http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.htmlHot News!encolin@colinainsworth.ca© Colin Ainsworth2012-02-25T22:54:03-05:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Tue, 12 Aug 2008 17:30:26 -0400colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-11-03T15:45:46-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-116http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-116Vancouver Opera’s production of West Side Story will certainly go down as a career highlight. One of those shows every few years or so that stick with you, that you feel change you in some way, that you wish you could perform again and again…a show that you’ll never forget. It was almost as if the planets aligned and created the perfect opportunity for something magical to happen…and it did! A great company to work for, a great production and creative team, the most amazing cast and the most perfect weather in Vancouver. What more else could you want? When the piece was written, it was almost as if the same thing had happened. The stars aligned and the perfect group of men got together to create this masterpiece; Bernstein, the music, Sondheim, the lyrics, Laurents, the script and Robbins, the choreography. Bernstein’s score is a brilliant piece of theatre on its own - full of energy, humour, sadness, youthful angst and passion. Add this with Jerome Robbins’ brilliant choreography and Sondheim’s lyrics, it’s a feast for the ears and eyes. Obviously, the audiences love it too. We had eight performances in one week and broke the single ticket sales record three times!

Playing Tony was certainly an amazing experience for me. I loved singing “Maria”, “One Hand, One Heart” and “Could Be, Who Knows”. Not only did I get to sing but also dance! Our choreographer, Tracey Flye, put Lucia and I in the dances and not that we did anything spectacular but we did have two crazy lifts and a few dance steps to learn. The dance steps were fine, it was the lifts that we worked pretty hard on. Lucia Cesaroni, our Maria, would run at me, jump up in the air and spin and I would have to catch her. I’m not sure what it’s called but it was fun to do, especially when it worked. But, our dancing wasn’t anything close in comparison to what the dancers had to do. I have SO much respect for them and the things they had to accomplish on a daily basis. When I wasn’t in a quick change or standing behind the set waiting for an entrance, I would watch the dancers perform from the wings. They were simply amazing…I wish I could list them all here! My hat’s off to all you guys!

On another note, I got to work with director, Ken Cazan, again! The last time we worked together was when I was at the University of Toronto for Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream. I hope I don’t have to wait that long to work with him again.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-08-05T23:01:14-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-113http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-113I killed two birds with one stone this year and made my singing debut with Les Violons du Roy in Mozart’s Requiem performing for the first time at the stunning Le Festival de Lanaudière in Quebec. I had heard so many wonderful things about the band and they certainly lived up to their reputation. Lanaudière was also a wonderful surprise. What a gem! It reminded me of Ravinia or Tanglewood in the US and the acoustics were fantastic. The picture, taken on my iPhone, doesn’t really do it justice but some of the audience sits on the grounds behind the blue seats. There were a lot of people with picnics enjoying themselves well before the concert began. We had rehearsals with conductor, Bernard Labadie, in Montreal and then traveled up to Joliette for the performance. The soloists for the concert were Hélène Guilmette, Anita Krause, myself and Tyler Duncan.

The Rogers Cup (Men’s games) was in town at the same time and at the hotel there were tennis players all over the place! I was hoping to run into Federer or Djokovic but to no avail. Not that I’m a huge tennis fanatic but it would have been cool to rub shoulders with those guys...perhaps some of their athleticism would have rubbed off on me?]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-07-23T23:01:04-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-112http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-112
One of the best summer festivals in Ontario is the Westben Festival in Cambellford, Ontario. They have a great variety of shows including Britten’s opera Albert Herring, a solo recital by Isabel Bayrakdarian, and Kelli Trottier and the Mushy Peas, just to name a few, all presented in the beautiful barn specifically built for concerts.

The concert I was involved with this year was titled “Send in the Sondheim” - both music and words which were written by him. I’ve never really sung Sondheim’s music but what an experience it was. Ok, so what I didn’t realize about Sondheim’s songs coming into this concert was that there are SO many words. Sondheim is a wonderful lyricist as well as composer who creates not only fantastic melodies but also witty and wonderful words - just so many words! It felt like it was taking forever to get them to stick in my head. We had a fantastic cast for the show: Donna Bennett, Gabrielle Prata, Robert Luongo, Brian Findley (on the piano), and two young artists Samantha Marineau and Mitchell Allanson.

Sondheim was the lyricist for West Side Story and we performed a set of songs. It was a great opportunity to perform a couple of the songs that I’ll be doing when I sing Tony for Vancouver Opera this fall. ]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-07-19T23:00:19-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-111http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-111I was honoured to be asked back to be involved in this year’s recording of Ukrainian Art Songs at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto (see July 4/09). It’s a multi-year project to record all the Ukrainian art songs of various composers and this year, they chose three composers: Січинський (Sichynskyi), Turkevych, and Людкевич (Lyudkevych). The seven songs that I worked on and recorded were wonderful pieces and the poetry was no exception either. I did have two favourites though - Finale and Черемоше, брате мій. You’ll have to wait until the CD is released to hear them. I’ll keep you posted.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-06-11T23:08:14-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-110http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-110Calgary Philharmonic and what a rockin’ concert it was. This was the closing concert of their season and on the program was Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler Symphony and Orff’s Carmina Burana. We performed the piece twice and on the first night, the Vancouver Canucks were playing the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup. All the players in the orchestra that weren’t needed for the Hindemith, the singers and some chorus members watched anxiously as the game was slowly winding up just as they were calling us to the stage for the second half. What a nail-biter! 0-1 Canucks.

The soloists for the concert were Leslie Ann Bradley, soprano, myself, doing the Roasted Swan bit, Aaron St. Clair Nicholson, baritone, and Yoav Talmi, conducting. The great thing about this concert is that I don’t have to use music since it’s only three lines of text repeated. It allows me to play with the character and have some fun up there. Might as well since I’m singing as high as I can possibly sing! I think this was the first time I’ve been to Calgary when it’s been warm. It always seems to be absolutely freezing...serves me right for going there in January.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-06-04T20:11:35-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-109http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-109Music Directors of the Aldeburgh Connection, Stephen Ralls and Bruce Ubukata, started a wonderful festival in the quaint town of Bayfield which has grown so much since I was last there in 2008! The festival includes recitals by established artists, emerging artists, masterclasses and school tours.

I was involved in two recitals this year, one being Schubert’s immense cycle Die Schöne Müllerin and a duet recital with colleague, Lucia Ceseroni. Die Schöne Mülllerin is a collection of 20 songs which tell the story of a young man who falls in love with a young lady, she in turn falls for a huntsman and breaks the young man’s heart. It’s a painful and emotional cycle and Schubert has beautifully crafted this piece with the ups and downs that come with love. I had last performed the cycle with Stephen as a last minute replacement for another colleague who had gotten sick and couldn’t perform his recital at the Arts and Letters club. This time around, Stephen and I were able to delve deeper into the piece and spend a lot more time on each song. I think he is SUCH a fantastic pianist and it’s always a pleasure to work with him!

The second duet recital was a collection of our favourite solos and duets ending with the Balcony Scene from West Side Story. A little bit of a plug for our show this fall as Lucia and I will be seen in West Side Story with Vancouver Opera! Check out this link for details!

