the opera-goers of the future.
National Arts Centre
The National Arts Centre is a centre for the performing arts located in Ottawa, Ontario, between Elgin Street and the Rideau Canal...
's summer festival opera productions. The company's current leadership team is General Director, Elizabeth Howarth and Artistic Director
Artistic director (music)
An artistic director may refer to someone who directs a musical ensemble, and in this medium, is often abbreviated as simply Director. The typical jobs of a musical artistic director are to choose repertoire for the ensemble, come up with an artistic vision for the group and also a long-term...
Tyrone Paterson. Heading into its 25th anniversary 2009-10 season, Opera Lyra Ottawa (OLO) presents two fully staged productions each year, one opera-in-concert and a number of emerging artist activities and special events.
In 1986 the company moved to the National Arts Centre's 2,100 seat concert house, Southam Hall, for its staged presentations, often contracting the National Arts Centre Orchestra
National Arts Centre Orchestra
The National Arts Centre Orchestra is an orchestra in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada's capital. It is a classically-sized ensemble currently conducted by Pinchas Zukerman.-Description:Since 1998, Pinchas Zukerman has been the Music Director. Mario Bernardi C.C...
for instrumental accompaniment. It also has given concert performances of operas, evenings of opera excerpts, and concerts featuring the music of composers such as Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
, and Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
. In 1988 Opera Lyra Ottawa took its staged production of La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
to Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
. The Opera Lyra Ottawa Guild also presents DVD screenings of operas at Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...
throughout the year and pre-show opera discussions.
From 1987, under the artistic direction of Jeannette Aster, the company continued its policy of presenting most operas in French or English and, in 1990, it began to give lectures for adults, school programs, and workshops for children. Also in 1990, the company formed the Opera Lyra Ottawa Boys' Choir led by Laurence Ewashko, formerly conductor of the Vienna Boys' Choir.
In 1990, the company produced a program of "Canadian Opera Treasures" with Thirteen Strings, the Cantata Singers of Ottawa, and soloists including Sandra Graham, Rosemarie Landry, John Fanning, and Michael Schade
Michael Schade
Michael Schade is a Canadian operatic tenor, who was born in Geneva and raised in Germany and Canada. He and his four children live in Oakville, Ontario; a city just outside of Toronto, Canada. The family has a second home in Vienna, Austria.Schade is considered a leading Mozart tenor...
. The concert included excerpts from eight operas including Lavallée's The Widow, Oscar Telgmann
Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann
Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann was a Canadian composer of operettas, conductor and educator, and violinist best known for his operetta Leo, the Royal Cadet....
's and George Frederick Cameron
George Frederick Cameron
George Frederick Cameron was a Canadian poet, lawyer, and journalist, best known for the libretto for the operetta Leo, the Royal Cadet.-Life:...
's Leo, the Royal Cadet
Leo, the Royal Cadet
Leo, the Royal Cadet is a light opera with music by Oscar Ferdinand Telgmann. The libretto was by George Frederick Cameron. It was composed in Kingston, Ontario, Canada in 1889. The work centres on Nellie's love for Leo, a cadet at the Royal Military College of Canada who becomes a hero serving...
, and Quesnel's Lucas et Cécile.
A search committee from the Opera Lyra Volunteer Board selected Tyrone Paterson as General Director in 1998. Maestro Paterson has a wealth of experience in opera and had conducted performances of Aïda and Tosca for OLO. He undertook both the management of the business side of operations, as well as artistic leadership. Under Paterson's guidance, OLO has increased its budget and the number of subscribers and donors to all-time highs. Since Paterson's arrival, the company has explored new repertoire to critical acclaim, including operas such as The Pearl Fishers, Salome, Roméo et Juliette, Un ballo in maschera, Falstaff, and Otello.
Writing for the Ottawa Citizen, Richard Todd noted that OLO's 2006 version of Verdi's Falstaff "was an overall success and a major feather in the company's cape [sic]. It is easily the most ambitious production the company has undertaken to date."
Maestro Paterson has also continued to grow the Young Artist Program, now called the Opera Lyra Opera Studio, holding Silver Cast matinees and opera performances for children in schools and at the NAC Fourth Stage, giving emerging singers much needed professional stage experience and bringing the artform to the opera-goers of the future.