Edmonton Opera's Single Tickets On Sale Today

Single Tickets on Sale for

Edmonton Opera's 45^th Season

Single tickets for opera productions bursting with love and splendour go on sale today, August 25, as Edmonton Opera leads into its 45^th season of spellbinding performances. Set sail on a haunted ship with Wagner's The Flying Dutchman; venture into the Tyrolean mountains with Donizetti's mirthful tale of military mayhem, Daughter of the Regiment; float away to the tiny tropical island of Ceylon for a special production of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers; and experience the spectacular glitter of Paris with Verdi's La Traviata. Tickets are available now at Ticketmaster, call 780-451-8000 or visit www.ticketmaster.ca.

"Our upcoming season is all about love," says Edmonton Opera Artistic Director, Brian Deedrick. "Our music takes audiences on journeys through love and sacrifice, love and laughter, love and friendship, and love and loss’Ķ Notice a bit of a pattern here? We have something to challenge everyone's taste, and this is a season Edmontonians will love to be a part of!"

Jason Howard returns to Edmonton to take on the demanding role of a cursed sailor in The Flying Dutchman, October 25, 28 and 30, 2008. With Wagner's haunting and unforgettable music, this production is inspired by the nightmarish world of German Expressionist cinema and promises to be as visually stunning as it is musically demanding. Howard reunites with Susan Marie Pierson; both performed in 2006's critically-acclaimed Bluebeard's Castle & Erwartung. The Flying Dutchman also features Marc Embree, Mark Deaton, Scott Scully, Emilia Boteva and the Edmonton Opera Chorus, with John Keenan conducting and Edmonton Opera's own Brian Deedrick directing. The Flying Dutchman is sung in German with English supertitles.

Winter blues won't stand a chance against the lightness and laughter of Donizetti's Daughter of the Regiment, February 7, 10 and 12, 2009. Follow the plot's twists and turns as the 21^st Grenadiers of the French army attempt to protect their beloved Marie, sung by rising star Andriana Chuchman, who must choose between her love for Tonio, Edmonton favourite Colin Ainsworth, and her life with the regiment. Director/conductor team Robert Herriot and Peter Dala, the team that joined us last for 2008's H.M.S. PINAFORE, deliver winter delight once more along with Theodore Baerg, Sonya Gosse, Chad Louwerse, and the Edmonton Opera Chorus. Daughter of the Regiment is sung in French with English supertitles.

In a unique and intimate opera experience, Edmonton Opera presents a special production of Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, March 12 and 14, 2009, performed in the acoustical splendour of The Winspear Centre. Colin Ainsworth and Gregory Dahl play two friends torn apart by their love of the same woman. The Pearl Fishers also stars Amy Hansen, last in Edmonton as Lakmˆ© in 2004, as well as Andrew Stewart and the Edmonton Opera Chorus, along with conductor Robert Dean and director Brian Deedrick. The Pearl Fishers is sung in French with English supertitles.

Verdi's masterpiece, La Traviata, comes to the Edmonton Opera stage April 25, 28 and 30, 2009. Laura Whalen, star of 2005's Filumena, returns to Edmonton as Violetta, the beautiful, brilliant, and doomed courtesan willing to sacrifice anything in her love for Alfredo, sung by Marc Hervieux. Theodore Baerg, Thomas Macleay, Doug MacNaughton, Alain Coulombe, Krista de Silva, Alexander Dobson, Renˆ©e Brad and the Edmonton Opera Chorus close the season in this musically astounding tale conducted by Steven Osgood and directed by Michael Cavanagh, former Edmonton Opera Artistic Director. La Traviata is sung in Italian with English supertitles.

All Edmonton Opera performances begin at 7:30pm. All main-stage performances, (The Flying Dutchman, Daughter of the Regiment, and La Traviata), take place at the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, with the special production of The Pearl Fishers at The Francis Winspear Centre for the Performing Arts. To subscribe to Edmonton Opera's 45^th season, please contact the Edmonton Opera Box Office at 780-429-1000 or visit www.edmontonopera.com. For single tickets, contact Ticketmaster at 780-451-8000 or www.ticketmaster.ca.