]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-05-09T20:31:14-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-108http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-108After years of waiting for the opportunity to do Janáček’s “Diary of one who vanished”,my chance finally came with Off Centre Music Salon, run by Inna Perkis and Boris with a program called Lost in love...and sometimes Lust! I had originally heard about the piece from Carol Isaac. She said it would be a great fit and I put it on my ‘to do’ list. This was my first time singing in Czech and it was a bit overwhelming at first. There are so many words seemingly without vowels - how do you sing on a consonant? But, the cycle is really stunning and deserves to be heard over and over. And in actual fact, once you get your head around the Czech, it starts to make sense and isn’t so difficult after all. Coincidentally, Chicago Opera Theater, where I just left, coupled the Janáček with Schumann’s Frauenlieben und Leben. The Janáček piece, being quite a dramatic piece with stage directions written into the score, would be so fun to stage one day! (Janáček’s mug shot is seen to the left)]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-05-03T20:30:44-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-107http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-107Chicago is a great city! A vibrant arts community, an amazing waterfront space, beautifully landscaped parks and historic buildings, it just seems to have it all. I always enjoy coming back to this city!

This trip was for Chicago Opera Theater’s production of Charpentier’s masterpiece, Médée - the last of three operas COT has produced centred around the theme of Medea, the sorceress who helps Jason get the golden fleece. In Charpentier’s opera, Médée is betrayed by Jason as he falls in love with King Creon’s daughter, Creuse, in Corinth, where Jason and Médée have come seeking refuge. Médée ends up kiling the King, Creuse, burning Corinth and if that wasn’t enough, she kills her own children just to exact her revenge on Jason. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned! He should have known better than to mess with a sorceress...

The period instrument band was led by Christian Curnyn (who also played one of the harpsichords) and the show was directed and costumed by James Darrah with sets by another Canadian, François-Pierre Couture. The casting was superb...Anna Stephany as Médée, Michaela Oeste as Creuse (seen with me in the photo), Evan Boyer as the King, Creon, and Paul LaRosa as the suitor, Oronte. The chorus was an integral part of the piece not merely just a stand-and-deliver chorus but acting as a Greek chorus commenting on the situation with body language, moving the action along and relating to all the characters highlighting their feelings toward them. From the ensemble, Jamie-Rose Guarrine played Cleone, Darik Knutsen was Arcas, and Leila Bowie was Nerine. It was a super show and it was so great to come back to this masterpiece!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-03-15T09:25:51-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-106http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-106colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-02-20T16:04:19-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-105http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-105Next in the concert line up was Bach’s Mass in B minor with the Vancouver Symphony, Bramwell Tovey conducting. This majestic piece has to be one of my favourites! Well, if I looked back, I’m sure I’ve said that about every piece but it’s certainly up there. We had two performances in the wonderful acoustics of the Chan Centre with the Trinity Western University Choir directed by Wes Janzen with Laura Whalen, Susan Platts, myself, and Greg Dahl as soloists.

On this trip, I also got to go on my first trip up to Whistler with my brother-in-law! We skied for two days spending one day on Blackcomb and another on Whistler. Our first day up there was glorious - full sunshine and hardly a cloud in the sky. The weather on the second day wasn’t as good and although there was poor visibility, blowing snow and it was really cold, it turned out to be a great day of fun skiing. I used to ski when I was a teenager but haven’t been able to go for so long and wasn’t sure how I was going to do. Richard is a fantastic skier and teacher so he was able to give me some pointers on how to improve my skiing. It was so much fun and what I found is that I really enjoy powder skiing rather than the groomed hills. Now, I didn’t attempt any black diamond hills but I’ve got gigs coming up and I need to keep my legs intact. ]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-02-15T12:30:14-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-104http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-104I performed my first Dichterliebe with William Aide at Toronto’s Arts & Letters Club on Valentine’s Day. This stirring cycle begins well but, unfortunately for the protagonist, it doesn’t end well. One of the most beautiful cycles in the repertoire, it tells of a young man (a knight in Heine’s original text) who falls for a maiden who loves someone else and eventually rejects him. Perhaps not the cheeriest subjects for Valentine's Day but the audience loved it nonetheless. I think one of the best parts of this piece is the piano postludes at the end of some of the songs, especially the last song. Bill played these with such emotion and pathos. We ended the evening with some additional Schumann songs (Schöne Wiege, Du bist wie eine Blume and Widmung) which ended the evening on a more positive note. Can’t wait to sing this cycle again!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2011-02-10T03:09:50-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-103http://www.colinainsworth.ca/blog.html#unique-entry-id-103Hi friends! My first blog of the new year and I’m so excited to be back! It’s been an exciting year so far beginning with Edmonton Opera’s production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail. It was billed as ‘James Bond meets I dream of Jeannie’ and that it was. Director Michael Cavanaugh wrote a very humourous and entertaining libretto for this show which had Belmonte as a James Bond-like character coming to rescue his beloved Constanze and secret agent friends Pedrillo and Blonde from the clutches of the Pasha Selim. This wonderfully zany production kept the spirit and heart of Mozart’s opera while updating the story line to include not only the James Bond aspect but also things like Facebook and YouTube. Our cast included Charlotte Corwin (Constanze), Carla Huhtanen (Blonde), Lawrence Wiliford (Pedrillo), Dean Elzinga (Osmin), David McNally (Pasha Selim) and yours truly as Belmonte with Peter Dala conducting the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

It so happened that Pavlo Hunka and the Ukrainian Art Song Project were in Edmonton for a CD release concert for the art songs of Yakiv Stepovyi at the Winspear Centre. I had recorded a trio for the CD and was able to go and hear the concert featuring Elizabeth Turnbull, Ben Butterfield and Pavlo. If you’ve never heard of the Ukrainian Art Song Project, click on the link to go to their website and check out what they are doing! They have taken on an ambitious project to record the art songs of Ukrainian composers, a few each summer. They have also made the scores available, for free, online!

On a completely different note, I watched the movie ‘Julie and Julia’ on the plane, I thought it would be fun to work through a cook book since I’m a pretty terrible cook. And since the place I was staying had the most gorgeous kitchen, I thought it would be a fun adventure (I chose Donna Hay’s ‘Off the Shelf’). I made a lot of great dishes, my two favourites being the Coconut Chocolate Tarts with Raspberries and the no fuss, easy to make Blueberry muffins.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-12-20T00:04:57-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-102http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-102I landed in Albuquerque, New Mexico a bit road weary but excited by the warm weather that greeted me. My driver took me to the newly renovated Hotel Andaluz which was built by Conrad Hilton. The next day was my rehearsal with the continuo of the New Mexico Symphony for the Evangelist’s parts in the Christmas Oratorio. After a couple days of rehearsals in the orchestra’s rehearsal space with the choir and soloists, we went off to perform our three concerts. The soloists were Kathryn Mueller, soprano, Ian Howell, countertenor, Dann Coakwell, tenor, David Grogan, bass and Roger Melone, conductor with the NMSO Chorus. The concerts in New Mexico were at two different venues: The National Hispanic Cultural Center and Popejoy Hall. Both completely different kinds of performing spaces, the first is an intimate, dry acoustic seating around 700 and the Popejoy is more resonant and seats just over 2000.

I love singing the Evangelist! The great thing about it is that you are the one that ties everything together and links all the arias, choruses and orchestral pieces together. You are the story teller and you get to infuse the text with so much drama. Our version was in English so it really was accessible for the audience and allowed them to be intimately involved with the story. The Christmas Oratorio isn’t done as much as Handel’s Messiah but really it should be done more!

