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2007 Programs - Spring 2007, Fall 2007Enjoying Opera, with Iain Scott
Four Thursday evenings Opera is about romance, passion, love, hate, deception, gorgeous music and sumptuous sets - a feast for the ear and eye. Come learn about it from one of Canada’s most popular and knowledgeable opera experts in the intimate and acoustically superb Chapel of St. Peter’s Anglican Church. Iain Scott will use video opera excerpts, shown on a large screen. Thursday, February 15, 2007 Thursday, March 1, 2007 Thursday, February 22, 2007 Thursday, March 8, 2007 Iain Scott is one of Canada’s best-known and most popular opera educators. He makes learning fun! For the last 20 years, he has been a regular and frequent guest on CBC radio’s “Saturday Afternoon at the Opera” and for eight seasons was a panelist on the “Texaco Opera Quiz” from the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In the USA he has lectured for Opera America, Opera Guilds International, the New York Wagner Society, the American Wagner Association, the Wagner Society of Washington DC, Palm Beach Opera, the Smithsonian Institution of Washington DC and the Chautauqua Institution. In the Toronto area, he has given many lectures for the Canadian Opera Company, Opera Hamilton/Opera Ontario, the Toronto Wagner Society, the Mozart Society and others. He has introduced over 80 “rare” operas for Opera in Concert in Toronto. Iain Scott received an Outstanding Teacher Award from the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies. He has also been honoured with the Province of Ontario’s Volunteer Service Award and the U of T’s Arbor Award. He is chair of the Advisory Board of the U of T’s Opera School. Iain’s writing on opera has been published in magazines and program notes. His four-set CD, “Opera’s Ten Deadly Sins,” just issued by DECCA, received five stars from CBC’s Rick Phillips on “Sound Advice”. Iain lives in Toronto with his wife, Barbara. They have two grown children, Vanessa and Alistair. For more information on Iain Scott’s opera courses and tours For the third time, Stars of Tomorrow will feature three young singers who are completing the opera program at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto and are about to launch their singing careers. Previous artists in this concert series are already starting to make their mark in North America and Europe. Don't miss this opportunity to be in at the beginning! Bricks, Bohemians, & Passionate Lovers With Gary McCluskie, Clayton Scott, and Iain Scott Northumberland Learning Connection, in association with Friends of Music is pleased to present a new opera series featuring Iain Scott. Bricks, Bohemians, and Passionate Lovers will commence Thursday, November 8, 2007. This time, Iain will be joined by Gary McCluskie, principal architect of Diamond + Schmitt Inc., and musician Clayton Scott (no relation). Week 1, November 8, 2007 In over twenty years at Diamond and Schmitt, Gary McCluskie has developed expertise in a wide range of building types including academic, cultural & museum, and performing arts. Many of his projects have been recognized with design awards including a Governor General’s Award for the University of Toronto Gerstein Library (2003), and the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts (2006). Most recently, the Pierre Berton Resource Library was recognized as the best public library in North America by the American Library Association (2005), and was also recognized for design excellence by the Ontario Library Association (2006). Gary will explore the concept and development of the design of Toronto’s new Opera House. The design is the result of a collaboration between architect, acoustician and theatre designers and the presentation will illustrate how the desire for acoustic excellence shaped the architecture of the auditorium as well as the building as a whole. The talk will touch on the history of opera house architecture, the technology of sound isolation and how they were brought together to create a new opera house which has been heralded as one of the finest in the world. Week 2, November 15, 2007 Musician, trainer, creator of the highly acclaimed lecture/performance series, “Music Through the Ages," and storyteller extraordinaire, Clayton Scott has been credited with presenting “the most engaging introduction to an opera that one could imagine.” Knowledgeable, eloquent and passionate, Clayton’s ‘performances’ help us understand and experience the emotions of an opera. In anticipation of the Metropolitan Opera’s high definition broadcast of Giacomo Puccini’s “La Bohème” next spring, Clayton will introduce you to this masterpiece in her own, unique fashion – with energy, drama, music and humour. Discover how Puccini writes – for the first time – wholly in his own voice. Learn why this is the most performed opera in the history of the Met. Weeks 3, 4, 5: November 22, 29, and December 6, 2007 “Iain Scott can put his finger on any opera subject matter of one's choice within the twinkling of an eye” says Duggan Melhuish in the Newsletter of the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto (2002). Following last winter’s enlightening and entertaining presentations on the four main forms of opera, Iain Scott returns to NLC by popular request. This time Iain will enthrall you with three lectures on Guiseppe Verdi’s greatest love duets. Verdi wrote surprisingly few love duets, but his immense compassion for the tortured human heart shines through. You will find out how much there is to be learned from a Master who combines insight with understanding. Along the way, you will discover much about Verdi, Italian Opera and (possibly) life. November 22 November 29 December 6
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