Canadian Premiere provides inspiration for Community Participation

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Canadian Premiere provides inspiration for Community Participation
9th May, 2008

Calgary AB… In conjunction with the Canadian premiere of the American opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe, Calgary Opera is offering its third annual Community Symposium, this year’s topic: Boom and Bust.

“We have presented a Community Symposium leading up to our January productions for the past two seasons, and have found that there is a great appetite in Calgary for these kinds of events,” says W.R. (Bob) McPhee, General Director & CEO of Calgary Opera. “Many of our audience members enjoy an opportunity to explore and discuss topical issues that will enrich their opera experience. There are others who may not ever attend the opera but are interested in debating issues and learning more about various elements of art and culture. An Opera production can provide great opportunities for community engagement over and above the excitement of the work itself.”

The Ballad of Baby Doe Community Symposium includes the following events:

JANUARY 18 - A Taste of the Opera
A talk by Stage Director Kelly Robinson and Conductor Hal France about their approaches to the American classic they’ve been hard at work on with only a week to go before its professional Canadian premiere at Calgary Opera. After the talk enjoy a reception that includes food by Classic Catering of The Ranchman’s Cookhouse and Dance hall, and beverages supplied by The Wine Cellar South.
7 pm Arrata Opera Centre, 1315 – 7th Street S.W., Calgary
Tickets $15 (Call 262-7286 or visit www.calgaryopera.com to reserve a seat)

JANUARY 19 - Movie Night at the Opera Centre
Jim Brown, Host of The Eye Opener on CBC Radio One, and award winning film director Gary Burns host a screening of their acclaimed documentary about urban sprawl: Radiant City.
7 pm Arrata Opera Centre, 1315 – 7th Street S.W., Calgary
FREE Admission Reservations Required (Call 262-7286 to reserve a seat)

JANUARY 21 - Alberta Today and Tomorrow: Boom or Bust?
Meet The Parkland Institute’s Ricardo Acuña and The Canada West Foundation’s Roger Gibbins in a positively charged debate about the economic forecast for Alberta. Hear what these two leading thinkers have to say about the effects of momentous economic prosperity in the west.
7 pm Arrata Opera Centre, 1315 – 7th Street S.W., Calgary
FREE Admission Reservations Required (Call 262-7286 to reserve a seat)

JANUARY 23 - Boom Design
Well-known Calgary Architects Jeremy Sturgess and Peter Burgener present an insider’s view of residential and commercial design highlights in Calgary over the past five years showing some of the architectural trends that have taken place during times of plenty.
7 pm Arrata Opera Centre, 1315 – 7th Street S.W., Calgary
FREE Admission Reservations Required (Call 262-7286 to reserve a seat)

JANUARY 26 – Meet Some DoeHEADS
Meet some very special guests – members of The DoeHEADS – a fan club, ala The Grateful “Dead Heads” – who will present the history of this great American classic. David Kanzeg, a Programming Director at PBS Cleveland will be joined by the original Baby Doe from the world premiere in 1956 - Soprano Leyna Gabriele from NYC.
2 pm Jubilee Auditorium Lobby
FREE Admission Reservations Required (Call 262-7286 to reserve a seat)

The Community Symposium is sponsored by Swerve, and CBC.

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For further information, please contact: Brian O'Neill, Calgary Opera 802-3409

BIOGRAPHIES

Hal France, Panelist – Taste of the Opera
Hal France, Conductor of The Ballad of Baby Doe, is a sought after guest conductor in opera throughout the U.S.A. Since his professional debut, he has conducted nine productions for the Houston Grand Opera, three productions for the New York City Opera, four productions for Opera Theater of St. Louis (including the world premiere of Beauty and the Beast), five productions for Kentucky Opera, five productions for Central City Opera, and three productions for Orlando Opera, among others. He has served as Artistic Director of Opera Omaha and as Music Director of the Orlando Philharmonic. Maestro France last conducted Tosca (1997) for Calgary Opera.

Kelly Robinson, Panelist – Taste of the Opera
Kelly Robinson, Stage Director for The Ballad of Baby Doe, and Director of Creative Development for Toronto’s Mirvish Productions, is a director and choreographer whose career spans opera, theatre, film, and television. He has worked extensively in the U.S.A. with critically acclaimed productions of Die Zauberflöte, La Bohème, and La Belle Hélène. Recent highlights include productions of West Side Story for the Stratford Festival and Hansel and Gretel for Arizona Opera. For Calgary Opera Mr. Robinson directed the world premiere of Filumena (2003), Sweeney Todd (2004), the Canadian premiere of Dead Man Walking (2006), The Magic Flute (2006), and most recently the world premiere of Frobisher (2007).

