Opera! The Ultimate Art Form
There’s a huge desire for arts and culture up in the Yukon and also they don’t have an official opera company there, so we said, what if we bring our resources together and we’re able to bring opera to the North?”
Holly Kroeker
The motto for the Yukon is Larger Than Life.
That could also be said for opera. So having an opportunity to blend the Yukon and opera together might even be considered colossal.
It just so happens the Yukon Arts Centre (YAC) and Edmonton Opera have such a partnership that will see emerging artists heading to the Yukon to kick off their residency year with Edmonton Opera.
Holly Kroeker, the head of artistic operations Edmonton Opera said the idea of the emerging artists program is to give the artists who have finished the formal part of their academic training an opportunity to work within a company so conclusion of the schooling and entry into the workforce can be bridged.
The four emerging artists for the forthcoming season include baritone Connor Hoppenbrouwers, mezzo soprano Rachael McAuley, pianist and conductor Spencer Kryzanowski and stage manager Ryan MacAuley.
Speaking from Edmonton, Kroeker said when it was suggested that Edmonton Opera and the YAC collaborate, it made sense, as Edmonton hosts the most northerly opera organization and is closest to the Yukon.
“There’s a huge desire for arts and culture up in the Yukon and also they don’t have an official opera company there, she said, adding, “So we said, what if we bring our resources together and we’re able to bring opera to the North?”
Thus the idea was born to bring opera to schools around parts of the southern Yukon to expose kids of different ages to the fact that it exists and is another viable art form that people can readily get involved in, from performers to designers or set builders and stage managers, for example.
During the first week of October, three of the four artists (Ryan Macauley was unable to travel North), visited seven schools in Whitehorse, Carcross, Carmacks and Haines Junction, with students treated to talks and performances, Kroeker said.
The artists will return in January to do it all again, although exact locations are still to be determined. She also said there will be a workshop-based trip to Dawson in February, partnering with various composers, librettists and singers and developing their works.
The latter event will be a joint enterprise with YAC, Edmonton Opera and The Klondike Institute of Arts and Culture (KIAC).
Kroeker said she has long worked professionally with opera artists, and has seen a varied approach by each artist when it comes to how they got involved in it. She added there can be a misconception that people come to opera only through a family background, or that it’s a niche community.
In reality, she said, many artists she has worked with had no exposure to opera as youth, or in a specific opera culture, but found it later in life.
“I think why this is so important, is you never know where people are going to be inspired to choose a path in the arts or who you are going to reach.”
Offering experiences like the school visits is a two-pronged approach, where students are exposed to the world of opera, but it also helps ensure the survival of the art form itself.
It also helps “demystify” opera, Kroeker said.
“It’s not just you know, fancy languages and big ball gowns. There’s so much more to it, and we’re really trying to drive home that it’s about storytelling and that everybody has a story to tell. It doesn’t matter your background [or] where you’re from–lots of these stories are universal, and it’s the human experience, right?”
Yukon Arts Centre CEO, Casey Prescott, said this multi-year partnership is designed to connect the Yukon with the young artist program at the Edmonton Opera.
“It’s a real sort of two-way street and is, you know, bringing up what we feel is a very impactful outreach experience while also, kind of enhancing the training opportunities that the Edmonton Opera has for their young artist program.”
Prescott added there are always plans for more future collaboration between the two organizations, but the primary focus is on getting the art of opera in front of students.
“We are, as an organization, trying to build out more and more capacity and to get off the hill and kind of get into schools in Whitehorse, but also, most importantly, into rural communities.”