After the first rehearsal, my driver, Betsy, mentioned that her choir director and organist at her church, Maxine, was Canadian and that I should meet her for coffee or lunch. I don’t usually make a habit of meeting someone just because they are Canadian but I’d been in so many hotel rooms in the last while, I was just dying to get out and do something. So we connected and had a fantastic lunch at P’tit Louis. (I highly recommend it! The quiche was amazing, the chocolate soufflé to die for and the Croque Monsieur was awesome.) We actually knew a lot of the same people. Maxine is a highly accomplished organist and choir director and has played all over the world. Check out her web page here! I also met up with friends Rick and Gretchen. (I had also just seen his daughter Sarah and Geoff after the Messiah in Vancouver.) I haven’t seen them in about 15+ years and it was so great to catch up! We had some authentic Mexican food, checked out the Old Town and picked up some awesome Piñon Coffee. Mmm...]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-12-12T18:46:16-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-101http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-101Vancouver Opera’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor. It was awesome! I loved the singers, direction and even their “skateboard ramp” set. It’s amazing what a great lighting director can do. Can’t wait to return to the company soon...

The next day was a quick trip into see my brother-in-law, Richard, for an adjustment at his clinic, Synergy Chiropractic, then we went out for lunch at Tan Po Po, our favourite sushi restaurant, with Greg Dahl, who was singing the role of Enrico in the opera, and then off to rehearsals for the Messiah with the Vancouver Bach Choir and their new conductor, Les Dala. (The last time I sang with the Bach Choir was with Bruce Pullan, see here, who has since retired but conducted my last Messiah in Edmonton.) Les wanted to do the entire Messiah without cuts so some of us had to dust off some pieces we haven’t seen in a while. We had half an hour in his dressing room chatting about tempos and ornaments, then a soloist rehearsal with the orchestra, dinner, and then a dress rehearsal with the choir and orchestra. It was so great to hear choruses and arias that are normally not done. The soloists for this fantastic Messiah were Allison Angelo, Lauren Segal, and Alex Dobson.

As I was sitting listening to the performance, I thought how lucky we soloists are to be sitting where we are. Being right on stage, we are enveloped by the orchestra’s sound and get a wonderful mix of instruments and choir coming at us. I really enjoy being on the left side of the stage where the basses and cellos are - especially during the baritone aria “For behold, darkness shall cover the earth” and in my aria “Thou shalt break them”. If I got to do it all over again, I’d learn how to play the cello. What an awesome instrument!

I’ll be back in Vancouver for the Symphony’s Bach’s B minor mass in February. ]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-12-04T19:47:58-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-100http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-100Once again, it’s Messiah season! The first two concerts of the year were with the Edmonton Symphony and the Richard Eaton Singers in the glorious Winspear Centre. I’ve sung there a few times now with the Symphony and the acoustics never cease to amaze me. The concert’s soloists were Allison Angelo, David Trudgen, Aaron St Clair Nicolson, with Bruce Pullan conducting and Leonard Ratzlaff, director of the Richard Eaton Singers.

One of the best parts of this Messiah was hearing the organ in a couple of the movements. it’s not often that you get to hear the organ these days but this is the perfect piece to let Jeremy Spurgeon let the Davis Concert Organ rip - especially in Worthy is the Lamb. One year, Jeremy actually gave me mini concert on the organ and really opened the beast up. What a sound that instrument can make!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-11-27T18:13:39-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-99http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-99Straight on the heels of Lillian Alling, I returned to Calgary to sing Arturo in Lucia di Lammermoor with Calgary Opera. The last project with them was in January as Laurie in Little Women and I’ll be returning there next season with an opera that hasn’t been announced yet. It’s going to be really good!

The cast of this Lucia was fantastic with many of the company making their debuts in their roles; Sally Dibblee (Lucia), David Pomeroy (Edgardo), Ted Baerg (Enrico), Uwe Dambruch (Raimondo), Rob Clark (Normanno), Jennifer Spoule (Alisa), David Gately (director), and Robert Dean (conductor). The role of Arturo is an easy sing...come in, sing a bit, get married, and then get killed before the night is out. No stress whatsoever! So, I took advantage of it and worked on some other music that is coming up like Abduction from the Seraglio and my first Dichterliebe. I think I look a little too relaxed in this photo. Either that or angry that I had to wear that beard around Calgary...good thing it was Movember and tons of other guys had strange moustaches.

I also had a chance to see my friends Glynis Leyshon and David Shefsiek. David was the GM at Pacific Opera Victoria and is now the GM of Alberta Theatre Projects where Glynis was the director for their show Seussical the Musical. I took a friend to see a preview night and it was packed with kids who absolutely loved the show. I must say, I had a smile on my face the whole time. I’ve been reading ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ to my son and the show really captured the whimsical nature of Dr. Seuss. If you get a chance to see it, you won’t be disappointed!

]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-10-25T21:17:06-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-98http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-98After three years in the making, the world premiere of John Estacio’s Lillian Alling with libretto by John Murrell opened with huge success at the Queen Elizabeth theatre in Vancouver. Directed by Kelly Robinson and conducted by Jacques Lacombe, this opera produced by Vancouver Opera included an all-Canadian cast of 8 principal singers, 40 chorus members, 60 orchestra players, a stunt double, multimedia projections, a Datsun pickup and 175 costumes. It is based on the true story of Lillian Alling who came to New York City from Russia in the 1920s and, for whatever reason, decided to return to Russia by walking westward across North America. There are reports of her journey from various sources and on opening night there was even a lady who, as a young girl, had met Lillian Alling ! It’s truly an operatic tale.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-10-14T17:19:49-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-97http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-97After a nice little break this summer spending time with the family in our new home, I’ve returned to Vancouver for Vancouver Opera’s production of John Estacio’s Lillian Alling which promises to be a fantastic show! We spent a week in Banff, Alberta at the Banff Centre getting familiar with the set which has multi-levels, lots of stairs and for me, a really high telegrapher tower. It was a really luxury for all of us to be on the set before rehearsals in Vancouver started where all you get is tape on the floor to indicate the set.

In other news, I’ve recently signed on with Caroline Woodfield of Opus 3 Artists in New York. I’m really excited about this new partnership! We’re getting things organized for their webpage and part of that was getting new head shots which I had done here in Vancouver by a photographer whose work I love, Kevin Clark. We had a great session last week and I’m really looking forward to seeing the final product. Check back soon to see the new shots on the web site and let me know what you think!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-08-04T22:30:02-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-96http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-96Leslie Ann Bradley, Peter McGillivray and I shared a recital of German Lieder with pianist Liz Upchurch for the Toronto Summer Music Festival in Walter Hall. It was a great opportunity to revisit some Wolf Lieder that I’ve sung in the past - Der Musikant, An eine Aeolsharfe, Der Tambour, NImmersatte Liebe, Auf dem grünen Balkon, Verschwiegene Liebe and Wenn du zu dem Blumen gehst. Wolf’s music had never made a huge impression on me before but I’ve grown to love his music and am completely struck by the beauty and genius of it. It can sometimes be very complex harmonically with the piano sometimes at odds to what the singer is doing but, like a puzzle, it always seems to fit together. What’s even more impressive is that Wolf was very poor, suffered from mental problems and only had short bursts of creativity. But, the music that he did write is absolutely wonderful. He was a huge fan of Wagner and you could hear influences of that especially in An eine Aeolsharfe.

