Opera Mariposa

Check it out! This Saturday at 11am PST / 2pm EST, Ophira Calof from #MakingOperaAccessible is joining The Toronto Fringe and Paprika Festival for a panel discussion on access in the arts! Join Ophira, along with moderator Susan Wolf and multidisciplinary artists Yousef Kadoura and Syrus Marcus Ware, for a discussion about centering accessibility in one's arts practice, from creation to presentation. The event takes place on Facebook Live through The Toronto Fringe's Facebook page, with automatic captions and ASL interpretation - no registration required! [Image description in the original post]

Mariposa's 'Opera Treats' kicked off with a performance of 'Nun eilt herbei', featuring Jacqueline Ko, soprano and pianist Maria Hwa Yeong Jung. Check out these behind-the-scenes photos for a glimpse of how the Mariposites safely undertook our first recording project, supported by Creative BC and the City of Vancouver - Local Government - then catch the video on Mariposa's YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/jZo1eS0IG7w!

Congrats to Mariposa alumnus Vicente Sandoval (Maestro Spinellocio / Ser Amantio di Nicolao from #GianniSchicchi) for just being named 'Vocalist of the Decade' at the 2020 BroadwayWorld Vancouver Awards, for his performance in Metro Theatre Vancouver's A Comedy of Tenors! Check out all the winners here: https://www.broadwayworld.com//Winners-Announced-For-The-2

#OperaTreats is now LIVE! Mariposa is thrilled to serve up this new opera short on YouTube, featuring a performance of the show-stopping aria 'Nun eilt herbei' from The Merry Wives of Windsor by award-winning soprano Jacqueline Ko and acclaimed pianist Maria Hwa Yeong Jung. Check it out now on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/jZo1eS0IG7w Supported by Creative BC and the City of Vancouver - Local Government.

Thank you to EntertainmentVancouver.com for covering Opera Mariposa's next YouTube premiere! Check out their little feature about #OperaTreats, our new free, online taste of opera, at https://www.entertainmentvancouver.com/opera-mariposa/ - then catch the premiere on YouTube tomorrow (Friday, January 15th) at 12:00 pm PST / 3:00 pm EST at https://youtu.be/jZo1eS0IG7w!

Check it out - the Opera Canada Awards are going online! The #Rubies2020 are premiering this Monday, November 23 at 5pm PST (8pm EST), hosted by Joyce El-Khoury and narrated by Ben Heppner in a digital gala with performances by baritone Russell Braun, tenor Matthew Cairns, mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb and soprano Midori Marsh. Honorees include conductor and Metropolitan Opera music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, tenor and former Metropolitan Opera general manager Edward Johnson (posthumous), soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan, and tenor Michael Schade, so it's sure to be a night to remember.

Happy #WorldOperaDay from all of us at Opera Mariposa Today, artists and operagoers around the world are celebrating the art form we all love - on a day that has new resonance in 2020, when many theatres still await reopening. Times may be tough, but music will always be a source of joy... and something that unites us even when we're socially distancing!

Check it out! Our artistic director Jacqueline Ko, soprano has been hard at work, and now, she's releasing her first single Joined by pianist Maria Hwa Yeong Jung (known to Mariposa audiences from #GianniSchicchi and our #OperaBazaar), Jacqueline recorded 'Elle a fui, la tourterelle' from Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, to help raise awareness for the disability and chronic illness communities during COVID-19. Until the end of the year, 100% of music proceeds will go to the Open Medicine Foundation, benefiting vital research into chronic complex diseases like ME/CFS and Post-COVID - so download & stream today at https://jacquelineko.bandcamp.com/!

Congratulations to Mariposa alumnus Vicente Sandoval (a.k.a. the Doctor and the Notary from #GianniSchicchi), who just won 'Best Supporting Actor' at the Community Theatre Coalition Awards for his performance in 'A Comedy of Tenors' with Metro Theatre Vancouver! [Image description: An awards graphic featuring a headshot of Vicente, a dark-haired man with a moustache. To his right, text reads: "Vicente Sandoval, A Comedy of Tenors, Metro Theatre. WINNER, Best performance by an actor in a supporting role, comedy or drama." To the right of that is a photo of an award statuette made of blue glass, featuring the logo of the Community Theatre Coalition awards, which is star-shaped and contains the letters C T C.]

