Vancouver Opera

As a conductor and a musician, I'm often asked questions like: "who is your favourite composer" or "what is your favourite opera." I can never give a simple and unique answer to those questions. I feel very lucky to have the privilege of conducting on a regular base so many masterpieces composed by so many different composers. Having said that, I have to admit that Puccini is at the very top of my list of favorite composers. On a personal note, I feel that I owe him something in regards to my current position as Music Director of Vancouver Opera. It is in fact with La Fanciulla del West by Puccini that I made my debut with the company in the fall of 2003, over twenty years ago. For me, this was the beginning of a very precious and stimulating collaboration with the company, which I now have the honour to serve as Music Director. I could not have wished for a better way to start my relationship with Vancouver than by conducting Puccini. I think that Puccini is one of the best composers to put in music in a very personal and unique way, the complexity of human emotions and nature. Looking at the corpus of his works, we realize that this is particularly true of female characters in his operas: Mimi in La Bohème, Tosca, Butterfly, Minnie in La Fanciulla del West, Liù and Turandot, just to name a few, are incredibly well crafted characters that all sopranos enjoy singing. There is just so much you can do and give with those roles as performers. On that theme, one should not forget the extraordinary contribution of the librettists, Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. This unique team of librettists gave Puccini the perfect words to allow him to write some of the most popular operas in the entire repertoire: La Bohème, Tosca and Madama Butterfly, among others. Puccini had a great sense for theatre and drama, combined with an obvious and outstanding musical talent. We do know that Puccini was not always easy to work with and was quite demanding of his collaborators, but in my opinion, this is one of the best examples of what great artistic collaborations can produce. From the pure musical aspect of Puccini's work, as mentioned above, for me his way of writing melodies and motives as well as the harmonies in which he surrounds his themes is always so perfectly and impressively in line with the emotions of the stories that he puts into music. In addition to that, there is no question that Puccini is one of the greatest masters of orchestration in the history of music. This is the reason, why, we as musicians, always find an immense pleasure in performing his music. Hopefully, we'll be able to share that joy and passion for one of the greatest opera composers with you during these performances of Madama Butterfly!

For over a decade, I deliberately avoided directing or even assisting on Madama Butterfly. Its pervasive influence on Western popular culture – perpetuating harmful stereotypes and hypersexualizing Asian women – has always made me wary. Yet, as I grew as an opera director, I found myself returning to the dramaturgical complexities of this work. How could I engage with a beloved yet deeply problematic opera in a way that speaks to the present moment? This question became a quiet obsession. After years of reflection, I discovered my path forward: to recontextualize the opera in the aftermath of World War II, specifically after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.  Placing Madama Butterfly in this period reframes the Japanese characters' motivations, allowing them to reflect the brutal realities of post-war Japan. Survival became paramount, and the American Dream seemed a distant, yet tantalizing, hope. This narrative resonated deeply with my own immigrant experience, and through research, including a field trip to Nagasaki, I unearthed a largely forgotten chapter of history. Between 1946 and 1952, during the Allied Occupation, thousands of Japanese women married American soldiers. Some married for love, but many were driven by fear—fear of another atomic bomb or a bleak future in a shattered country. These “war brides,” often branded as traitors or enemies, were rejected by both societies. It’s impossible not to see the parallels between these women and Cio-Cio-San. How many were left behind, caught between two worlds, like Butterfly and her son? How many American soldiers went to Japan chasing the romanticized “Butterfly” they had seen on stage, pursuing a fantasy never grounded in reality? This production seeks to illuminate these voices while critically examining how Madama Butterfly has shaped Western perceptions of Asian women for over a century. Vancouver, with its vibrant Asian American and Pacific Islander community and deep historical ties to Japanese settlement—from the pre-war Powell Street enclave to the resilience of the issei and nisei after internment—feels like the right home for this reckoning. It’s also the city where my opera career began, making this journey all the more poignant. The creation of this work has been a deeply personal and collaborative journey, led by an all-female, AAPI creative team. Our Japanese movement and cultural consultant, Asuka Morinaga Derfler, a descendant of Hiroshima atomic bomb survivors, brings authenticity and emotional depth to the production, grounding it in lived experience.  In many ways, this production feels like fate – one that chose me, rather than the other way around. I hope today's performance compels you to see Madama Butterfly through a new lens, one that acknowledges the histories it represents and the voices it has long silenced. This work is both a tribute to and a challenge of the opera’s legacy. May it provoke thought as deeply as it stirs your heart. 