We also participated in a Masterclass with baritone Matthias Goerne the week before. Mr. Goerne was in town singing a recital for the festival. It was a fun and informative. What was strange was to be back at the University, in the same room where we all studied at the opera school together, doing a masterclass. Surreal! ]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-07-30T22:37:49-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-95http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-95

Who knew that the Festival of the Sound had such a great venue for concerts?! Well, I guess they did.The Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts is a stunning 480 seat venue made with local granite and wood trusses. It’s such a beautiful place to sing in! Not only is it beautiful inside, it also sits on the banks of Georgian Bay. At intermission, the choir, soloists and the audience mingled on the deck and watched the sun set. And what better to sing than Bach’s beautiful B minor Mass with Leslie Fagan, Vicki St. Pierre, Peter McGillivray, the Elmer Iseler Singers, and Lydia Adams conducting. The festival runs for over 4 weeks with an impressive line-up of artists. What a great way to spend an evening while up at the cottage. Paradoxically, the building also holds the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame. Only in Canada...]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-07-05T12:11:11-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-94http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-94Don Giovanni with the fantastic Orchestre Métropolitain and the dynamic Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting, was a fun and thrilling ride. We basically had two days to stage the whole opera as we were doing it “in concert” but semi-staged to make it more interesting for the audience who didn’t have surtitiles for translations. We had two performances in Montreal at the Centre Pierre Charbonneau and one at the amphitheatre in Parc la Fontaine. One of the challenges was singing with mics since both venues required the use of them. It was hard to tell if you actually could be heard as the sound didn’t really come back to you and there were no monitors. But, apparently, the sound and the blend with the orchestra was quite good. Our super cast was: Kyra Folk-Farber - Donna Anna, Marianne Fiset - Donna Elvira, Kimy McLaren - Zerlina, Alexander Dobson - Don Giovanni, Taras Kulish - Leporello, Steven Hegedus - Masetto, Alain Coulombe - Commendatore, and Alain Gauthier, our director.

I got back into the groove of running again and twice ran up the mountain - two 10K runs! I’m hoping to get up to a half marathon. I also got into a groove of eating too many Montreal bagels! I only got to try the Fairmont Bagels which were so good but next time I’m going to try their rivals - St. Viateur Bagel Shop.

The Jazz Festival was on in Montreal and I got to see some great bands play. One of my new favourites is Beast, which performed an amazing outdoor concert (pictured). I’m not sure if I would call them a jazz band but I loved them nonetheless. Their CD is amazing! ]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-06-22T11:28:33-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-93http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-93The Luminato Festival has wrapped up for this year and what a ride it was. Between the Opening Night party, our shows, our Opening party, Rufus’ solo concert and all the events going on, it was certainly busy! I needed to take a few days off to recover from all those late nights. One of the highlights was going to see my favourite new singer, Alejandra Ribera, sing a concert at Queen’s Park...so awesome!

The run of Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna for the Luminato Festival here in Toronto was really fun. It was the same production that premiered in London directed by Tim Albery and conducted by Robert Houssart. The only changes from London were to two of the singers, Charlotte Ellett and Greg Dahl, who did a fantastic job!

With any piece, it’s always great to have another chance to sing through it. With only a month between performances, it really felt like it had settled in my voice and I had found ways of manoeuvring through some of the more difficult stuff. Some things I found easier to sing this time especially the high floating bits in the first aria. The acoustic of the Elgin certainly was a big improvement from the theatre at Sadler’s Wells and added a nice ambience to the piece. Janis Kelly, the Prima Donna, was amazing as always! She never fails to move you. She’s making her Met debut this coming season so look out for her. I also should give a huge shout out to Robert Houssart, our conductor. He’s a brilliant conductor and so easy to work with, follow and sing for.

I’m really looking forward to seeing what Rufus comes up with next!

]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-06-11T01:02:00-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-92http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-92Rosemarie Umetsu suit!


]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-05-22T19:26:43-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-91http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-91New Hamburg Arts Live! festival singing the music of Gilbert & Sullivan. I performed with Erica Bardua, music director Vicki St. Pierre, Jason Nedecky, Rachel Cleland, and Kate Carver at the piano. It was a fun night of some great music and great singing. The program was really interesting as some of the pieces I had never even heard of. One of the pieces that I had never sung before was the tenor aria from Utopia “A tenor, all singers above”. What a fun piece! I also sang some gems like “Take a pair of sparkling eyes” and “We’re called Gondolieri”. The festival is now in its second year and hosts concerts of country, folk, classical, big band swing and also features visual artists.


]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-05-09T22:12:05-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-89http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-89I made my debut with Chicago’s Music of the Baroque with Nicolas Kraemer conducting, soprano Suzie LeBlanc, mezzo Nina Heebink, and baritone Sanford Sylvan in a concert entitled, “Gloriously Baroque - Telemann and Bach” There are 224 Bach cantatas and so many gems. I never tire of hearing or singing his music. We sang in Cantata 19, 130, and sang Telelman’s rarely performed “Nun ist das Heil” at the Harris Theater in downtown Chicago and the beautiful First United Methodist Church in Evanston.

There were so many highlights of this trip one of which was being lucky enough to be in Chicago at the same time that Chicago Opera Theater was producing Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers starring Frederica von Stade, Sara Jakubiak and Matthew Worth. It was a wonderful and moving production! The Bach ‘cast’ also had a wonderful dinner at Ellen Hargis’ house consisting of asparagus risotto, stuffed lamb, salad and homemade ginger ice cream. I only wish I could cook like that! I guess it’s about time I learned. I met up with an old friends, Alan and Carl, and we had brunch at Rhapsody and then took in the Chicago Art Institute. Music of the Baroque put us up at the beautiful Fairmont Chicago but staying at a hotel means that you have to eat out a lot. Sometimes trying to find something healthy to eat can be a daunting task. But, I had a lot of great recommendations one of which was the Fox and Obel which is part market, part restaurant. It was so good that I had breakfast there almost every morning! Another great brunch place was Orange. I’m looking forward to going back to Chicago next year...]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-04-11T19:12:28-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-88http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-88With much excitement and buzz, Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna opened at Sadler’s Wells in London. Getting to the big night was a bit of a challenge for me. About a week into rehearsals (on my two days off), I came down with a sore throat and fever so I headed off to the doctors office and he gave me a round of drugs. Five days later and a few days off from rehearsals, I felt so much better. But once again, on our day off, the sore throat and fever came back but with a vengeance. I headed off to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor. He examined my throat and said that I was not well then admitted me immediately to the hospital. I really needed to get treated quickly since I had less than a week until opening! He gave me two different antibiotics, IV fluids, a mouth rinse and pain killers. After a night in the hospital, everything was starting to get better so I was released with two prescriptions.

Opening Night was first time I was able to sing full voice and it felt great! In the audience, was a plethora of celebrities including Boy George, Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys, Nick Rhodes from Duran Duran, Tenor Hans Peter Blockwitz, and Graham Norton! The audience loved the show and we had a wonderful after-party. Our cast was so lovely and great to work with. Janis Kelly sang the title role of Madame Saint Laurent (the Prima Donna), Rebecca Bottone, her maid and Jonathan Summers, her butler. I played the role of André, the journalist who comes to interview the Madame on the eve of her return to the operatic stage. Our two actors were Siobhan McMillan and Jamie Griffith Jones, Tim Albery directed, Robert Houssart conducted, production designs by Antony McDonald, and movement coaching by Philippe Giraudeau.

