News

September 20, 2006
For immediate release

Calgary Opera Expands Community Outreach Activities

Calgary AB… Calgary Opera is thrilled to announce a significant corporate sponsorship that will expand our ability to reach audiences outside the concert hall setting, as EnCana makes a commitment of $375,000 to Community Outreach Activities over the next three years.

“EnCana’s contribution will have an impact on school and community audiences as well as the careers of the eight young singers in our Emerging Artist Development Program,” Says W.R. (Bob) McPhee, General Director & CEO. “This sponsorship will provide performance opportunities for these singers which will extend the joy of opera to audiences we normally couldn’t reach. Community Outreach is extremely important to Calgary Opera as we share the joy of this larger-than-life art form with audiences and communities in a setting outside of the Jubilee.”

"EnCana applauds Calgary Opera’s expanded outreach program and is honoured to provide support in bringing opera to rural Alberta residents so they can experience the enchantment of opera," says Florence Murphy, Vice-President of Public & Community Relations at EnCana.

McPhee thanked EnCana for its sponsorship of Community Outreach Activities as well as thanking other supporters of our Emerging Artist Development Program. Hand in hand with a desire to increase our ability to reach out into the community, was Calgary Opera’s aspiration to have a significant impact on the careers of some of Canada’s most talented up-and-coming opera singers. The Community Outreach Activities and the Emerging Artist Development Program go hand in hand and one would not be possible without the other.

The singers of the Emerging Artist Development Program, who were announced at the same event, will start their 22-week residency with Calgary Opera on October 16th. As part of their year with the company, they will take Dean Burry’s one-act opera for young audiences – The Brothers Grimm – on tour to schools and community halls in Calgary and rural Alberta. Other Outreach Activities include performances at Souls Alive! A Celebration of Urban Spirit, a free Halloween festival in Central Memorial Park this fall; various donor and sponsor events; an Open House event at the Jubilee in January 2007; and a workshops for The Hannaraptor, a new one-act opera for young audiences that will go on tour in 2008. EnCana’s support will also make possible a rural school’s participation in Calgary Opera’s Let’s Create an Opera program.

In addition to thanking EnCana for their generous sponsorship, Mr. McPhee also thanked the TELUS Calgary Community Board and Industrial Alliance Pacific for their support of our 2007 school tour.

For further information, please contact: Brian O'Neill, Calgary Opera 802-3409.