舞台は原爆投下からまだ1年も経たない1946年の長崎。まだ第二次世界大戦の痛ましい余波が残る中、アメリカ海軍士官ピンカートンは、結婚仲介人ゴローの手配で長崎港を見下ろせる家を視察する。そこで待っていた蝶々さんの繊細な魅力に魅了されたピンカートンは、その結婚の重大さを顧みず、享楽を追い求めるアメリカ的な傲慢さのままに突き進む。一方、原爆の惨禍を生き延びたばかりの蝶々は、この結婚を“アメリカン・ドリーム”への入り口と信じ、胸を躍らせる。叔父の激しい反対によって家族全員から見捨てられる中、彼女は揺るぎない希望を抱いて結婚へと踏み出す。ピンカートンと蝶々は、不確かな運命が絡み合い渦巻く中、わずかながらも心を通わせるひとときの中で戦後日本の激動の風景を超越する絆を築く。

舞台は6年後の冬の1953年、連合国の占領撤退の前夜に移る。蝶々さんと忠実な女中スズキは、かつての希望に満ちた生活の面影を失いながらも、ピンカートンの帰還を切に待ち続けている。ピンカートンのためらいが綴られた手紙を携えたアメリカ領事シャープレスが、現実の厳しさを彼女に告げる。ヤマドリ公爵を含む裕福な求婚者たちの申し出を断り、蝶々はピンカートンとの間に生まれた息子を差し出し、夫の帰還と“アメリカン・ドリーム”の夢への執着が揺らいでいないことを証明する。ちょうどピンカートンの船が空気を切り裂く大砲の音と共に到着すると同時に彼女に絶望が押し寄せる事となる。喜びに我を忘れた彼女は双眼鏡を手に取り、その姿を確認する。彼女は強い決意で、待ちに待った再会に備えて家を花で飾るようにスズキに命じる。夜が更けていく中、蝶々さんと彼女の子供、そしてスズキは夜通し静かに見守る─その希望は、暗闇の中でなお消えることはなかった。

翌朝、夜明けと共に砕け散った夢の残骸が姿を現す。ピンカートンがアメリカ人の妻ケイトと共に戻り、希望に満ちていた家に絶望の影を落とすのだった。スズキが蝶々に衝撃的な真実を伝え、裏切りの現実に心が粉々に砕かれる蝶々を目の当たりにするのは、彼女にとって明らかに苦しいものだった。そしてその裏切り行為は蝶々に自分が決して「アメリカ人」にはなれないと悟らせるのであった。一人残された彼女は、自分が約束された夢が偽りであった事を悟り、静かに息子に別れを告げ、その悲劇的な運命から彼を守ろうと決意する。最期の瞬間、ピンカートンの声が遠くに響く中で、この抗議の死が決して無駄になる事はないと信じていくらかの安らぎを得るのだった。誇りと気高さを持って、彼女は真の日本人としての名誉に殉じ、アメリカン・ドリームという幻想から自らを解き放つ。 —Opera Newsより翻案

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FLUTES Brenda Fedoruk, Principal Anne-Elise Keefer Heather Beaty PICCOLO Heather Beaty OBOES Emma Ringrose, Principal Nimo Mendoza ENGLISH HORN Erin Marks CLARINETS Christopher Lee, Principal Julie Begg BASS CLARINET AK Coope BASSOONS Ingrid Chiang, Principal Allan Thorpe HORNS Laurel Spencer, Principal Nick Anderson Heather Walker Nicole Ma TRUMPETS Katherine Evans, Principal Candice Newberry Audrey Patterson TROMBONES Jeremy Berkman, Principal Jim Tranquilla BASS TROMBONE Will Broverman CIMBASSO Drew Dumas HARP Janelle Nadeau, Principal TIMPANI Phillip Crewe, Principal PERCUSSION Julia Chien, Principal Lauri Lyster Martin Fisk VIOLIN I Angela Cavadas, Acting Concertmaster Heilwig von Koenigsloew, Acting Associate Concertmaster Evelyn Creaser-Rumley Ken Lin Ellen Farrugia Christine Lin Ji In Kim Domagoj Ivanovic Lawrie Hill Jiten Beairsto VIOLIN II Rebecca Ruthven, Principal 2nd Andrea Siradze, Assistant Principal Hyunjung Julia Lim Toni Stanick Parmela Attariwala Adrianne Stride Sarah Westwick Sandra Fiddes VIOLAS Tawnya Popoff, Principal Isabelle Roland, Assistant Principal Mila Tymoshenko Reginald Quiring Roxi Dykstra Marie-Claude Brunet CELLOS Rebecca Wenham, Principal Ashton Lim, Acting Assistant Principal Sue Round Harold Birston Jake Klinkenborg BASSES Maggie Hasspacher, Principal Michael Vaughan, Assistant Principal Meaghan Williams Remi Yueming Xia Orchestra Manager Nick Anderson Orchestra Stage Manager Jim Tranquilla Orchestra Librarian Meaghan Williams