Unfortunately, at the end of our show, Iceland’s volcano shut down all the airports in the UK and most of Europe so we were stuck in London. The apartment we had stayed for the month was all booked up so we were left to look for alternate accommodation and we were graciously hosted by our friend Tony MacIntosh of Le Café Anglais for an evening, (If you ever get a chance to visit London, have a meal at Le Café Anglais for some amazing food and ambience! The hors d’oeuvres, the main course and the service are all fantastic.), then spent one evening at the Citadines - Barbican and one fantastic night at the Beaumont House Hotel in Old Windsor! I never knew how happy I’d be to see planes taking off from Heathrow, once it opened again, and jet vapour trails in the skies. It was quite eerie not to see any planes flying around London. Luckily for us, we got on the first and only Air Canada flight to Toronto from Heathrow that day. The excitement of going back home on the plane was palatable. We heard so many different stories of people getting stranded and how excited they were all were to be going home. I’ve always said it’s wonderful to travel but it’s always great to go back home!

]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-03-26T18:58:07-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-87http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-87I had the chance to see Philip Glass’ Satyagraha, an opera based on the life of Gandhi at the ENO. I have somehow managed in my life not to hear any of Glass’ music and really didn’t know what to expect. I think I expected some kind of ultramodern orchestration and strange singing but was on the edge of my seat from the first moment. The singing was amazing, the music was engaging, the set and puppets were so interesting! This production was by director-designer team of Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch. The opera was 3+ hours and I was captivated the whole time. My colleague, Janis Kelly, who is singing Madame Saint Laurent in Rufus Wainwright’s Prima Donna, sang the role of Mrs Naidoo and gave Rufus and I tickets to the show. I’m so glad she did because I might never have seen the opera on my own initiative.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-03-04T14:33:25-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-86http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-86Last night, I attended a fundraising event for the Luminato Festival in support of Rufus Wainwright’s new opera Prima Donna which will be performed in London, England and Toronto, Canada. It was a stellar event with chef Jamie Kennedy in house creating amazing food and desserts. Rufus and director, Tim Albery, chatted about the opera and Rufus played two pieces — one from his new Cd and the final aria of the opera.

Had I of known that it was going to be Valet Parking in a very prestigious Toronto neighbourhood, I probably wouldn’t have brought my huge Ford F-150 with the baby seat buckled into the passenger seat to the party! The only spot big enough to fit the truck into was right in front of the house beside the driveway where everyone in their very expensive cars were driving up. Hopefully, no one saw me getting out of it...]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2010-02-17T22:20:22-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-85http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2010#unique-entry-id-85This January, I made my first trip to Calgary. I’ve flown over on route to Vancouver, made a milk-run stop once courtesy of West Jet, and saw it from the air once flying out of Edmonton to Toronto but never made into the city itself. It always looked like it would be a great place to visit - being so close to the Rocky Mountains. I was hired to sing Laurie in Mark Adamo’s opera Little Women in my debut role with the Calgary Opera. Mark Adamo was present for dress rehearsal and opening night which was a thrill. He’s writing more opera and I’m really interested to see what he comes up with.

Usually life on the road isn’t glamourous but, this time, the condo unit I was staying in was fantastic! I had a huge screen HDTV in the living room and a smaller one in the bedroom with a PVR device, stainless steel appliances, and fully stocked with all the cooking necessities (other than food). As an added bonus, it was located about 50 steps from the Arrata Opera Centre where rehearsals took place. It certainly made life a bit more enjoyable.

The volunteer who picked some of us singers up at the airport had offered to drive out to Banff and show us around. I quickly took her up on that and after opening night was out of the way, we went up and had a great day. We rode the gondola up the mountain to take in the sites (pictured) and toured around the village of Banff. It’s stunning! My best friend, Sam Chung, came up to sing an audition for the opera company and we decided to go up to Banff with another friend and take in the Banff Hot Springs. We stayed in the 39 degree Celsius water for almost an hour...probably a bit too long but it was so great to be outside on a cloudless day with the sun shining in the middle of winter.

I celebrated my birthday on this trip and what better way than to see the Olympic Torch come to Calgary on route to Vancouver. Thousands gathered at the Olympic Plaza to welcome the torch to the city (Calgary hosted the Winter Olympics back in 1988). You could really feel the excitement building as the torch approached closer and closer. I also went to see a Calgary Flames - Chicago Blackhawks game. I think I’ll try and make it a habit to see a game whenever I’m on a gig. It’s so much fun - even though they lost.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-12-14T12:05:59-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-84http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-84
A few days before leaving for London for the Messiah performance, I received a frantic call from a member of the Arts & Letters Club who was looking for someone to fill in for another singer who was unable to perform their upcoming recital. (The Arts & Letters Club has been a fixture in Toronto for over a hundred years. Members of the club are people who are interested in, support, are involved with and love the arts and gather to listen to musicians, paint, sculpt and create. Illustrious past members of the club have been Robertson Davies, Vincent Massey, and Sir Ernest MacMillan.) Stephen Ralls and I were both free for the date but only had a couple hours to rehearse our chosen cycle, Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin, before I left for London to sing in the Messiah. The day after the performances in London, Stephen and I stepped onto the stage with a packed house of very knowledgeable, attentive and eager listeners! It’s a wonderful group of people to perform for. But, it was really wonderful to perform the cycle with Stephen. Each time I sing the cycle, my own interpretation grows and deepens but Stephen brought another level to the work. His knowledge and experience with the cycle was truly inspiring. I’m really looking forward to doing the cycle again with him in the future! Perhaps not right after a sing of back to back Messiahs...]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-12-14T11:57:12-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-83http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-83I always love singing Handel’s Messiah! It’s one piece I don’t think I’ll ever tire of hearing. This year, I joined the Fanshawe Chorus London and the Gerald Fagan Singers in their annual performances - one at Centennial Hall and the other at St. Peter’s Basilica, both in London. This year’s soloists were Leslie Fagan, Christina Stelmacovich and Alexander Dobson. It’s really quite amazing to move from the barn-like quality of Centennial Hall to the spectacular acoustics of St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s just so easy to sing in there.

After our rehearsal, Alex took us to Spageddy Eddy’s for dinner. In my three years at Western, I had never gone there for dinner and actually never ever heard of it. I was really good. The portions were huge and the spaghetti was ‘made-to-order’. You could choose whatever you wanted to be added to your pasta - I had meatballs and olives. Mmm! I also had a chance to visit with our good friend, Ted Baerg, and attend Sunday Morning service at Metropolitain United. It’s always nice to go back to London! ]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-12-03T19:38:04-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-80http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-80Straight after The Rake’s Progress, a few of us headed over to Vancouver to participate in the final Lillian Alling workshop held by Vancouver Opera in preparation for their 2010 premiere. The opera is being written by John Estacio with the libretto by John Murrell based on a mysterious woman who called herself Lillian Alling who had come from Russia, landing in New York and traveled all the way across North America to Vancouver and supposedly, back towards Russia. It promises to be a wonderful production directed by Kelly Robinson!

This trip to Vancouver was really exciting and full of events. Vancouver Opera was celebrating their 50th Anniversary and had invited Richard Bonynge to conduct. He had conducted the production almost fifty years ago with his wife Joan Sutherland singing Norma and Marilyn Horne singing Adalgisa. Mr. Bonynge also came to see the final presentation of the Lillian Alling - how cool is that? The Opera.ca conference was also in Vancouver and the Genereal Managers of the opera companies in Canada were in attendance for the opera. It was great to catch up with great friends again! I also went to see the Symphony play one of their Pops concerts with my friend, Steven Reineke, conducting. It was an evening of music from the Silver Screen with themes from Ben-Hur, Gone with the Wind, Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Lawrence of Arabia, to name a few, and they played video clips from the movies on large screens. It was a great concert and to top it all off, the two singers got engaged right there on the stage at the end of the concert! How perfect!

