20 Questions with James Westman

What do Elvis, Socrates and Willy Wonka have in common? They've all influenced baritone James Westman in some way! Before you come and hear James perform one of his signature roles in La Traviata, take a minute to learn a bit about him as he answers 20 Questions.

1. Guilty musical pleasure? Cuban music to escape with and cook to (figure out my definition of cookin'!!) Jim Reeves (what a voice!) and Eminem - a modern day Shakespeare!

2. Where do you love to sing?
On the home heritage farm at the back of the bush.

3. What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Watching my boys play hockey or listen to them play violin and cello!

4. To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
That's a secret...but a well enjoyed one at that!

5. Who are your favourite heroes/heroines of fiction?
Jesus Christ

6. Who are your favourite characters in history?
Albert Einstein for his mind, Gandhi for his patience, and Socrates, the greatest teacher.

7. Who are your favourite heroes/heroines in real life?
Jesus Christ

8. Who is your favourite author?
Tolstoy, Shakespeare, and Melville

9. Your favourite musician?
Glenn Gould

10. Your favourite composer?
Bach

11. What quality do you most admire in a person?
Grace

12. Your favourite virtue?
Humility

13. Your favourite occupation?
To have a successful chocolate store - just like Willy Wonka!

14. What did you want to be as a child?
Hockey player. No - hockey superstar!

15. Your most marked characteristic?
Hard-working

16. What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty

17. For what would you like to be remembered?
I gave society the best of me and the most of me!

18. What natural gift would you most like to possess?
Senior division body builder champion! (Ha, good luck!)

19. What is your motto?
Life is too short - live each day like it is your last!

20. What non-opera song do you rock?
All Elvis tunes! Thang ya very much!!

20 Questions with David Pomeroy

When he's not breaking hearts with his stunning tenor voice, David Pomeroy (Alfredo in our upcoming La Traviata) can be found rocking out to Queen and crafting delicious meals on the barbecue. Find out more about David in today's 20 Questions.

1. Guilty musical pleasure?
Heavy metal and folk music. A little Iron Maiden with a sprinkling of Stan Rogers.

2. Where do you love to sing?
Vancouver Opera, The Metropolitan Opera, Canadian Opera Company and karaoke in my billiards room.

3. What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Being at home in the summer with my wife, daughter, dog and the barbecue sizzling.

4. To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
I have a real love of food and wine and have a difficult time taming the temptations.

5. Who are your favourite heroes/heroines of fiction?
Rocky, Josephine Marks, Superman, Wonder Woman, Indiana Jones, Jean Valjean, Robert Langdon.

6. Who are your favourite characters in history?
Gandhi, Jesus, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks….

7. Who are your favourite heroes/heroines in real life?
My grandfather, Dr. Ignatius Aloysius Rumboldt.

8. Who is your favourite author? Shakespeare, Dickens, Rowling, Tolkien, Dan Brown, Stephen King...

9. Your favourite musician?
Jon Vickers, Franco Corelli, Maria Callas, James Levine, Glenn Gould, Stan Rogers, Barenboim, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Joshua Bell, Sinatra, Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Yngwie Malmsteen, Christopher Parkening, Freddie Mercury……

10. Your favourite composer?
Verdi, Puccini, Sondheim, Bernstein, Rogers, Chopin, Wagner…….

11. What quality do you most admire in a person?
Loyalty.

12. Your favourite virtue?
Honesty and humour.

13. Your favourite occupation?
I've only ever been a musician but in my next life I'll be a chef.

14. What did you want to be as a child?
Rock star. And all my dreams came true! Ha ha.

15. Your most marked characteristic?
Determination.

16. What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty.

17. For what would you like to be remembered?
For my love and contribution to my family and the arts.

18. What natural gift would you most like to possess?
I would love to be a great athlete or dancer. Watching either at a professional level is inspiring.

19. What is your motto?
Stand up for what you believe in, even if you are standing alone.

20. What non-opera song do you rock?
Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

20 Questions with Erin Wall

Canadian soprano Erin Wall will sing Violetta in VO's La Traviata (onstage at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre April 30 - May 12!). What does it take to sing such a sensitive, larger-than-life character? Find out as we ask Erin 20 Questions!


