Vancouver Opera to host two free outdoor concerts downtown, September 18 and 19

Afternoon shows span Rossini, Chopin, Previn, and Tesori

Soprano Heather Pawsey. Photo by Maggie MacPherson

Vancouver Opera presents free concerts from 1 to 4 pm on September 18 and 19 outside. the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

VANCOUVER OPERA IS celebrating the return of live performances with a full weekend of free outdoor performances at šxʷƛ̓exən Xwtl’a7shn (the Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza).

Six shows happen between on September 18 and 19, with performances running from 1 to 4 p.m. each day.

Artists include members of the Vancouver Opera chorus and orchestra, as well as performers from UBC Opera and Astrolabe Musik Theatre (the latter under the artistic direction of longtime VO Chorus member Heather Pawsey).

On Saturday, mezzo-soprano Simran Claire, tenor Sergio Augusto, and pianist Tina Chang kick things off at 1 pm with favourites from Rossini, Tosti, and Mozart. They’re followed at 2 pm by A Fleet of Flutes, a solo flute concert with Anne-Elise Keefer. And pianist Evgenia Rabinovich wraps things up that day with a series of serene Chopin solo pieces.

On Sunday, soprano Heather Pawsey is accompanied by flutist Brenda Fedoruk and pianist Perri Lo at 1 pm, as they perform works from Chaminade, Previn, and Tesori. At 2 pm, singers Rebecca Collett and Leah Field, with pianist Richard Epp, perform a selection of German duets. And at 3 pm, UBC Opera singers Leila Kirves, Connor Hoppenbrouwers, Gabriel Chona, Neil Craighead, Ian McCloy, Allison Anderson, and pianist Richard Epp, perform a wide cross-section of operatic hits, all under the direction of Nancy Hermiston.

Shows happen rain or shine, with limited seating on the plaza.

As Stir recently reported, Vancouver Opera is readying for a full return to the Queen Elizabeth stage, with the 2021–2022 season launching in December with Gluck’s Orfeo Ed Euridice, in a collaboration with Ne. Sans Opera and The Dance Centre, by Christoph Willibald Gluck.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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