SOPRANO Rebecca Collett Eve-Lyn de la Haye Allyson Hop Aviva Lacterman Heather Pawsey Julia Rooney Szu-Wen Wang Karen Ydenberg MEZZO Francesca Corrado Brenda Glass Martina Govednik Lisa-Dawn Markle Heather Molloy Megan Morrison Elena Razlog Dionne Sellinger TENOR Callum Alden William Grossman Adam Kozak Brent MacKenzie Wade Nott Mark Pepe Zainen Suzuki Don Wright

Director of Artistic & Production Nicole Lamb  Company Manager  Kewen Huang  Technical Director  Jon Mottram  Production Assistant  Jimena Pacheco  Head of Wardrobe  Roberta Doylend  Head of Properties  Stephen Field Elgar  Assistant Wardrobe Lily Yuen Head Scenic Paint & Assistant Properties  Jesse Orr Wig Designer Christopher Wu Wig Designer Assistant  Oriana Camporese  Cutter Victoria Klippenstein  Stitchers Audrey Nishi Florence Barrett Jayme Cline Kate Rittenhouse Sarah Butler SHOW CREW Production Carpenter  Dale Baratelli Assistant Carpenter Bob Bancroft Carpenters Carlos Avila Tony Brackstone  Production Electrician  Mike Bowen Assistant Electrician David Goodfellow Followspots John Webber Martin Argus Head of Props Joel Johnson Assistant Props Mikal Williams Prop Grips Charlie Guttman Kelly Maloney Head of Wardrobe Lily Yuen Wardrobe Assistant Carolyn Reemeyer Dressers Kate Rittenhouse Victoria Klippenstein Production Hair & Wigs Christopher Wu Head Hair & Wigs Oriana Camporese Hair & Wigs Attendants Lillooet Fox Production Makeup Michael Croteau Head Makeup Saghar Bazargan Makeup Attendant Kelly Grange THANK YOUS  IATSE 118  Vancouver Civic Theatres  Thank you to Tiffany and Understance for your generous support providing foundation garments for our principal and chorus women.

Chair Krista Johanson Vice Chair Stanis Smith Treasurer Roger Flowerdew Secretary Andrea Wood Past Chair Susan Van der Flier Jennifer Choi Shaun Dolman Joshua Hutchinson Sameer Jamal Kevin Kelly Kirk LaPointe Pierre Lebel Ivor Luk Emily MacKinnon Allie Meeres Jennifer Muench Richard Rees Chloe Sauder Isabelle Spothelfer Carol Tsuyuki Wilson Williams Yang Wang President, Vancouver Opera Guild Jennifer Coté

Chair Richard Rees Treasurer and Secretary Jim MacCallum Past Chair Paul McEwen Jill Bodkin Jake Boxer Neil Carnell Geoff Dodds Roger Flowerdew Yuri Fulmer Emily MacKinnon Kevin Mah Nevada Mohammed Jennifer Muench Susan Van der Flier

General Director Tom Wright Music Director Jacques Lacombe Music Director Emeritus Jonathan Darlington Director of Marketing Jonathan Harrison Director of Development Kayleigh Harrison (On Leave) Director of Artistic & Production Nicole Lamb Director of Finance and Administration William Murgatroyd Director of Engagement and Civic Practice Ashley Daniel Foot ARTISTIC PLANNING Company Manager Kewen Huang Head of Music Leslie Dala Coach/Répétiteur Tina Chang Preparatory Librarian Connie Goetz PRODUCTION Technical Director Jon Mottram Production Assistant Jimena Pacheco Head of Properties Stephen Field Elgar Head of Wardrobe Roberta Doylend DEVELOPMENT Interim Director of Development Bella Best Senior Manager, Grants & Sponsorships Kseniia Gorlevaia Senior Manager, Individual Giving Rebecca Paterson Administration Assistant Kathryn Dobbs FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION Accounting and Payroll Manager Sonny Sohn Office Services Manager Jennifer Pipe Facilities Manager Mack McGillivray MARKETING Creative Director Annie Mack Senior Marketing Manager Keltie Laidlaw Database and Ticket Centre Manager Tracey Flattes Ticket Centre Associate Charlene Hibbard Social Media Specialist Lucas Bertoli Senior Communications Advisor Stephen Lyons Publicist Cynnamon Schreinert Program Ad Sales Jennifer Lee Graphic Designer Yvonne Olivotto ENGAGEMENT AND CIVIC PRACTICE Engagement Strategist Tabitha Brasso-Ernst Teaching Artists Nicholas Burns Zainen Suzuki Engagement/Musicology Curator Nicholas Burns Coordination Vincent Huynh Writing/Research Jane Potter Multimedia Producer Mack McGillivray YULANDA M. FARIS YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM Program Director Leslie Dala Coach Tina Chang Heidi Duncan, Soprano Simran Claire, Mezzo-Soprano Lyndon Ladeur, Tenor Danlie Rae Acebuque, Baritone Derek Stanyer, Pianist Tayte Mitchell, Stage Director