1. Guilty musical pleasure?
Tenacious D’s Rock Your Socks Off.

2. Where do you love to sing?
In the car. I’ve learned a lot of music in there!

3. What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Waking up after a full night’s sleep in my own bed and spending a lazy morning with my husband, my son, and a hot cup of coffee!

4. To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Procrastination.

5. Who are your favourite heroes/heroines of fiction?
Marguerite Gautier and, yes, I’ll say it, Bridget Jones.

6. Who are your favourite characters in history?
Pheidippides and Marie Curie.

7. Who are your favourite heroes/heroines in real life?
My parents.

8. Who is your favourite author?
David Sedaris.

9. Your favourite musician?
Impossible to chose just one. The list is endless!

10. Your favourite composer?
Very difficult, but I’m going to say Mozart, Strauss, and Mahler.

11. What quality do you most admire in a person?
Diplomacy and generosity.

12. Your favourite virtue?
Punctuality.

13. Your favourite occupation?
I like the one I have - a working singer.

14. What did you want to be as a child?
A figure-skating veterinarian.

15. Your most marked characteristic?
I am excessively verbal.

16. What do you most value in your friends?
Patience and acceptance.

17. For what would you like to be remembered?
Being a good daughter, sister, wife, and mother.

18. What natural gift would you most like to possess?
The ability to learn languages easily.

19. What is your motto?
Never lose perspective.

20. What non-opera song do you rock?
I do a mean “Baby Beluga”!

Find out more about Erin here.

Twenty Questions With Michael Fabiano

American tenor Michael Fabiano is instantly recognizable from the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions documentary, The Audition. Young, determined and fiercely talented, Michael Fabiano is quickly establishing himself as a major talent.

His recent appearances include singing Duca in Rigoletto with English National Opera and Dresden Semperoper, Alfredo in La traviata with Teatro San Carlo and Raffaele in Stiffelio with the Metropolitan Opera.




Michael Fabiano makes his Vancouver Opera debut as Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor.

VO catches up with Michael for a round of 20 questions.

Guilty musical pleasure?
Why do I have to feel guilty???

Where do you love to sing?
The Metropolitan Opera and English National Opera

What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Being with my family

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Pralines and Cream Haagen Daaz Ice Cream

Who are your favourite heroes/heroines of fiction?
I don't read fiction; I enjoy biographies.

Who are your favourite characters in history?
Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower

Who are your favourite heroes/heroines in real life?
My father

Who is your favourite author?
Too many to mention

Your favourite musician?
Not answerable

Your favourite composer?
The one I'm listening to at the moment

What quality do you most admire in a person?
Straightforwardness

Your favourite virtue?
Trustworthiness

Your favourite occupation?
OPERA SINGER

What did you want to be as a child?
Baseball umpire

Your most marked characteristic?
My directness

What do you most value in your friends?
Loyalty

For what would you like to be remembered?
That I've made a viable artistic and social contribution

What natural gift would you most like to possess?
I feel that I've been so blessed; I couldn't dream of asking for more

What is your motto?
If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.

What non-opera song do you rock?
I don't.

Twenty Questions with Thomas Macleay

A native of Montreal, tenor Thomas Macleay is making his Vancouver Opera debut as Arturo Bucklaw in Lucia di Lammermoor. Thomas had previously sung the role of Arturo with L'Opéra de Québec.

Thomas also has a connection with VO's world premiere of Lillian Alling, singing Jimmy, Bobby, Kristian and Charlie in our 4th workshop (May 2009)

Thomas will appear next in Salome with L'Opéra de Montréal and Mary's Wedding with Pacific Opera Victoria.



VO catches up with Thomas for a round of 20 Questions.

Guilty musical pleasure?
Katy Perry

Where do you love to sing?
Anywhere

What is your idea of earthly happiness?
Sunday morning.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Staying up late.

Who are your favourite heroes/heroines of fiction?
Astroboy

Who are your favourite characters in history?
Jesus Christ and Gandhi

Who are your favourite heroes/heroines in real life?
Jesus Christ and Ghandi

Who is your favourite author?
Kurano Natsuo

Your favourite musician?
Jonathan Darlington

Your favourite composer?
John Estacio.

