COC Media Releases

Toronto, Ontario � The Canadian Opera Company invites the public to Lotfi Mansouri in conversation with COC General Director, Alexander Neef. This special event celebrates the launch of former COC General Director, Lotfi Mansouri's new book, Lotfi Mansouri: An Operatic Journey. This event is free to the public and is held on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. The event is general admission with limited seating. Doors open at 4:45 p.m.

Legendary throughout the opera world, Lotfi Mansouri has collaborated with some of the industry's best and this memoir �lifts the curtain and invites the reader to see how magic is created on stage.� Lotfi Mansouri: An Operatic Journey is priced at $39.95 and can be purchased at the event where Mr. Mansouri will sign books after the discussion. Lotfi Mansouri: An Operatic Journey is also available at the COC Opera Shop throughout the COC season.

The Iranian-born opera director and manager was the General Director of the Canadian Opera Company from 1976 to 1988 and of the San Francisco Opera from 1988 to 2001. In 1983, under Mr. Mansouri's direction, the COC invented SURTITLES�, the English translations of foreign libretti projected above the proscenium during performances. Today a version of this innovation is found virtually in all opera houses throughout North America and Europe. In 2009 Mr. Mansouri received the Opera Honors award of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Toronto, Ontario � The Canadian Opera Company announces the return of its acclaimed Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre presented by National Bank Financial Group at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. Inaugurated in 2006, the 10-month festival of concerts and dance events celebrates its fifth season with an exciting and diverse line-up of artists and programming that has something for everyone. Taking place in one of Toronto's most vibrant cultural spaces, the 2010/2011 season runs from late September to early June with performances on Tuesdays and Thursdays at noon and some Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are distributed at the door 30 minutes prior to the performance on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability.

 

The Free Concert Series in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre presented by National Bank Financial Group begins on September 21, 2010 at 12 p.m. with the annual Meet the Young Artists program. Under the direction of Elizabeth Upchurch, the singers of the Canadian Opera Company's 2010/2011 Ensemble Studio kick off the vocal series with a concert of their favourite operatic arias.

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Toronto, Ontario � The Canadian Opera Company's 2010/2011 season features two brand new productions of opera classics, two COC premieres, three not-to-be-missed productions from around the world, and a line-up of internationally-renowned singers and artists. The company presents two new productions of operatic favourites Aida and The Magic Flute, COC premieres of the 20th-century opera Nixon in China and Gluck's seminal Orfeo ed Euridice, as well as the long-awaited returns of Death in Venice, La Cenerentola and Ariadne auf Naxos.

New for the 2010/2011 season, the Canadian Opera Company offers up to 60 Standing Room spaces for only $12 each, for all opera performances. Standing Room spaces go onsale at 11 a.m. on the day of each performance.

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