Mission
Vancouver Opera is dedicated to creating extraordinary experiences that entertain, inspire, and engage communities through the power of voice, music, and theatre.
Our History
Vancouver Opera is the largest opera company in Western Canada. It is regarded worldwide for its fine mainstage productions; for its country-leading education programs, which have reached more than 1.6 million children and their families in more than 50 years; for its innovative and award-winning community programs; and for forging groundbreaking cross-cultural creative partnerships that have brought opera to new generations of Canadians in recent history.
Vancouver Opera was founded in 1958 by a group of visionary community leaders who believed in the essential value of the performing arts to the life of a great city and who recognized the power of opera to connect people to the universal human drama. In their view, a resident professional opera company was vital to the future of Vancouver.
After its founding, Vancouver Opera quickly moved to the centre of the city’s and region’s cultural life and has remained there ever since. In recent years, the company has intensified and broadened its role as a major creative, educational, and collaborative resource in the community.
Education Programs
Vancouver Opera leads the community and the country in its Education programs. Vancouver Opera In Schools (VOIS), which began in 1972 as an initiative of the Vancouver Opera Guild, is the largest touring program of its kind in Canada. Each season, VOIS introduces the power and beauty of opera to about 50,000 school children and their families across B.C. and beyond. More than 1,600,000 children have enjoyed specially adapted short operas, sung in English, and performed by an energetic cast of professional young singers.
In 2009, VOIS presented a new commissioned opera, Jack Pine, by renowned local musician Veda Hille, based on the children’s book of the same name by award winning Saltspring Island poet, Christopher Patton. Jack Pine toured to schools and theatres throughout B.C., to schools in Ottawa, and on to The National Arts Centre.
Vancouver Opera also offers enriched programs for secondary school students. Find out more about VO’s Education Programs.
Mainstage Productions
The company’s inaugural production was 1960’s Carmen, starring Nan Merriman, Richard Cassilly, and Louis Quilico. It was directed by Irving Guttman, founding Artistic Director, who led the company until 1974 and again from 1982 to 1984.
Vancouver Opera is admired around the world for presenting exciting productions of a very high quality, for the estimable playing of its orchestra, and for attracting artists of international stature.
This reputation, which is refreshed each season, originated in several now-legendary appearances: in 1963, Richard Bonynge made his conducting début with Faust; that same year, he conducted Joan Sutherland’s and Marilyn Horne’s role débuts in Norma (1963). In 1968’s Tosca, Plácido Domingo made his first Vancouver appearance, and in 1972, Joan Sutherland débuted the title role of Lucrezia Borgia.
Over the years, the company has attracted such internationally acclaimed singers as Ewa Podles, James Morris, Samuel Ramey, Ruth Ann Swenson, James McCracken, Reri Grist, Victor Braun, John Alexander, Maria Pellegrini, Huguette Tourangeau, Paul Plishka, Regina Resnik, and Elizabeth Futral. A rich and varied history of artists.
Quality of Productions
Over the decades, VO has achieved an enviable level of consistency in its productions. One of the company’s main strengths is its capacity for continually enhancing the quality of physical productions to match and support the high musical values. In recent years, the company has dramatically increased its investment in the look of its shows, in direct proportion to its increased investment in top-level international singers and conductors.
Vancouver Opera presents a balance of traditional and innovative productions of established repertoire along with newer operas and less frequently produced works by master composers. Among the most memorable innovative productions of established repertoire have been a controversial Lucian Pintile staging of Carmen in 1986, a visually compelling production of La traviata in 1989 directed by Goran Jarvefelt, a multi-media production of Salome in 1997 directed by filmmaker Atom Egoyan, and, in 2006, a spectacular production of Faust, directed by Nicholas Muni.
In the Community
Fulfilling and broadening the vision of the company’s founders, Vancouver Opera has developed an ongoing series of community programs that explore meaningful issues and themes that arise from each season’s operas. The inaugural project was a “community forum,” a series of community events leading up to the 2002 production of Carlisle Floyd’s Of Mice and Men . The events addressed poverty, life with disabilities, and the role of art in effecting social change.
Since then, the company has produced several public forums on topics ranging from the plight of women during wartime (Aida) to the place of faith in politics (Dialogues of the Carmelites) to the boundaries of comedy (Rigoletto). In the spring of 2004, in advance of its new production of The Threepenny Opera, VO worked with more than a dozen cultural organizations to produce Berlin in the 20s, a city-wide series of events and performances focusing on the ideas and creations of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht.
For the 2004 production of Madama Butterfly, VO forged deep relationships with many Japanese-Canadian individuals and organizations to produce a series of 22 events and performances, collectively called Views of Japan, which explored the rich and complex relationship between Japanese and Canadian Cultures. In 2005, leading up to Dialogues of the Carmelites, VO produced “Church and State: Dialogues on Religion and Politics”, a provocative series of lectures, forums and performances. And in 2006-2007, in the months leading up to The Magic Flute, Vancouver Opera collaborated with First People’s Heritage, Language and Culture Council to produce “Where Cultures Meet”, a series that explored issues such as cultural appropriation and intellectual property in the arts, and the degree to which cultures can merge in artistic endeavour.
