The season opens with the well-loved classic, La Traviata, in a sumptuous new production followed by another opera fan pleaser, The Barber of Seville. The West Coast premiere of Another Brick in the Wall: The Opera, based on the lyrics and music of Roger Waters, opens the 4th annual Vancouver Opera Festival.
Vancouver Opera Presents La Traviata
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton St, Vancouver) When: October 17-27, 2019 with evening and matinée performances Tickets: Available online now or by calling (604) 683-0222
La Traviata, a glorious work that deserves to be revisited time and again, was last performed eight years ago at Vancouver Opera. This perennial favourite has been given a brand-new look and features a terrific cast. In an unprecedented collaboration, five Canadian opera companies have joined forces to produce lavish sets and costumes inspired by the decadent music hall scene of 1920s Paris. The production, directed by Alain Gauthier and designed by Christina Poddubiuk, has already made stops in Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Victoria and will go on to Montreal after Vancouver.
The Vancouver Opera cast includes Canadian Emily Dorn as Violetta, a famous Parisian courtesan who is consumed both by love and a life-threatening illness. Tenor Andrew Haji, who delighted audiences as Nemorino in last year’s production of L’Elisir d’amore, is the love-struck Alfredo. Canadian conductor Yves Abel, whose international career spans more than twenty years–including appearances at the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House and the Vienna State Opera–makes his Vancouver Opera debut.
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLES™ projected above the stage
Win Tickets
I have a pair of tickets to give away to opening night of La Traviata on October 17, 2019 — here’s how you can enter to win:
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win tickets to opening night of #TraviataVO @VancouverOpera http://ow.ly/2Ec330pBDAM” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, October 2, 2019. Follow Vancouver Opera on Twitter and Facebook for more information about the season and festival.
The influences in Oliver’s wine come from the old world, new world, the terroir of the South Okanagan and beyond. It seems like every time I visit Canada’s Wine Capital, I discover a new fact, a new flavour, and even a new wine! On my recent expedition with ZenSeekers, here are just a few of the wines I sipped, grapes I tasted, and varietals I discovered:
4 Wines You’ll Find in Oliver
Auxerrois: A sibling of Chardonnay, I tasted my first Auxerrois grapes at Gehringer Brothers Estate Winery along the Golden Mile Bench. Originating from the Alsace region, Luxembourg and western Germany, it’s dry with a touch of sweetness and is a real crowd-pleaser.
Big Sister BC Lower Mainland (“Big Sisters BCLM”) is hosting an evening to celebrate two amazing women in our community on October 19th. The 5th annual Luminary Award Soirée will engage more than 500 supporters and feature a raffle, silent auction, three course dinner and live band.
2018 Luminary Award Recipient Andrea Thomas-Hill and family
Each year, the Luminary Award honours an outstanding individual, male or female, who has distinguished themselves as a mentor in our community. Big Sisters BCLM is thrilled to announce that this year, they will be honouring not one but two incredible women who, both individually and together, contribute significantly to our communities.
Luminary Award Recipients
Christina Anthony and Tracey McVicar are the recipients of this year’s Luminary Award. In addition to being community and business leaders individually, they are the best of friends. Christina and Tracey share many of the same values, with mentorship and philanthropy being at the heart of everything they do. They team up together to make a difference in our community and they also support each other in their individual business and community endeavours.
Inspired by the commitment and drive of female entrepreneurs, Christina founded the BC Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (“FWE”) in 2002 as a non-profit to provide education and mentorship to women entrepreneurs. She is a Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Odlum Brown Limited, where she leads and mentors a team of seven and provides investment advice and portfolio management to many families and individuals in the community. As the Chair of the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation board, Christina is committed to creating a sustainable long-term strategy to support the ever-growing health care needs in our province.
Tracey is the Managing Partner at CAI Capital Partners, where she leads a team of private equity professionals who partner with entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. She is a past director of BC Hydro and a current member of the board at Teck Resources. In addition to her business commitments, Tracey is active in the community as a member of the UBC Sauder Faculty Advisory Board, a director of the Fraser Institute, a member of the Big Sisters Honourary Advisory Board and Science World’s Chair’s Council. She is also the founder of Golf for Good, an annual golf tournament now in its 13th year that has raised over $2,000,000 for non-profit organizations (including our own) that help women, children and communities in BC. Tracey is a past director of the FWE and the UBC & VGH HospitalFoundation.
The friends are proud alumni of the UBC Portfolio Management Foundation program at the Sauder School of Business, where they originally met almost 25 years ago. These two inspiring women focus their efforts on the betterment of women and girls by giving them the tools, training and support they need to reach their full potential at every stage in life. They are active sponsors of women pursuing finance careers or their next board position, and they have recently begun investing together in women-owned businesses. They say that while they are friends, they have been mentoring each other over all these years, each helping the other when they need wise counsel or advice.
#MentoringMatters now more than ever. Today’s youth face some of the most challenging issues of our time. Big Sisters girls 7-17 often need the support of a young adult when life gets tough. The Luminary Award gala celebrates the impact mentorship has on inspiring girls to achieve more and believe in themselves.