Jim Brown, Host – Movie Night at the Opera Centre
Jim Brown has been host of CBC’s The Eyeopener since 2003. Prior to that he hosted The Morning Show in St. John’s for eight years. His voice has also been heard across the country as Friday host of The Current and guest host of This Morning, As It Happens, and The House. Prior to joining the CBC, Jim worked as a newspaper reporter and magazine editor. Jim’s first film, the feature documentary Radiant City which he co-wrote and codirected, premiered in September 2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival. It won a special jury prize at the 2006 Vancouver International Film Festival.

Gary Burns, Host – Movie Night at the Opera Centre
Gary Burns ’s cinematic gifts were established with his very first feature, The Suburbanators, which met with immediate praise from critics and public alike at its premiere at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival. The Toronto film critics placed the film among the Best Canadian films of 1996, naming Burns as one of the year’s top ten Canadian directors and screenwriters. Burns’ other films include Kitchen Party, waydowntown, and A Problem with Fear. Radiant City, produced by Burns Film Ltd in co-production with the National Film Board of Canada, is Burns’s first feature-length documentary, which he co-directed with journalist and firsttime filmmaker Jim Brown.

Ricardo Acuña, Speaker – Alberta Today and Tomorrow… Boom or Bust
Ricardo Acuña is Executive Director of the Parkland Institute, a non-partisan public policy research institute situated in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta—a position he has held since May 2002. He has a degree in Political Science and History from the University of Alberta, and has over 18 years experience as a volunteer, staffer and consultant for various non-government and non-profit organizations around the province, and was a founding board member of the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation. He is a regular speaker to students, teachers, and community groups around Alberta. He has spoken extensively and written on issues of water and NA FTA , bottled water, commodification, and energy policy in Alberta.

Roger Gibbins, Speaker – Alberta Today and Tomorrow… Boom or Bust
Roger Gibbins is President and CEO of the Canada West Foundation, a public policy research group based in Calgary and operating across the four western provinces. Prior to assuming the leadership of the Canada West Foundation in 1998, Dr. Gibbins was a professor of political science at the University of Calgary, where he started his academic career in 1973 and served as department head from 1987 to 1996. An ongoing appointment as a Faculty Professor of Political Science continues his association with the University of Calgary. Dr. Gibbins has authored, co-authored or edited 21 books and more than 100 articles and book chapters, most dealing with western Canadian themes and issues.

Jeremy Sturgess, Presenter, Boom Design
Jeremy Sturgess’s 30 years experience as an architect in Calgary has given him the opportunity to contribute to the growth of the City in all scales with a variety of experiences. Known for his ability to create urban design Master Plans and buildings responsible to an urban design vision, Mr. Sturgess was selected by the City of Calgary to be the design leader for two seminal projects, the 7th Avenue LRT Redevelopment Master Plan, and the Water Centre, for which he was recently awarded three awards at the 2007 Calgary Mayor’s Urban Design Awards.

Peter Burgener, Presenter, Boom Design
Peter Burgener is the founding and Senior Partner of BKDI ARCHITECTS, one of the leading architectural firms in Western Canada. Mr. Burgener is a Fellow of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, and Past President of the Alberta Association of Architects. He has also served as a Member of the Calgary Planning Commission, Senator of the University of Calgary, Governor of the University of Toronto, and Vice Chair of the Calgary District Hospital Board, as well as being involved with numerous other community activities. Mr. Burgener has written a bi-weekly column on Architecture and Urban Design for the Calgary Herald since 1999.

Leyna Gabriele, Special Guest – Meet Some DoeHEADS
Coloratura Soprano Leyna Gabriele was the first person to sing Baby Doe’s music, and became one of two Sopranos to play the title role in the world premiere production of The Ballad of Baby Doe at Central City, Colorado in 1956. An even earlier encounter with composer Douglas Moore involved appearing in a private performance of his opera Giants in the Earth in 1949. German pedagogue Sergius Kagen wrote the role of Ophelia in his Hamlet for Ms. Gabriele, and Jack Beeson chose her for Hello Out There, a recording of which appeared on vinyl and has since been reissued on CD. Since 1973, Ms. Gabriele has taught opera workshops for Princeton and the State University of New York at Purchase.

David Kanzeg, Speaker – Meet Some DoeHEADS
David Kanzeg first encountered Baby Doe Tabor as a teenager in his parents’ basement, when he was captivated by the Beverly Sills recording of The Ballad of Baby Doe on the radio. Subsequent decades have taken him from coast to coast as well as to Europe in search of the details of the historical story and the creative background behind the opera. In addition to writing and speaking about Baby Doe, he and a fellow enthusiast set out to create “the definitive website” on the subject. Since its debut in 1998, www.babydoe.org has welcomed correspondence and contributions from DoeHEADS on three continents. Mr. Kanzeg is the Director of Programming for NPR and PBS radio and TV stations in Cleveland, Ohio.

Release link: http://www.calgaryopera.com/media/news/2008/12-20-07.php