Open House for the Opera Round Table

This week, we hosted an open house for our Opera Round Table members. This was the first chance for our donors to check out our new home at The Michael and Inna O'Brian Centre for Vancouver Opera.

Carmen Murphy with two ORT members

In the centre of this photo is Carmen Murphy, our Development Manager, Individual Giving. 

Carmen acts as a 'concierge' to our ORT donors - from parking passes to dinner arrangements, to finding the best ways for donors to help VO produce the performances they love.

Behind Carmen (and two beloved members of our ORT family) is the Green Room, where artists can take a break from rehearsals.

Jeff Sodowsky and an ORT member

Here's Jeff Sodowsky, our Chief Development Officer, with an ORT member. Jeff is the head of VO's development team and works closely with Carmen to make sure all our donors are well looked-after.

In the background is one of our two staff kitchens. Watch for that coffee machine to be working overtime once West Side Story rehearsals start next month!

Michael Grice leads a tour

Michael Grice, our Director of Education, leads a tour through Wardrobe. 

Michael oversees several programs that bring music into schools, including Music! Words! Opera!, Work Experience, Opera Trunks, Dress Rehearsals, and The Opera Experience. Michael also works closely with Melissa, our Vancouver Opera In Schools touring program manager. Check out the links if you're a teacher interested in bringing these great programs to your school!

Parvin Mirhady explains Wardrobe

Parvin Mirhady, our Head of Costumes and Costume Consultant, shows our ORT members the Wardrobe department. For every production, Parvin heads a team of cutters and sewers who design, build and/or alter costumes for principal singers and the VO Chorus. For Aida, we'll have a whopping 75 singers in the Chorus - all of whom will need outfits!

Often the costumes will come from another opera company already made, which means they just need alterations to fit the cast. But sometimes, when we're staging a brand-new production,  there are no costumes - so they all have to be designed and built from scratch. That's what Parvin did for our 2010 production of Nixon in China.