Follow Big Sisters on Facebook and Twitter for more information. Miss604 is a proud blog partner of Big Sisters BC Lower Mainland. #BigSistersSoiree2019 #MentoringMatters
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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — Published in partnership with ZenSeekers and Honda Canada Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
The Vernon Fall Festival is coming up October 1 to 31, 2019 and I recently got a preview of some of the autumnal fun when I was in the area (picking apples and exploring pumpkin castles) with ZenSeekers.
Vernon Fall Festival Fun
The Apple Harvest Festival and the Family Pumpkin Festival are happening at Davison Orchards. Take a tractor ride out to the pumpkin patch and pick your favourite pumpkin straight from the field. Visit (and feed) the farm animals, run and play in Crazy Cow Kids Corral, relax with a Spiced Apple Cider, taste pumpkin cake, muffin or pie, and listen to the music from the Pumpkin Butter band. Here you’ll also find the aforementioned Pumpkin Castle, and an amazing seasonal shop with everything from home decor to pumpkin pie. On October 19th, don’t miss the Tourism Vernon Giant Pumpkin Weigh-In!
Now it’s funny, earlier this summer I was at the Field of Dreams in Iowa (near where John grew up) then in late September I went to the site of the Field of SCREAMS at Historic O’Keefe Ranch in Vernon. Grimm’s Fairy Tales turn into nightmares across three full corn mazes at this historic site. This event is not suitable for young children. You can also join Ghost Tours of Vernon host, Gabriel David Sumegi Newman the 2nd for a spine tingling and entertaining tour through the haunted buildings at O’Keefe Ranch.
BONUS! Want to learn all about the flora and fauna of Vernon? Visit the Allan Brooks Nature Centre next time you’re in the area. From their perch above the city, you’ll learn all about the ecology of the area – any maybe you’ll even be able to go pond-dipping!
Uncover more about the Okanagan’s offers for adventure. Check out ZenSeekers #OkanaganExploring Expedition page to see how you can have an adventure like this.
Thanks to the Honda Canada for getting me around on this expedition in the Canadian-made CR-V. Honda has been building cars in Canada for the last 50 years! #HondaCanada50
Celebrate homegrown talent and help create a buzz for BC films at the Vancouver International Film Festival (“VIFF”) September 26 to October 11, 2019. In advance of the festival, the #MustSeeBC campaign invites audiences to preview trailers and promote BC filmmakers across social networks.
#MustSeeBC at VIFF 2019
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
Part of the Sea to Sky programming stream presented by TELUS, the BC Spotlight film series sees Vancouver play an integral role in Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn’s The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, and the World Premiere of Anthony Shim’s Daughter (BC Spotlight Gala).
Meanwhile, the Okanagan takes centre stage in Ash, the World Premiere of Andrew Huculiak’s much-anticipated follow-up to 2014’s Violent, and doubles as the Middle East in Red Snow (World Premiere), the first narrative feature by Indigenous creator, Marie Clements.
Two locally produced documentaries examine the devotion demanded of parents: the World Premiere of Ying Wang’s The World Is Bright and Julia Ivanova’s My Dads, My Moms and Me. The complementary When We Walk, directed by former Vancouverite Jason DaSilva, will screen in VIFF’s True North series. Finally, VIFF favourite Charles Wilkinson returns with the World Premiere of Haida Modern, a portrait of the world-renowned artist Robert Davidson.
Until September 25, 2019 use #MustSeeBC across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and you’ll be entered in daily prize draws for tickets.
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open
This year Miss604 is proud to be the film sponsor of The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open, starring Violet Nelson, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, written and directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn.
Discovering Rosie (Violet Nelson), a pregnant teenager, sobbing and barefoot on a rainy East Vancouver street, Áila (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) swiftly intercedes, initially offering shelter in her own apartment before working feverishly to get the girl access to proper support networks so that she needn’t return to her abusive home. As these two Indigenous women embark on a revelatory odyssey to a safe house, they must confront society’s assumptions about them, overcome their preconceptions about one another, and reflect on their own respective self-images.
Unfolding in a series of masterful long takes shot on 16mm by cinematographer Norm Li, this deft drama from Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn (Never Steady, Never Still) employs a riveting combination of intimacy and immediacy. The urgency of the “real time” pacing is complemented by the inherent drama of their tenuous bond. A small-scale, high-stakes story shaped by larger socioeconomic and cultural forces, The Body Remembers is one of the most significant narrative films this city has produced.
Win Tickets
I have 2 pairs of tickets to give away The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open on Saturday, September 28, 2019 at 6:00pm at the Vancouver Playhouse. Here’s how you can enter to win:
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Click below to post an entry on Twitter
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win tickets The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open – @BodyRemembers #MustSeeBC at @VIFFest #VIFF2019 http://ow.ly/a6vz30pAKXX” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
Follow VIFF on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more information about the festival, its events, special guests, and films. I will draw 3 contest winners at 6:00pm on Thursday, September 26, 2019.