Oh, I also got to see another Canucks game...always a highlight!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-11-21T10:58:29-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-79http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-79I made a return to one of my favourite opera companies to perform Tom in Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress with Pacific Opera Victoria. It was truly a unique, magical and amazing show! The stars seemed to all have aligned to make this a once in a lifetime experience. From day one, we all knew that this was going to be a special production. It was conducted by Timothy Vernon, directed by Glynis Leyshon with the set design by Allan Stichbury, lit by Gerald King and costumes by Nancy Bryant. The set was very simple but effective with several arches each getting smaller as they went towards the back of the stage creating a forced perspective and the costume designs, in the style of the Regency period, really stood out against the modernistic backdrop. One of my costumes was based on the stylings of Beau Brummel.

The cast each were perfect for their roles: Lucia Cesaroni - Anne Trulove, Mia Lennox-Williams - Baba the Turk, Rebecca Hass - Mother Goose, Blaine Hendsbee - Sellem, Greg Dahl - Nick Shadow and Chad Louwerse - Trulove.

The role of Tom is a mammoth sing! Not only is he on the stage for about 90% of the show, but his music can also be quite challenging. I was a bit worried about vocal stamina when I started preparing the piece but quickly discovered that Stravinsky, either consciously or unconsciously, had paced the role of Tom brilliantly. Even though you are singing pretty much the whole time, he gives you vocal breaks where you can back off and save your voice for the big moments of unbridled singing. My favourite section of the opera is the Bedlam Scene in which Tom has become insane. In my opinion, it’s some of the most beautiful and heart-wrenching music ever written in opera.

We had amazing audiences for our five performances! Their energy could be felt on stage and it was a sheer joy to perform for them. As some people know, I don’t read reviews until the show is over and it was so great to know that the critics responded as our audiences had and had really enjoyed the show.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-10-14T22:26:20-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-78http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-78Last year, friends of ours took us to see Erich Kunzel conduct the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in the Pops concert. It was such a fun concert and through another friend of ours, Benoit Boutet, we got to meet Erich. I auditioned for him and he gave me a job on the spot. If only ever audition was like that! He hired me to sing a Lerner & Loewe/Rogers and Hammerstein concert which is probably as ‘Pop’ as this classical singer can get.

Unfortunately, Erich passed away this August of cancer and I never had the chance to sing with him. He will be remembered for his easy going personality, his immediacy with the audience and great humour. He will be sorely missed by many people! Erich’s right hand man, Steven Reineke, conducted the concert and I’m sure Erich was smiling down for it was a great concert!

We had three concerts and I sang great songs like “On the street where you live”, “Come to me, Bend to me”, and “You are sixteen going on seventeen”. I had two wonderful colleagues one of whom I’ve worked with before, Kathleen Brett and my new favourite Captain von Trapp, Daniel Narducci.

The Etobicoke School for the Arts was our exuberant chorus who got the house rockin’ every night. It was so fun to sing “Oh, when the saints” with them. I’ll remember it foroever!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-09-30T14:11:59-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-75http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-75Jim Bourne and I had another opportunity to perform Schubert’s magical setting of Die Schöne Müllerin at York University. Catherine Robbin had been in attendance at the performance at the Elora Festival and asked us if we would be willing to perform it at York. The Tribute Communities Hall at York University is a wonderful, intimate space to perform. They are so lucky to have it!

One thing about being able to sing a piece over and over is the ability to take new risks and discover things in the piece you never realized were there. One of those discoveries actually happened on stage. There is a line in one of the first few songs that foreshadows the events of the end of the cycle and only as I was singing it did I realize what it alluded to. I love when that happens!

I was so happy with the performance and hope to have some of it up on You Tube soon...

]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-09-26T13:41:30-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-74http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-74The Royal Conservatory in Toronto had been closed at it’s Bloor St. location for the building and renovation of it’s new wing and main building for some time. They opened their new fantastic space including sound proof practice rooms, new office spaces, teaching areas, a wonderfully intimate performing space called the Conservatory Theatre, and this week, they finally opened the jewel of the building, the Koerner Hall. The Koerner Hall is a 1,140 seat venue has the been built with acoustics as top priority and it shows! I spoke to many people after the concert and no matter where they were sitting, the consensus was the same - the acoustics were amazing!

The Gala Concert opening the Koerner Hall featured many pieces specifically chosen to highlight the acoustics of the building. The concert was brought together by new Executive Director, Mervon Mehta. On the bill was the world premiere of R. Murray Schafer’s Spirits of the House, Weinberg’s Piano Quartet, Op. 18, Bernstein’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Ligeti’s Etudes pour piano and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy. The evening was conducted by Jean-Philippe Tremblay. Anton Kuerti was the piano soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy along with soprano Erin Wall, mezzo Wallis Giunta, myself, and bass Robert Pomakov as soloists with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and the Royal Conservatory Orchestra.

The evening was a truly a gala event with many notable people in attendance including former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and his wife Aline, Bob Rae, TSO conductor Peter Oundjian, and COC General Director Alexander Neef. Here’s to many more wonderful performances in this great new facility!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-07-24T13:41:00-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-73http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-73 Have I already said that I love singing Carmina Burana? Well, I really do! I know roasting swan isn’t the most beautiful music for the audience to hear but it really isn’t meant to be. It is the roasting swan, after all! It starts on a high ‘A’ and extends to a high ‘D’...the second half of the verse even begins on high C! It’s not for the faint of heart...

This was my second time singing Carmina with the Elora Festival and conductor, Noel Edison. We performed the two piano/percussion version as we had done the first time with much of the same people performing. The two pianists were James Anagnoson and Leslie Kinton, both from the Royal Conservatory in Toronto, Laura Whalen and Peter Barrett singing the soprano and baritone solos. It was a superb evening and it was so great to be back in the barn again.

(pictured is James Anagnoson, Laura Whalen, Peter Barrett and myself)]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-07-04T13:40:22-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-72http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-72
Pavlo Hunka has spearheaded a multi-year project to record the songs of Ukrainian composers. Each summer, one composer is chosen to record and all the writings from that composer are recorded. This summer, Яків Степовий (Yakiv Stepovy) was chosen and I was asked to sing alongside good friends, Krisztina Szabó and Elizabeth Turnbull in some really beautiful trios. I’m really looking forward to hearing the end result!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-06-15T22:01:49-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-70http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-70This week, I joined soprano Laura Whalen, baritone Hugh Russell, conductor Bramwell Tovey, the Vancouver Symphony Orhestra, and the Vancouver Bach Choir and Children’s Chorus for two performances of Carmina Burana at the Orpheum Theatre. The whole show was so fantastic, especially the finale at the end of the show when the “O Fortuna” theme comes back and the orchestra surges to a finish. The choir and orchestra were right in the palm of Maestro Tovey’s hand. It was electrifying - I had goosebumps! Even though the tenor sits for about 30 minutes before he gets to sing and then has to sing painfully high for about three minutes, I really do love singing the Roasted Swan. I know that might be strange to some but it really is a fun piece to do. I even debuted with the Symphony as the Swan in 2005. Also on the program was Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms. I’ve been listening to and learning Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress for upcoming shows with Pacific Opera Victoria in the fall and I was fascinated by the similarity of the themes in both pieces. It also features my favourite instrument - the cello - as the only string section other than the double basses.

