WHAT WE DO

Exploring well-known works, forgotten gems, and developing new Canadian works and digital creations, Opera 5 does it all. Fostering emerging Canadian artists is also at the core of our work.

ENGAGING OPERA

Opera is visceral, exciting, and engaging as an art form because it entwines emotional music and powerful storytelling. Since 2012, Opera 5 has produced a wide array of shows from well known works like Il barbiere di Siviglia, Die Fledermaus, and The Turn of the Screw, forgotten gems such as Ethel Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate and Fête Galante and Reynaldo Hahn’s L’île du rêve, and world premieres of new Canadian operas such as Cecilia Livingston’s first opera The Masque of the Red Death and Darren Russo’s Storybook (which won the SOCAN Foundation’s John Weinzweig Grand Prize – an award for Canadian compositions by composers under the age of 30).

OPERA FOR EVERYONE

Because opera is so engaging, we believe that it is for everyone, and so creating work for children is very important to us. Since we began, Opera 5 has been dedicated to creating programming that introduces children and families to the wonderful world of opera. Opera 5 created a children’s symphony show Trabed’s Opera Training Wheels as an opera primer to learn about the voice types, ensembles, and what you might find in an opera. This show has been performed with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony and the Kingston Symphony Orchestra. Through the pandemic, Opera 5 in collaboration Gazelle Automations created a nine-episode web-series called Threepenny Submarine which combines opera, puppetry, and animation to showcase the emotional storytelling power that opera holds.

FOSTERING ARTISTS

Creating a platform for emerging Canadian artists is at the heart of the Opera 5 story. We began as emerging artists ourselves looking to broaden our artistic horizons, and we have always prioritized supporting early-career Canadian artists. Because of this value of ours, we launched our Portfolio Artist Internship in partnership with Opera McGill at the Schulich School of Music in 2023. This program gives artists the opportunity to cover and perform in a professional production (for many this is a professional debut) and develop skills in administration, social media, stage management, directing, music directing, and more.

CARING ENVIRONMENT

Perhaps the most important to Opera 5 is to create a warm environment for our artists to come together and flourish. Opera is a collaborative art form that requires many people of diverse expertise to build a show. Opera 5’s core belief is to create a supportive environment that allows those we work with to thrive, take risks, and build the greatest show that we can offer you. When a collaborative and caring environment is created, artistic risk becomes safe, and magic can happen on the stage and for our audiences.

OPERA 5 TEAM

Rachel Krehm - General Director

Jessica Derventzis - Artistic Director

Evan Mitchell - Music Director

Jaclyn Grossman - Programs Manager

See www.opera5.ca/team for more information