Update browser for a secure Made experience

It looks like you may be using a web browser version that we don't support. Make sure you're using the most recent version of your browser, or try using of these supported browsers, to get the full Made experience: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.

Buy Tickets Tickets from just $45
Donate

Company-in-Residence

Opera 5 named Canadian Opera Company's newest Company-in-Residence.

The two-year artistic residency will commence on July 1, 2025, with one of the major collaborations of the partnership being the creation of an operatic work slated for presentation at the Canadian Opera Company.

The COC’s Company-in-Residence program has been in place since 2016; through it, the COC is able to offer support and industry guidance to local opera companies, helping to ensure a flourishing environment for the art form to evolve. 

Opera 5’s leadership team is comprised of General Director & Founding Member Rachel Krehm, Artistic Director Jessica Derventzis, Music Director Evan Mitchell, and Programs Manager Jaclyn Grossman. Throughout the residency, the company will receive mentorship and guidance from COC leadership, helping Opera 5 programming reach all new audiences and supporting its ongoing work to establish a sustainable future and long-term success.

Learn more about Opera 5's upcoming programming at opera5.ca

Jaclyn Grossman

Programs Manager

Rachel Krehm

General Director & Founding Member

A multifaceted artist, Rachel Krehm is a soprano, and a co-founder and the current General Director of Opera 5. As a performer she works in opera, new music, art song, improvisation, and voice and web-series acting, and is a writer and producer.

Jessica Derventzis

Artistic Director

Jessica Derventzis is a Stage Director, Dramatic Coach, and Dramaturge based in Toronto. Rounding out her portfolio, Jessica is also a licensed Funeral Director and volunteer chauffeur for Toronto Cat Rescue. Jessica is a champion of new opera, and adores working with young artists and changing the landscape of opera in Canada!

Evan Mitchell

Music Director

Evan Mitchell is a Conductor and current Music Director of the Kingston Symphony, who has a strong passion for making classical music accessible to all audiences. He is passionate about and actively involved in writing, recording, and producing behind-the-scenes concert videos, podcasts, and children’s music programming.

Past Participants

Against the Grain Theatre

Against the Grain Theatre (2016-2018)

Established in 2010, Against the Grain Theatre (ATG) is an award-winning Canadian opera company committed to revitalizing the operatic art form by presenting an eclectic array of musical works in unconventional spaces and innovative ways. With a mandate to create and introduce audiences to outside-the-box opera experiences, ATG performs fresh, daring reinterpretations of classical repertoire to create a thrilling, intimate, unforgettable experience shared between artists and audiences. In 2016, Against the Grain Theatre was named the Canadian Opera Company’s inaugural Company-in-Residence, with the COC providing vital insights, guidance, and support as the company transitioned from emerging to established. Against the Grain Theatre has gone to produce a number of innovative opera experiences including Messiah/Complex, a livestreamed reimagining of the Handel classic and a collaboration with the COC in 2021 to produce a filmed interpretation of Mozart’s Requiem, a musical passage out of the darkest days of the pandemic.

Amplified Opera

Amplified Opera (2021-2023)

Amplified Opera was founded in 2019 with a primary mission of bringing performers from equity-seeking groups to more opera stages. They became the Canadian Opera Company’s Disruptors-in-Residence in 2021, with the unique title to better reflect the collaboration’s key goal of tackling the lack of diversity in opera head on. As with all its company residencies, the COC provided mentorship, administrative support, and other resources to help Amplified Opera on its journey of artistic growth. In 2022, The Queen In Me premiered at the Canadian Opera Company Theatre, coproduced by Amplified Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Nightwood Theatre, and Theatre Gargantua; the single-performer show, helmed by Teiya Kasahara, was an electrifying exploration of the many ways that race, gender, and sexuality are policed in the opera industry and was hailed by The Globe and Mail as “a call-out of epic proportions.”