Another highlight of the trip was my first run on the sea wall around Stanley Park. I had always wanted to do it. I ran quite late at night and as I turned around the bend, the whole Lion’s Gate bridge was lit up. It was spectacular! As you run under the bridge you really get a sense of how high the bridge really is. It certainly made me forget the blister that was forming on my foot…]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-05-08T20:21:19-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-69http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-69The season closing concert for the Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choir and Symphony this year was Haydn’s Creation in recognition of the 200th Anniversary of his death with conductor Howard Dyck, Soprano Laura Whalen, Baritone Bruce Kelly and myself.

This magnificent work bubbles with humour, descriptive motives, and beautiful songs for the soloists and choir. Every time I perform this piece I am amazed by Haydn’s genius. The ambiguous orchestral description of chaos before the world was created is stunning with the thrilling chord change to C+ at “And there was light”. My favourite line this time was in Bruce’s solo describing the “falling snow” - so tender and soft.

Next season is Howard Dyck’s last season with the choir. He will have been there for 38 years. I have had the great pleasure of doing many concerts with Howard in various venues. He has always been a supportive colleague, a wonderful conductor and an inspirational man. I look forward to seeing what he’s going to get into next. I’m sure there’ll be no stopping him!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-05-25T11:14:54-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-68http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-68 For three weeks this May, I was over in Göttingen, Germany. Göttingen is not a huge city but it boasts the fantastic International Händel Festival. I sang in two concerts performing in Hayes’ Ode to the memory of Mr. Handel and Charpentier’s Chant sur la mort de Joseph Haydn with Dominique Labelle, Thomas Cooley and Nicolas McGegan conducting. The concerts were so fantastic and the orchestra played splendidly. Even the audiences were great. I had never experienced clapping like that in Göttingen...it was relentless and eventually they all began clapping in unison. It’s a thrilling sound! We also traveled up to Hannover to sing some concerts in the Herrenhausen and recorded a CD for release in the fall.

I was also able to travel over to Berlin and visit Edmonton Opera’s Artistic Director, Brian Deedrick who was giving his yearly tour “Berlin with Brian” offered to the attendees of Edmonton Opera. My visit was very short but I was able to see Tannhäuser at the Opera House, see some of the museums, visit Checkpoint Charlie and see bits of the Berlin Wall. I was also blown away by the main train station in Berlin...it’s unbelievable! Berlin is a city is on my “visit again” list. It’s definitely a must-see!

This trip was a great opportunity to brush up on my German. It had been so long since I had been there that I thought I was not going to communicate but it came back really quickly. I had participated in a student exchange in 1993 for three months and studied German in University but when you don’t use it everyday, the immediacy of the language diminishes. But, I do sing a lot in German and it’s been a great way to keep my German active.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-05-18T18:26:16-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-67http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-67On Saturday, Amanda Johnston and I presented a recital of English music at the Heliconian Hall in Toronto. It was a recital in which a portion of the proceeds went to support “Free the Children”. Their aim is to free children from exploitation and poverty around the world.

I originally had wanted to do a Czech/Russian program but after looking at the Czech with a Czech friend of mine, I realized I needed a bit more time with the language than I had. So, I decided to look for music to go with two other cycles I had had in mind, Britten’s Holy Sonnets of John Donne and Tippett’s Boyhood’s End. It was a great opportunity to sing Derek Holman’s Death of Orpheus again (which I had premiered a few years ago) because it fit so nicely with the Britten and Tippett. I had heard Wendy Nielsen sing Louis Andriessen’s Beatles’ song arrangements (see the “Louis Andriessen” post below) and I loved them and Amanda found a great cycle by American composer Jake Heggie called Friendly Persuasions, which would be the Canadian premiere. It turned out to be a great 20th/21st Century program.

We really enjoyed performing the recital and loved every single piece we did. I especially loved the Tippett cantata. It was probably one of the hardest cycles on the program to learn but one of the most rewarding to sing when you know you’ve correctly sung all the rhythm and key changes. I almost wanted to sing it again as an Encore but it’s about 14 minutes long...perhaps a bit too long at the end of a big program.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-04-25T02:12:19-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-66http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-66
Pacific Opera Victoria mounted a beautiful production of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Theatre. Based on the architectural styles of Otto Wagner in Vienna, this production was created with that time period in mind especially, the old station at the Karlsplatz. Timothy Vernon conducted five of the six performance with Giuseppe Pietraroia conducting the last show, Glynis Leyshon directed our superb cast of performers, and John Ferguson designed the show. Since there are a lot of characters, I’ll just list them, in order of appearance:

Colin Ainsworth, Tamino
Lucia Cesaroni, First Lady
Leticia Brewer, Second Lady
Erin Lawson, Third Lady
Hugh Russell, Papageno
Aline Kutan, Queen of the Night
Michel Corbeil, Monostatos
Shannon Mercer, Pamina
Bruce Kelly, High Priest
Uwe Dambruch, Sarastro
Alexandre Sylvestre, First Priest / Guard
Joseph Schnurr, Second Priest / Guard
Marilyn Arsenault, Papagena

One of the most exciting things for me, besides the show, was running in my first 10K competition! I had been running about 7-8K while I was there and thought an extra 2 wouldn’t hurt. Friends of ours were already registered in the run so we thought we’d join them. It was a perfect day for running. It was cool but not cold, there was hardly any wind and the sun was out. The course started in Beacon Hill Park, made its way down along the ocean one way, back the other and right into downtown Victoria for the Finish Line. My time was 57:22. I’m now hooked and looking for my next race to run in.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-04-23T20:21:26-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-65http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-65Last night, I taught a Masterclass for some members of Pacific Opera Victoria’s chorus - Sam Marcaccini, Andrew Buckley, and Andrew Snyder. Sam sang O! du mein holder Abendstern from Tannhäuser, Andrew B sang Se vuol ballare from the Marriage of Figaro and Andrew S sang Dies Bildnis from Die Zauberflöte. They all did such a fantastic job! I also had an opportunity to get together a few days earlier to work for about an hour with each singer since 20 minutes in a masterclass is not usually enough time to work on everything.

The most interesting thing I find about masterclasses is that I learn so much about my own singing by teaching another singer. I find after I teach a masterclass or a lesson, I’m very aware of what I’m doing with my own instrument. But, one of the challenges I enjoy the most is trying to verbalize what I know about singing and my technique to someone else. It’s one thing to know how to sing yourself but then to put it into words is something completely different.

POV’s Executive Director, David Shefsiek, ended the masterclass with an Inside the Actor’s Studio-like question and answer session. It was so much fun to do and I was honoured to have been asked.]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-04-08T13:30:07-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-64http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-64I had the great pleasure of having coffee with the Dutch composer, Louis Andriessen, in Vancouver to talk about a set of songs he wrote which I’ll be singing in a recital on May 16th in Toronto. Andriessen is in Vancouver for a week long string of concerts featuring his music with ‘Music on Main’.

It was a strange coincidence that brought this meeting about. During a rehearsal of the Magic Flute for Pacific Opera Victoria, I was chatting with Artistic Director and our conductor, Tim Vernon, about the recital and the music I had chosen for it and the interesting songs from Andriessen, who I had actually never heard of. He told me about Andriessen and his music. The next day, I took the paper that was outside my hotel room with me to rehearsal and there in the Arts Section was an article about Andriessen and the concerts he was involved with. I thought it would be great to meet him so Tim and our director, Glynis Leyshon, called up David Paye, the director of ‘Music on Main’. David set up a meeting for us and I flew over to Vancouver. It was so great to get a first hand account of the cycle, its history, how he wanted the piece to be performed and to get his permission to do them. He has reservations about giving the cycle out because he intended them to be performed a certain way and hasn’t published them for that very reason. I now hope I can live up to his expectations!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-03-22T00:12:12-04:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-63http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-63Last week, I sang Nadir in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers produced by Edmonton Opera and held in the glorious Winspear Centre. I had sung the famous duet many times before and had sung Nadir’s aria “Je crois entendre encore” but never the whole opera and, truth be told, I had never listened to the opera until this production. What a beautiful opera it is! If you’ve never listened to it, go out and get a recording. It’s well worth the money.

The setting in the Winspear made it quite a magical night. We had a simple set of lava-like looking rocks falling into a black ocean with white curtains draped with some netting as the backdrop. The orchestra was behind the whole set with our wonderful Maestro Robert Dean projected on monitors around the auditorium. The chorus was up in the choir lofts up behind the orchestra.

We only had two weeks to mount this show but our director, Brian Deedrick, quickly sped us through the staging and giving us ample time to sink into our characters. Amy Hansen was the lovely Leila, Greg Dahl was the tormented Zurga, Andrew Stewart was the fierce Nourabad and I was Nadir. Since the chorus was not part of the action in this production we had 4 super Supers to be representatives of crowds of people.

I must say, the Winspear has to be one the best acoustics around to sing in. I’ve sung a few Messiahs and other concerts in there and every time I am amazed at how well the sound carries right to the back of the theatre. If only all concert venues were built like that!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-02-28T02:48:04-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-62http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-62Edmonton Opera hosted their annual Opera Gala at the Hotel MacDonald. The event was a fundraiser for Edmonton Opera and included such honoured guests as Mayor Stephen Mandel and MInister of Culture and Community Spirit, Lindsay Blackett.

The theme of the evening was based on the upcoming opera Les Pêcheurs de Perles (The Pearl Fishers) so everything, including the menu, was sea related. The hors d’oeuvres were a chilled seafood and vegetable presentation, the soup was called Nadir’s Dream (which is my character in the opera), the main course, called The Duet, was cinnamon chocolate dusted beef tenderloin and thyme grilled lamb chops with vegetables and mash potatoes, and to finish off the desert was a spectacular Sri Lankan vanilla and coconut ice cream with lemon sponge cake nestled in a chocolate scallop shell with white chocolate sea foam. Mmmm.

Not only were there fantastic prizes to be won and bought including chocolate covered pearls, a Tag Heuer watch, gift baskets and prizes but also, there was great entertainment which was the cast of Pearl Fishers! Amy Hansen, who plays Leila, Gregory Dahl, who plays Zurga, Andrew Stewart, who plays Nourabad, and myself sang our favourite pieces which included the famous duet “O font du temple saint” from the opera. At the end of the evening, Amy and myself were auctioned off to sing another piece raising approximately $4000 with a matching grant from the province. I ended off the evening singing “Bring Him Home” from Les Miserables. What a night to remember!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-02-08T12:27:33-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-61http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-61We opened Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment with great pageantry! They rolled out the red carpet, flanked by the Lord Strathcona's Horse Royal Canadian, for the French ambassador to Canada, His Excellency, Mr. François Delattre and other dignitaries. Edmonton Opera hosted a pre-performance reception for His Excellency, which included Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel, diplomats, and community leaders. Too bad we didn’t get to go but we did need to start preparing for the opera everyone was coming to see.

We had a fantastic cast! I know I always say it’s a fantastic cast but it really always is. If this one had been recorded, I would have bought it myself. Andriana Chuchman was the Daughter of the Regiment, Marie, Ted Baerg was Sulpice, Sonya Gosse was Marie’s mother, M. de Berkenfeld and Chad Louwerse was her sidekick, Hortensius. Rob Herriot directed and Peter Dala conducted.

Our set was actually used in 1974 for the same show in which Beverly Sills sang the role of Marie (check it out here). It made you feel like you were in some Disney show but I guess that matched the over-the-top antics that were happening on stage.

One of the most nerve-wracking but fun moments I had was a quick change that happened on stage. My first outfit was a simple peasant costume which was dressed over bright blue army pants. During the first part of my High C aria, the peasant shirt and vest was ripped off by the soldiers, leaving me in just my brown pants and no shirt, then the French flag was brought in front to cover me up after which I rip off my brown pants (which were tear-away pants - everyone needs a pair!). The men then brought me a soldiers jacket behind the flag and buttoned it up without the audience seeing. The other soldiers, meanwhile, were pretending to measure, cut and sew me a new outfit. Just as I begin the High C’s, my cap is given to me, the flag is taken away and I’m revealed as a soldier of the regiment. It worked like clockwork every night!

I love this role and can’t wait to sing it again!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-02-02T17:40:18-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-60http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-60Andriana Chuchman (Marie, in the Daughter of the Regiment) and I, helped out Brian Deedrick, Artistic Director of Edmonton Opera, cook a beautiful Risotto a la Champagne for CityTV here in Edmonton. Watch the video here!]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-02-02T02:42:45-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-59http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-59I had the opportunity to sing the American and Canadian national anthems at the Edmonton Oilers game to a crowd of 16,000+. What an experience! I can sing a three hour opera without feeling the slightest bit nervous but ask me to sing two small anthems and watch me shake.

I arrived at 10am for my run through on the ice but had to wait until about 10:30 because they were having problems with the ice and had to keep flooding it. When the ice was finished, I walked out to centre ice, started the American anthem and forgot the words right after “Oh! Say can you see by the dawn’s early light”! After pulling myself together, I continued and sang the rest of both anthems without a hitch.

The game started an hour later, in which I spent every last second going over the words in my head. But, like an audition, the longer you wait to sing the more nervous you get. Surprisingly, about five minutes before I was to go on, I became really relaxed and thought to myself, “just enjoy this!”. They called my name on the loud speakers and I walked out, “Please welcome, Colin Ainsworth, national recording artist.” REALLY? That made me chuckle.

As I sang the American anthem, the words rolled of my tongue. No nervousness at all! I just took every moment in and enjoyed it. Then, what a proud moment it is to be able to lead a huge group of people in singing the Canadian national anthem. I picked a nice high key just so I could finish with a bang. It was awesome!

After singing, one of the ice groomers said to me, “You sounded like a one tonne bag of hammers; it was awesome!!” I think it was a good comment...]]>colin@colinainsworth.caNone2009-01-25T18:11:34-05:00http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-58http://www.colinainsworth.ca/files/2009#unique-entry-id-58Today, the cast of Edmonton Opera’s production of La Fille du Régiment sang at the Opera Brunch held at the Chateau Lacombe Hotel. It was a fun and eclectic set of songs ranging from opera arias like “Una voce poco fa” and “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” to Ukrainian and Newfoundland folk songs. After singing, we had our own brunch up on the top floor in the revolving restaurant with great views of Edmonton.

Ted Baerg and I sang the Pearl Fishers duet, which is my next show with Edmonton Opera. It feels like I’ve come full circle because Ted was and is the head of Opera at Western where I spent three years of my undergrad. It had been my first opera and his first year at the school. It was so great to sing with him! We had actually sung together in Glimmerglass in Le Portrait de Manon but it’s always great to sing with such a great singer and performer.]]>