Opera memorial fund named for late designer Barry Gilson to support future The Flight of the Hummingbird productions
Tributes roll in for colibrettist and codesigner of the opera for young audiences
Maxime Goulet, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, Glynis Leyshon, and Barry Gilson (right) at The Flight of the Hummingbird Workshop in 2018. Photo by Nadia Zheng, courtesy Pacific Opera Victoria
PACIFIC OPERA Victoria Foundation has announced it is accepting donations to its Memorial Fund to recognize the life and work of Barry Gilson.
All funds collected will support future productions of the Vancouver Opera in Schools and Pacific Opera Victoria’s Flight of the Hummingbird.
Barry Gilson
Barry Gilson was co-librettist and co-designer, with artist Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, of that opera for young audiences, co-commissioned and co-produced by Pacific Opera Victoria and Vancouver Opera. In it, the animals of the forest are inspired to come together by Dukdukdiya, the Hummingbird, to save their beautiful home from a raging fire. Vancouver Opera and Pacific Opera Victoria have been streaming it for free here for both educators and families.
Gilson died peacefully on March 21 age 64. “We are deeply saddened by the loss of our friend and colleague,” Vancouver Opera posted on social media this week. “Our hearts go out to Barry Gilson’s family and love ones. Thanking him for every thing he contributed to society and the arts and culture industry,” posted Vancouver Civic Theatres.
“His creativity spanned many disciplines from design-architecture, public art, musical theatre to his earlier business endeavours of record keeping and quantitative technologies. He was a collaborator and a leader,” his obituary reads.
Barry was born and raised in South Yorkshire, England and went on to become the principal of award-winning architectural interiors company RED Design. He worked in strategic planning, business unit development, design, project management, and facilities planning. From his teenage years in musical theatre to is role as president of the Burnaby Art Gallery, as founding member of a theatre company, and partner in Y Public Art—a large scale public art design and installation company—with Yahgulanaas, the arts played a major role in his life.
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