About Us
The Company
Pacific Opera Victoria is one of the most influential professional opera companies in Canada. Its inspired repertoire comprises original productions of classic favourites and lesser known works, as well as new commissions, co-productions, and collaborations with other companies and arts organizations across the country. From its home in the Baumann Centre, Pacific Opera Victoria creates significant career opportunities for creative and performing artists and curates opera in surprising ways – enticing newcomers and captivating loyal opera-goers.
The company currently stages three operas each season at Victoria’s Royal Theatre, a venue whose intimacy provides for a wondrous collision of theatre and music. We also produce smaller-scale chamber works at the Baumann Centre where we make our home.
Because we design and build every production, we enjoy exceptional programming creativity and flexibility – and this greatly benefits Canadian artists, including performers who welcome the opportunity to explore new roles, and directors and designers who thrive on the exceptional creative latitude they find here. For all artists, Pacific Opera offers a nurturing and supportive environment.
As well as creating and staging original productions for our audiences, Pacific Opera co-produces across North America. We are skilled collaborators and adept at creating new work.
For the community, the world of opera is brought closer to home with concerts, discussions, school visits, and more, surprising many with the enjoyment and enrichment that opera has to offer. Pacific Opera is a valued cultural and community asset, inspiring audiences, nurturing emerging and community artists, and developing a growing network of collaborative partnerships.
Pacific Opera’s home in the Baumann Centre is a welcoming venue for an array of initiatives to nurture artists, engage the community, and educate and delight families and youth. The company curates opera in ways that entice newcomers, captivate loyal opera-goers, advance opera as a resource for educators and young people, and keep the experience of attending, making, and learning about Opera full of extraordinary surprises.
Vision & Mission
Our Vision is for a world in which opera enriches the lives of everyone.
Our Mission is to create distinctive and inclusive opera experiences which inspire and engage artists and audiences.
We deliver our mission with integrity and uncompromising adherence to
Our Values: Quality, Leadership, Innovation, Collaboration, Learning, Inclusivity and Stewardship.
Our Guiding Principles
In striving to achieve our vision, we…
- Curate inspired repertoire and create high quality new and original productions.
- Create meaningful opportunities for artists, foster their development and careers.
- Engage diverse audiences in the communicative power of opera.
- Encourage the use of opera to enrich the learning of young people.
- Design meaningful experiences and genuine engagement with communities to address cultural, civic and social needs.
- Advance equity, diversity, inclusion and reconciliation and work to dismantle systemic inequities in our communities.
- Cultivate collaboration with cultural organizations regionally, nationally, and internationally.
- Invite investment in our activities, encourage philanthropy and celebrate giving.
- Practice good governance and business practices, and prudently steward our resources.
- Demonstrate leadership in our local communities and the broader arts and opera sectors.
History
Founded in 1979, Pacific Opera Victoria is one of the most influential opera companies in Canada, applauded for its inspired repertoire and for curating opera in surprising ways, attracting accomplished artists and engaging the community.
Over four decades, Pacific Opera Victoria has established itself as a vibrant opera company distinguished by strong community support and curatorial vision. Founding Artistic Director Timothy Vernon has conducted many of our 120 productions.
These include the world première of Les Feluettes, co-commissioned with Opéra de Montréal; and our first opera commission, Mary’s Wedding, which was subsequently adapted into a version for touring to schools. Other world premières include the co-production of Missing (co-commissioned with City Opera Vancouver); and the co-commissioning of a First Nations children’s opera, The Flight of the Hummingbird, in partnership with Vancouver Opera.
Pacific Opera Victoria presents an extraordinarily diverse range of repertoire. Our productions include original, made-in-Victoria productions of classic favourites such as Madama Butterfly and Carmen that welcome newcomers to opera while inviting experienced operagoers to enjoy a fresh look at a repertoire piece they know well. We also present new productions of exciting, lesser known works that allow audiences to explore the breadth of the repertoire and expand their ideas of the art form. These have included the Canadian stage premières of Richard Strauss’ Daphne and Capriccio, and Marc Blitzstein’s Regina, all recorded for broadcast by CBC, as well as the world première of Erewhon by Louis Applebaum and Mavor Moore and the first Canadian stagings of Weber’s Der Freischütz, Montemezzi’s L’Amore dei tre re, Giannini’s The Taming of the Shrew, and Lee Hoiby’s The Tempest.
Pacific Opera maintains its own scene and costume shop in a 10,000 square foot production facility – The Opera Shop. This facility is the largest of its kind on Vancouver Island, offering employment to dozens of theatre professionals making their home in our region. Our eclectic team of artists and craftspeople have a wealth of experience in the fields of project management, design, construction, scenic art, properties, and wardrobe construction.
Image by Works Photography
Pacific Opera opened the Baumann Centre in 2015, to serve as a consolidated venue for rehearsal, administration, artist training, community engagement, and chamber performances. The heart of the Baumann Centre is Wingate Studio, a sophisticated, acoustically engineered space for music making; its crowning glory is a cedar acoustic installation by Kwagiulth and Coast Salish artist Carey Newman, a former opera singer.
Governance
The Pacific Opera Victoria Association is a registered Canadian charity (charitable registration #: 11907 5547 RR0001) and a non-profit society registered under the BC Societies Act.
Pacific Opera Victoria has a collaborative approach to leadership. CEO Ian Rye and Artistic Director Timothy Vernon, both reporting directly to the Board, work in partnership to develop programming and make creative decisions consistent with our mission and vision.
Our highly committed Board is responsible for governing the affairs of the society, setting policy, and approving budgets. The Board advances the company’s mission through budget approval and oversight, including risk management and cash flow analysis; committee and advisory work; ambassadorship and advocacy; fundraising, donor stewardship, and setting examples of philanthropy through their personal generosity.
Each year at Pacific Opera’s Annual General Meeting, the society members approve the annual report and audited financial statements and elect directors to serve on the Board.
Under Pacific Opera’s bylaws, the Members of the society are those natural and corporate persons who
- have made a donation to the society during the past 15 months;
- or were subscribers to the society’s opera season during the past 15 months;
- or have supported the society as volunteers and participated as such in at least three events or projects in the previous 15 months
Notice of each annual general meeting is published on Pacific Opera’s website and emailed to those members who have provided a current email address.