What quality do you most admire in a person?
Compassion

Your favourite virtue?
Patience. No, courage.

Your favourite occupation?
Mine.

What did you want to be as a child?
A Beatle.

Your most marked characteristic?
Understatement.

What do you most value in your friends?
Intelligence.

For what would you like to be remembered?
These twenty questions.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?
Flight.

What is your motto?
Quaecumque vera (Whatsoever things are true)

What non-opera song do you rock?
All of them.

9 Questions With Jonathan Darlington

Photo credit: Christoph Müller-Girod

Maestro Jonathan Darlington has been keeping the beat for Vancouver Opera as Conductor and Music Director for the past 8 seasons. He also does double duty as the Music Director of the Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany.

In recent seasons, he has kept our audience enrapt as he conducted Cavalleria Rusticana/I Pagliacci, Fidelio, Eugene Onegin, Salome and The Marriage of Figaro.

As he takes the nightly podium at Madama Butterfly, VO catches up with Jonathan for a quick round of 9 questions:

Guilty musical pleasure?
Too many to mention.

Where do you love to sing?
In the bath

What is your idea of earthly happiness?
A balmy summer’s evening with the family on a Greek island

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Over enthusiasm

Who are your favourite heroes/heroines of fiction?
Captain Dobbin in Thakeray’s “Vanity Fair”

Who are your favourite characters in history?
Nelson, Frederick the Great, Henry the 4th of France.

Who are your favourite heroes/heroines in real life?
Stephen Hawking

Who is your favourite author?
Tolstoy

Your favourite musician?
Haydn

20 Questions With Leslie Swackhamer

Director Leslie Swackhamer collaborated with highly acclaimed visual artist Jun Kaneko and Opera Omaha for 3 years, in order to bring to the stage a Madama Butterfly that is unlike any production you've ever seen before.






The Houston based director makes her Vancouver Opera debut to direct the very same Butterfly for Vancouver audiences.

VO catches up with Leslie for our round of 20 questions:

Guilty musical pleasure?
Salsa and Tango!

Where do you love to sing?
In my car with my daughter and her friends. Very jolly!

What is your idea of earthly happiness?
A long walk on my favorite beach with friends and family, after a stellar dinner with wonderful food, wine and conversation. It would be nice to arrange for the stars to be out, and for the water to be warm, just in case a midnight swim is called for.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?
Chocolate-dark chocolate. I cannot resist.

Who are your favourite heroes/heroines of fiction?
Captain Jean Luc Picard , Dumbledore, Frodo, Nancy Drew

Who are your favourite characters in history?
Elizabeth I, Galileo, Jacques Cousteau, Aphra Behn.

Who are your favourite heroes/heroines in real life?
The Dalai Lama, Julie Taymore, Desmond Tutu, Jun and Ree Kaneko!

Who is your favourite author?
William Shakespeare-there is a reason his stories are still being told. Living, probably Margaret Atwood-I read everything she writes!

Your favourite musician?
My sister, Betsy. She never met an instrument she could not play, and she played with amazing joy. But if I were to pick someone today to go and hear, it would probably be Joyce DiDonato-her voice is otherworldly and she is very special.

Your favourite composer?
My daughter, Sarah. She just composed a piano piece for four hands, “Dancing Fire”, which has won multiple awards, including best elementary composition for the State of Texas! It is playful, complex, and full of surprises, just like Sarah.

What quality do you most admire in a person?
Kindness

Your favourite virtue?
Kindness

Your favourite occupation?
What I do! I get to be around wonderful creative people all the time, and I’m the one that gets to inspire them to dig inside and find their best selves. All the while, I am being inspired by the composers, the playwrights, the originators of the operas and plays I direct. I feel like every play or opera I direct is a passport to adventure. Its hard work, sometimes slightly crazed, but incredibly rewarding.

What did you want to be as a child?
Brain Surgeon. I could list every part of the human body in latin by the time I was 12.

Your most marked characteristic?
I am an intellectual omnivore.

What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty, Loyalty and Humor.

For what would you like to be remembered?
A passionate commitment to making the world a better place.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?
I would like to be able to time travel.

What is your motto?
Theatre is not an escape from life, but a means of entering it more fully.

What non-opera song do you rock?
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY!