Jacques Lacombe

Gregory Dahl

David Pomeroy

Neil Craighead

Joyce El-Khoury

Peter Monaghan

Callum Alden

Mihnea Nitu

Willy Myles-Grenzberg

Brenna Corner

Vancouver Opera

Passion, politics, and betrayal collide in Tosca—a breathtaking opera where love burns bright against the dark tides of tyranny. Set amidst upheaval and war in 1800s Rome, the fiery singer Floria Tosca is caught in a deadly triangle between her beloved, the revolutionary artist Mario Cavaradossi, and Baron Scarpia, the corrupt, sadistic chief of police.

Puccini’s masterful score will crackle with emotion under the baton of VO Music Director Jacques Lacombe, as Floria navigates a brutal game of power and sacrifice where even her voice—the thing she holds most sacred—becomes a weapon. This new co-production with Pacific Opera Victoria is directed by their celebrated Artistic Director, Brenna Corner, with a cast that includes baritone Gregory Dahl, who has recently stunned VO audiences as both Marcello in La Bohème and Don Pasquale, David Pomeroy, who The New York Times called “a powerful, agile tenor,” and the captivating Lebanese-Canadian soprano Joyce El-Khoury in the title role.

More than a tale of doomed love, Tosca is a searing portrait of resistance in the face of oppression, where art and faith are tested against cruelty and injustice. It’s opera at its most visceral—intimate yet grand, deeply human and tragically heroic. In Tosca, the personal becomes political, and every choice cuts deep.

Tosca

Queen Elizabeth Theatre

Step into a night of mystery and music as Sarabande, the advanced adult chamber choir of the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs, hosts a spooky, masquerade-themed concert this leadup to Halloween night.

This intimate event promises to sell out quickly—come celebrate with our singers in masquerade-inspired costume and style! The program features a wide range of music, blending classical, contemporary, pop, and musical theatre into one unforgettable evening.

Masquerade

Poulenc’s searing one-woman opera, semi-staged and up close. Part of Vancouver Opera’s VOICES series.

The phone rings. She knows who it is, and she knows how this ends.

For five years she has loved a man who was never fully hers. Tonight he is calling to say goodbye. Alone with the line, and surrounded by the remnants of the life they shared, she pleads, deflects, jokes, and lies. She holds on as long as she can, struggling between the future she imagined and the one she now has to face by herself.

Francis Poulenc’s La Voix humaine is one of the most intense works in the operatic repertoire. It has one singer, one telephone, and a text by Jean Cocteau. We only ever hear her side of the conversation, and somehow that tells us everything. The silences hurt as much as the words.

This semi-staged recital brings the opera into an intimate space, close enough to catch every hesitation and every breath she can’t quite steady. Whether this is your first opera or your fiftieth, it’s a performance you won’t shake easily.

La Voix humaine: One Woman, One Last Phone Call

She'd like to hatch her eggs all by herself, thank you very much. So she puts on her best bonnet and shawl and sets off for the woods, where a very polite gentleman with very bushy whiskers is delighted to help.

Storytime at the Opera returns this fall with Beatrix Potter's most trusting duck. Join us for a musical, movement-filled morning with storyteller Gillian Hunter-Gibbs, soprano Eve-Lyn de la Haye, and pianist Perri Lo.

Storytime at the Opera

If you’ve heard of Figaro, chances are you’ve heard of him a number of times in a row (Figaro...Figaro...Figaro...Fiiiiiiiiiiiigaro!!!). Figaro is something of a fixer, and not just of hair. In this adventure, the industrious barber works to unite two young lovers, Count Almaviva and Rosina, but to do so, he must also thwart Dr. Bartolo’s plan to make Rosina his bride, thereby pocketing her considerable dowry.

Arguably the most buffa opera of all opera buffas, The Barber of Seville is a joyful, high energy romp that delights the eyes and ears while offering a much-needed counterbalance to the deep, dark doldrums of a Vancouver midwinter.

In a colourful reimagining by the dynamic Canadian creative duo of director Morris Panych and designer Ken MacDonald, Barber’s fast-paced plot is kept aloft by the unrivalled comedic chemistry between Cesare Sterbini’s libretto and Rossini’s energetic, endlessly inventive melodies, steered here by Maestro Leslie Dala.

Admittedly, opera can lean a bit towards the tragic, so it may surprise some that in a story full of trickery, scheming, and lovers separated by a despicable villain…everything ends well! Save that pit in your stomach for another day and enjoy a sparkling, laugh-out-loud comedy ride packed with irresistible melodies, scissor-sharp scheming, and Rossini’s most famous tunes.

The Barber of Seville

Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata premiered in 1853 and has since become one of opera’s most beloved works. Today, it stands as the second-most-presented opera worldwide since 2022—an enduring favourite whose popularity shows no signs of slowing.

A sweeping story of impossible love, set to some of Verdi’s most emotionally-charged music, La Traviata tells of Violetta, a courtesan desired, elevated, and ultimately undone by the society that fixes its gaze on her. Alfredo sees her through the soft blur of infatuation, believing he alone can capture her truth. Alfredo’s father, however, sees Violetta as a “fallen woman” and demands that she break off her relationship with Alfredo for the sake of his family’s reputation. Heartbroken sacrifice made, her health worsens. Alfredo rushes to her side, but is it too late to undo what’s done?

Helmed by internationally acclaimed Vancouver-based director Idan Cohen, this new co-production with Pacific Opera Victoria closes out 2026–2027 with a striking stage design that draws from Pop Art, classic Hitchcock aesthetics, and mass media culture, while Vancouver Opera’s esteemed Music Director Jacques Lacombe steers Verdi’s score through the intoxicating desire lines of romance, high drama, and exquisite melody.