Check it out! Local singer-songwriter Amanda Sum's new single 'Mary Shelley' is available on Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music and more: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/amandasum/mary-shelley. Written, produced, engineered, mixed and mastered by an all-female team, and featuring all-Asian female band, Opera Mariposa was proud to sponsor this new release by a talented multidisciplinary artist.

Another photo drops from this fun album cover shoot with singer-songwriter Amanda Sum, who is releasing her new single 'Mary Shelley' on October 9th! Photo by Colin Williscroft, with Regency-inspired costumes by the Mariposa costume department. [Image description: Amanda Sum, a young Asian-Canadian woman, is seated outdoors at a tiny pink piano decorated with a Tiffany lamp. She is folded up like origami to fit next to the extra-baby grand piano, peering out at the viewer with her head practically resting on her knees. She wears an old-fashioned brocade jacket in pink and cream over a cream-coloured dress; this contrasts with her decidedly modern glasses and the loose hair falling around her face.]

Mariposa is starting to make music again - in a new, COVID-conscious way We're excited to announce that we're working on our first-ever recording project, aimed at prototyping safe and accessible performance practices with the generous support of Creative BC and the City of Vancouver - Local Government. Stay tuned for some sneak peeks behind-the-scenes... Photo credit: Robin Hahn, sopran

Mariposa is starting to make music again - in a new, COVID-conscious way We're excited to announce that we're working on our first-ever recording project, aimed at prototyping safe and accessible performance practices with the generous support of Creative BC and the City of Vancouver - Local Government. Stay tuned for some sneak peeks behind-the-scenes... Photo credit: Robin Hahn, sopran

What do we have here? It's the first teaser image from a collab between Opera Mariposa and local singer, musician and songwriter Amanda Sum, that's what! While Mariposa's mainstage shows are on pause, we're finding innovative new ways to support emerging artists - including sponsoring COVID-conscious musical activities such this recording by Amanda, who is releasing a new single on October 9th. 'Mary Shelley' is a rock waltz song inspired by the famous 19th-century writer, an...d created by an all-female team. Pre-save or preorder the song at https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/amandasum/mary-shelley, and stay tuned for more images from the official photo shoot, featuring Amanda decked out in Mariposa costumes! ~~~~~ MARY SHELLEY Produced by Emily Millard Vocals and piano - Amanda Sum Drums - Jamie Lee Violin - Cindy Kao Cello - Shin-Jung Nam Engineered and mixed by Olivia Quan Mastered by Elisa Pangsaeng Photography by Colin Williscroft Costumes by Opera Mariposa With support from Creative BC, the City of Vancouver - Local Government and The Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent On Recordings (FACTOR)

For disabled artists and theatre makers at all stages in their careers - Little Cog, a disabled-led theatre company in the UK, is holding a series of accessible masterclasses online! First up: on August 25, experienced Producer and General Manager Robin Keynes shares how to pitch work to venues, festivals and organizations, and gives participants a template tour pack to complete: https://www.littlecog.co.uk/robyn-keynes-masterclasses.html

Calling all artists, arts lovers and arts & culture professionals! The Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada is developing their next 5-year strategic plan, and their public survey closes this Friday, August 21st. If you'd like to have a say in setting their priorities through 2026 - including how their funding and resources can help those in our sector most affected by COVID-19 - please take a few minutes and share your thoughts: https://www.reimaginethearts.ca/

Find out more about what some of the Mariposites have been up to recently in this mini-interview with our artistic director Jacqueline Ko, soprano and our general manager Stephanie Ko, courtesy of the Open Medicine Foundation and Open Medicine Foundation Canada!