For the 2010 Canadian premiere of Nixon in China, an extensive series of events was produced, examining the legacy of the groundbreaking meeting between Nixon and Mao. The series included events with Alexandre Trudeau, Margaret MacMillan, and Ambassador John Negroponte, as well as a host of public forums, music and dance performances and film screenings.
Community events around 2011’s world premiere of the new, VO-commissioned opera Lillian Alling explored themes of immigration and history, with film screenings, open rehearsals, historic walking tours and public lectures.
Production History
2025-2026
Rigoletto
Così fan tutte
La Bohème
2024-2025
Die Fledermaus
Flight
Madama Butterfly
2023-2024
The Magic Flute
Don Pasquale
Carmen
2022-2023
The Pearl Fishers
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
The Flying Dutchman
2021-2022
Orfeo Ed Euridice
Cavalleria Rusticana in Concert
HMS Pinafore
2020-2021 Digital Season
La Voix Humaine
Amahl and the Night Visitors
The Music Shop
La Tragédie de Carmen
2019-2020
La Traviata
The Barber of Seville
Another Brick in the Wall: The Opera (cancelled)
The Flight of the Hummingbird (VOIS)
2018-2019
The Merry Widow
La Bohème
Faust
La Cenerentola
2017-2018
Turandot
L’Elisir d’amore
Eugene Onegin
The Overcoat – a musical tailoring
Requiem for a Lost Girl
The Scorpion’s Sting (VOIS)
2016-2017
Hansel and Gretel
Macbeth
The Marriage of Figaro
Otello
Dead Man Walking
2015-2016
Rigoletto
Dark Sisters
Madama Butterfly
Evita
Stickboy (VOIS)
2014-2015
Carmen
Stickboy
Die Fledermaus
Sweeney Todd
2013-2014
Tosca
Albert Herring
Don Giovanni
Don Carlo
The Barber of Barkerville (VOIS)
2012-2013
La Bohème
The Pirates of Penzance
The Magic Flute
Tea: A Mirror of Soul
Naomi’s Road (VOIS)
2011-2012
West Side Story
Roméo et Juliette
The Barber of Seville
Aida
Hansel & Gretel (VOIS)
2010-2011
Lillian Alling
Lucia di Lammermoor
La Clemenza di Tito
La Traviata
Cinderella (VOIS)
2009-2010
Norma
Nixon in China
The Marriage of Figaro
Madama Butterfly
Jack Pine (VOIS)
Golden Anniversary Concert + Gala
2008-2009
Eugene Onegin
Carmen
Rigoletto
Salome
The Barber of Barkerville / Jack Pine (VOIS)
2007-2008
Cavalleria Rusticana/ I Pagliacci
The Italian Girl in Algiers
Fidelio
La Bohème
The Barber of Barkerville (VOIS)
2006-2007
I Puritani (Concert)
Werther (Concert)
Macbeth
The Magic Flute
Ariadne auf Naxos
Tosca
The Magic Flute: Quest for the Box of Shadows (VOIS)
2005-2006
Der Freischütz (The Marksman) (Concert)
Turandot
Dialogues of the Carmelites
Don Giovanni
Faust
Naomi’s Road (VOIS)
2004-2005
The Pearl Fishers (Concert)
Der Rosenkavalier
Madama Butterfly
Così fan Tutte
The Masked Ball
Hansel & Gretel (VOIS)
2003-2004
Pelléas et Mélisande (Concert)
The Girl of the Golden West
The Barber of Seville
The Abduction from the Seraglio (Concert)
The Threepenny Opera
La Traviata
La Cenerentola / Hansel & Gretel (VOIS)
2002-2003
Aida
The Daughter of the Regiment
VO Orchestra 25th Anniversary Concert
Elektra
La Bohème
Figaro, Figaro, Figaro / Cinderella (VOIS)
2001-2002
The Marriage of Figaro
Die Fledermaus
Of Mice and Men
Carmen
The Magic Flute / Figaro, Figaro, Figaro (VOIS)
2000-2001
Lucia di Lammermoor
Ben Heppner Concert
The Rake’s Progress
The Flying Dutchman
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute (VOIS)
1999-2000
Rigoletto
The Elixir of Love
Vancouver Opera 40th Anniversary Gala Concert
Don Giovanni
Madama Butterfly
Bryn Terfel Concert
The Magic Potion (The Elixir of Love) (VOIS)
1998-1999
Tosca
Roméo et Juliette
Vancouver Opera Studio & Touring Ensembles Concert
La Traviata
Bluebeard’s Castle / Erwartung
Richard Margison Concert
The Pirates of Penzance (VOIS)
1997-1998
Il Trovatore
Salome
X-Treme Opera
La Bohème
The Barber of Seville
Hansel & Gretel (VOIS)
1996-1997
The Marriage of Figaro
Bryn Terfel Concert (co-presented with Vancouver Recital Society)
Jenufa
