Opera couple Benjamin Butterfield and Anne Grimm, plus Jackalyn Short and Joshua Hopkins present a special Valentine's Black & White Opera Soirée on Feb. 15, 2003
January 13, 2003 -
Ottawa, Canada -- Romance is the theme for the annual Black &
White Opera Soirée on Saturday, February 15, 2003, in honour
of Valentine's Day. Opera singing couple soprano Anne Grimm and
tenor Benjamin Butterfield share the Southam Hall stage with soprano
Jackalyn Short and baritone Joshua Hopkins for the annual fundraiser
in honour of the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Opera Lyra
Ottawa. Bell Canada presents this joint benefit concert for the sixth
consecutive year.
Music Director Pinchas Zukerman leads the National Arts Centre
Orchestra and the Opera Lyra Ottawa Chorus prepared by Laurence
Ewashko in a programme focussing on opera's most romantic music.
(The programme will be announced at a later date.)
Jackalyn Short is one of Canada's busiest and most critically
acclaimed lyric-coloratura sopranos. Her role debut as the Four
Hoffmann Heroines with Hawaii Opera brought rave reviews, as did her
portrayal of Anne Truelove in The Rake's Progress with
both the Edmonton and Vancouver Opera companies. She has performed
with the NAC Orchestra in Carmina Burana in 2001, The Gypsy
Baron in 1999, and Il Primo Omicidio in 1998. In April
2003 she will make her Opera Lyra Ottawa debut as Oscar in Un
Ballo in Maschera.
Soprano Anne Grimm's operatic stage credits include
Monteverdi's L'Orfeo with De Nederlandse Opera,
Händel's Rinaldo under Christophe Rousset,
Bononcini's Il Trionfo di Camilla at the Oude Muziekfestival
Utrecht, and Sartorio's L'Orfeo under Stephen Stubbs in the
Dresdner and Bremen Festspiele and Händelfestspiele Halle (also
recorded on CD for Vanguard Classics). In concert she appears
frequently with the Amsterdam Baroque Choir and Orchestra under Ton
Koopman appearing at festivals including Salzburg, Amiens and
Ambronay. She has also appeared with Gabriel Chmura and the Dutch
Radio Symphony Orchestra. This will be the Dutch singer's NAC
debut, and a rare opportunity for her to join her husband Benjamin
Butterfield in concert.
Benjamin Butterfield enjoys an international career as one of
Canada's most distinguished and sought-after young tenors. He
has performed in the National Arts Centre Orchestra's 1996, 1999
and 2001 presentations of Messiah, as well as the St. Matthew
Passion in 1997. A prize-winner in the 1994 Oratorio Society of New
York International Voice Competition, he is also a recipient of both
the coveted William Matheus Sullivan Foundation Grant for opera. He
has recorded extensively for the Koch International, Marquis and CBC
Records labels (including excerpts from Handel's Messiah
and a Juno-nominated recording of Britten's Serenade for
Tenor, Horn and Strings).
Baritone Joshua Hopkins made his NAC debut in last season's
Broadway Spectacular while still completing his master's degree in
performance at McGill University. He has performed in Puccini's
Tosca and Don Giovanni at Opéra de
Québec, and a number of productions at Opera McGill including
The Rake's Progress, Le Nozze di Figaro, Die
Fledermaus, and Cosi fan tutte. He is the winner of a
George London Foundation Grant and a Chautauqua Opera Guild Award,
both in 2002.
Bell Canada is presenting the Black & White Opera
Soirée in association with Enbridge Gas Distribution,
Scotiabank and CBC/Radio-Canada. Special thanks go to Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Best Buy Canada, Diageo Canada Inc., Audi Canada/Mark Motors of Ottawa, Petro-Canada, The Ottawa Citizen, Le Droit, The
Lowe-Martin Group, B!ddle McGillvray Advertising, Air Canada, and The Ottawa Marriott.
The 15-member fundraising committee is chaired by Sheridan Scott,
Chief Regulatory Officer of Bell Canada. All the artists are
generously donating their services in honour of the beneficiaries.
The proceeds from this joint fundraiser will help maintain and
further develop the artistic excellence of the National Arts Centre
Orchestra and Opera Lyra Ottawa.
Soiree tickets for $250 and $375 include a spectacular pre-concert
dinner, prime seating for the concert itself, and a post-concert
reception with the stars. Private, exclusive Impresario Boxes as well
as corporate tables are also available. For information about these
tickets please call the NAC Foundation Office at (613) 947-7000, ext.
393.
Tickets to the concert alone are $45.00, $60.00 and $75.00. These
tickets are on sale exclusively to National Arts Centre and Opera
Lyra Ottawa donors and subscribers by mail order or in person at the
NAC or Opera Lyra Ottawa Box Offices until December 20. Box Office
opens to the public on January 6, at which time tickets may be
purchased at the NAC or Opera Lyra Ottawa Box Offices or through
Ticketmaster
at (613) 755-1111 (with applicable surcharges). Ticketmaster may also
be accessed through the NAC's web-site at www.nac-cna.ca.