Check out this new feature about Opera Mariposa and our artistic director Jacqueline Ko, soprano, courtesy of the Open Medicine Foundation! OMF is a global charitable organization pursuing cutting-edge medical research at Stanford, Harvard and beyond, led and advised by a world-class scientific team that includes multiple Nobel laureates. Jacqueline has been helping raise awareness and funds for their urgent work throughout this pandemic - and now, we're thrilled that they've chosen to spotlight Mariposa's own disability advocacy to their global community. Read the full feature about Mariposa here: https://bit.ly/2WTIp0R. And if you'd like to support Jacqueline's birthday fundraiser for Open Medicine Foundation Canada, head over to https://bit.ly/31UQqX1!

We're excited to announce the fundraising total from our Benefit + Awareness campaign! With your help, we surpassed our $3k fundraising goal - and thanks to private and corporate sponsors triple-matching every online donation, our event raised $9,453.93... which brings Mariposa's charity fundraising total to over $90,000 since our company started! This year's event benefited the ME/FM Society of BC, helping thousands of at-risk chronically ill patients and their families righ...t here in BC. We were overwhelmed by the response to our first online charity fundraiser - particularly right now, when we know so many people are facing unprecedented challenges. We'd like to offer congratulations to the winners of our prize draw, and a big round of applause to our volunteer team and our event sponsors Bard on the Beach, Choices Markets, D2 Dance Studio - Vancouver, Diamond's Edge Photography, Geekenders, Heroic Opera Company, Suzann Kingston / Touch The Art, ScottiArt, The Chargimals - Physical and Mental Health Monsters, and the Vancouver Bach Choir. Most of all, we'd like to thank everyone who supported and shared our campaign. We're so grateful that all of you were able to join us in raising awareness and funds for this cause, and for the disability and chronic illness communities

Today we're honouring Tony-nominated Broadway star Nick Cordero, who passed away yesterday after a long struggle with COVID-19. The 41-year-old Canadian performer first fell ill in late March; his wife and fellow actor Amanda Kloots took to social media to share updates on his condition, starting the viral hashtag #WakeUpNick as the world joined in to root for his recovery. Nick will be remembered for his roles in hit musicals such as Waitress, A Bronx Tale, Little Shop of Ho...rrors and more, as well as his TV appearances on shows like Blue Bloods and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He is survived by his wife Amanda and their one-year-old son, Elvis. Other Broadway artists who have contracted the novel coronavirus include Brian Stokes Mitchell, Aaron Tveit, Danny Burstein, Tony Shalhoub, Gavin Creel and Laura Bell Bundy. Tony-winning playwright and librettist Terrence McNally passed away in March from the virus. To learn more about how you can help protect yourself and others from COVID-19, please visit https://bit.ly/38wer81.

Happy Pride, everybody!

Event alert for IBPOC opera artists: our friends at Amplified Opera, in partnership with Tapestry Opera, are hosting online discussions for opera artists in Canada who identify as Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour. On June 30, July 5 & 8, they will be holding space for sharing experiences, fostering dialogue, building relationships, creating support and more - check out the details and register below!

At 2pm today, our friends at TomoeArts are holding a fundraiser right here on Facebook via livestream. TomoeArts is a dance theatre company that promotes Japanese performing arts and an interdisciplinary, intercultural and transnational arts practice; in solidarity with the Black community, a portion of the event's proceeds will also benefit the Hogan's Alley Society. TomoeArts has been hit hard by COVID-19: since mid-March they've had to cancel all their classes, shows and a...ctivities, which has caused them to lose much of their operating funding. Undeterred, they've adapted by moving their annual fundraiser online - and they're using their new format to take audiences behind-the-scenes, and to welcome special guests like Eien Hunter-Ishikawa (taiko), joining them live from Portland. You can take in their event from home; order takeout from their restaurant partner Guu Garden; and enter to win prizes by donating to their fundraising page at https://www.canadahelps.org//campaign/isolation-fundraiser/ until midnight today. Check it out! See more