SOLO – Opera & beyond …

Our Vision for our Audiences

As a regional not-for-profit opera company, Southern Ontario Lyric Opera (SOLO) seeks to advance the public’s appreciation and enjoyment of the arts by providing high-quality performances of classical operatic works. We want to bring the world of opera to diverse audiences – the young, who have not yet been exposed to opera; the passionate opera lovers, who know many operas well; the seniors, who enjoy experiencing operas that they may or may not have heard earlier in their lives.

Our Vision for our Supporters

SOLO provides our supporters with the opportunity to invest in the community, and to be recognized as supporting the arts in their area. Supporters will be given the visibility that they richly deserve, in the form of recognition in our printed programs, on our website, and in social media to which SOLO contributes. We intend to create several levels of recognition of our supporters, from Corporate Founding Sponsor through Sustaining Sponsor, all the way to individual “Friends of SOLO”.

Striving to Promote and Inspire a Deeper Understanding and Passion for Opera

In June 2015, members of the chorus were engaged to perform a “flash mob” at the Festitalia Italian Heritage Awards, and were very enthusiastically received.

SOLO performed its first concerts in Burlington and Hamilton in September 2015 – the latter in celebration of Festitalia’s 40th Anniversary. The Festitalia Corporation was instrumental in bringing opera to the Hamilton region in the late 1970’s and in preparation for their 40th Anniversary wanted to include an opera concert as part of their event offerings. The concerts were met with enthusiasm and excitement.

In December of 2015, members of the chorus performed a holiday program for the residents of Villa Italia as part of their community outreach mandate. Villa Italia has invited us back to perform for their residents on a regular basis.

As an opera company, we seek to advance the public’s appreciation of the arts, focused on classical operatic works. To help develop this appreciation, apart from performances, we plan to develop education programs for the public in the form of interactive lectures and informal talks.

We are also keenly interested in educating the youth in the community about opera and will work with local schools to let them experience this valuable art form, live. We also envision the formation of a Children’s Opera Chorus to further encourage and foster young talent in our community which will help instill discipline, set goals, and develop self-esteem.