Three Tenors Concert
Susannah
Shenyang Peking Opera
Turandot
The Mikado
La Cenerentola (VOIS)
1995-1996
Faust
Così fan Tutte
Luciano Pavarotti Concert
Carmen
Ben Heppner Concert
The Makropulos Case
Anne Sofie von Otter Concert (co-presented with Vancouver Recital Society)
Candide
The Barber of Seville – Code Name: Figaro (VOIS)
1994-1995
Nabucco
Dmitri Hvorostovsky Concert (co-presented with Vancouver Recital Society)
The Pearl Fishers
Samuel Ramey Concert (co-presented with Vancouver Recital Society)
Peter Grimes
Kathleen Battle Concert
The Pirates of Penzance
Madama Butterfly
The Magic Flute: The Space Tour (VOIS)
1993-1994
La Traviata
Ben Heppner Concert
Jenufa
Don Giovanni
Die Fledermaus
Marilyn Horne Concert
The Architect (World Premiere)
Pinafore! (VOIS)
1992-1993
Rigoletto
The Magic Flute
Dialogues of the Carmelites
La Bohème
Kathleen Battle Concert (co-presented with Vancouver Recital Society)
Jessye Norman Concert (co-presented with Vancouver Recital Society)
Hansel & Gretel / H.M.S. Pinafore (VOIS)
1991-1992
Carmen
Tosca
The Marriage of Figaro
Cecilia Bartoli Concert
Don Pasquale
Hansel & Gretel (VOIS)
1990-1991
Alcina
The Barber of Seville
Salome
Madama Butterfly
Kiri Te Kanawa Concert (co-presented with Vancouver Recital Society)
Dr. Miracle (VOIS)
1989-1990
The Rake’s Progress
Norma
Werther
The Merry Widow
La Bohème (VOIS)
1988-1989
Don Giovanni
Ariadne auf Naxos
Rigoletto
La Traviata
The Barber of Seville (VOIS)
1987-1988
La Bohème
The Cunning Little Vixen
The Turn of the Screw
Die Fledermaus
Opera Allsorts (VOIS)
1986-1987
From the House of the Dead
The Marriage of Figaro
Madama Butterfly
Lucia di Lammermoor
The Tales of Hoffmann (VOIS)
1985-1986
Fidelio
The Barber of Seville
The Magic Flute
Carmen
Don Pasquale (VOIS)
1984-1985
The Masked Ball
I Puritani
Eugene Onegin
Così fan Tutte
Cinderella (VOIS)
1983-1984
Nabucco
Madama Butterfly
The Tales of Hoffmann
Norma
Rigoletto (VOIS)
1982-1983
La Bohème
La Traviata
Carmen
The Barber of Seville (VOIS)
1981-1982
Turandot
Cinderella
Lucia di Lammermoor
Roméo et Juliette
The Man of La Mancha
The Barber of Sevillle / Il Trovatore (VOIS)
1980-1981
Tosca
Rigoletto
Otello
Faust (VOIS)
1979-1980
Cavalleria Rusticana / I Pagliacci
The Bartered Bride
Il Trovatore
Rigoletto (VOIS)
1978-1979
Aida
Carmen
La Traviata
Carmen (VOIS)
1977-1978
Le Roi de Lahore
La Fille du Régiment
Don Giovanni
Madama Butterfly
The Magic Flute
The Barber of Seville
The Barber of Seville (VOIS)
1976-1977
La Bohème
Mignon
Die Fledermaus
The Masked Ball
Il Trovatore (VOIS)
1975-1976
Semiramide
The Queen of Spades
Faust
The Merry Widow
Resident Artists’ Programme Concert: Opera Through the Time Machine
Faust (VOIS)
1974-1975
Lucia di Lammermoor
Rigoletto
Resident Artists’ Programme Concert: La Buona Figiuola
Die Walkure
The Gondoliers or “The King of Barataria”
Rigoletto (VOIS)
Rodelinde (Resident Artists’ Programme)
1973-1974
Don Carlo
Carmen
Resident Artists’ Programme Concert
La Traviata
Carmen (VOIS)
1972-1973
Lucrezia Borgia
The Marriage of Figaro
Tosca
The Marriage of Figaro / Tosca (VOIS)
1971-1972
Il Trovatore
Cavalleria Rusticana / I Pagliacci
Turandot
Montserrat Caballé Concert
1970-1971
Aida
Madama Butterfly
The Tales of Hoffmann
1969-1970
Salome
The Elixir of Love
La Bohème
The Masked Ball
1968-1969
The Barber of Seville
Faust
Manon
1967-1968
Rigoletto
The Flying Dutchman
Tosca
1966-1967
Cavalleria Rusticana / I Pagliacci
Lucia di Lammermoor
La Traviata
The Girl of the Golden West (Vancouver Festival)
1965-1966
Madama Butterfly
Il Trovatore
Renata Tebaldi Concert
Hansel & Gretel (Vancouver Festival)
1964-1965
The Marriage of Figaro
The Italian Girl in Algiers
Carmen
1963-1964
Norma
Gala Endowment Fund Concert
The Barber of Seville
La Bohème
The Consul
1962-1963
Tosca
Faust
Aida
1961-1962
The Tales of Hoffmann
Rigoletto
1960-1961
La Bohème
La Traviata
1960
Carmen