COME SEE US ON JULY 17 & 19, 2015- MORE DETAILS BELOW - TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW AT Eventbrite.ca!

Real. Live. Opera.

Ottawa Pocket Opera / Opéra de poche d'Ottawa is a non-profit cooperative association designed to make opera more accessible to the general public and to provide performance opportunities for both established local professionals and developing young performers in and from the region. Producing one-act operas and reductions of full-length operas on a condensed scale with excellent singers and affordable ticket prices, one of our main goals is to bring opera to audiences in the region who might not otherwise be exposed to it, in the hope of helping to increase appreciation for our art and its place in our society. We hope you will come and experience the joy of live opera with us!

David MacAdam
General & Artistic Director

Special Announcements - OTTAWA POCKET OPERA ANNOUNCES RETURN TO THE STAGE WITH A DOUBLE-BILL OF SHORT OPERAS IN ENGLISH:

On Friday JULY 17, 2015 AT 8:00 PM & Sunday JULY 19, 2015 AT 7:00 PM, OPO will present Dido & Aeneas by Henry Purcell & La Canterina by F.J. Haydn, with Dido & Aeneas featuring a young cast led by mezzo Julia Brown & baritone Mathieu Charlebois in the title roles and La Canterina featuring soprano Maria Gubbels in the title role, with mezzo Sonya Sweeney, soprano Caitlin Tabbenor and tenor David MacAdam. Venue: MacKay United Church - Hall, 39 Dufferin Road (corner of MacKay Street). [NOTE that Sunday performance time is 7:00 pm!]

OPO also hopes to present additonal Young Artist Series concerts over the summer - watch this site for announcements!

On June 15, 2013 OPO presented a young artist concert in the 2013 Series, featuring Matt Chittick, tenor, with Louise Pelletier, piano, with a portion of the proceeds & a free-will offering designated to support the Project Egypt charity.

On June 17, 2012 OPO presented the first of two concerts in its inaugural Young Artist Conbcert Series, featuring Nadia Petrella, soprano & guest artist NYC bass Gregory Sheppard with Frédéric Lacroix, piano, in a concert to raise funds so that Ms. Petrella could pursue further training in Italy.

The second concert in the series was on July 22nd and featured soprano Keena Eloise, a 2011 graduate of Queen's University, accompanied by Krista Pederson, piano, in a varied program ranging from Classical favorites & arias to Musical Theatre.

On March 11 & 12, 2011, at St. Matthias Anglican Church, 555 Parkdale Ave., we presented a double-bill of one-act operas featuring Gian Carlo Menotti's delightful story of communication leading to a failure to communicate, The Telephone, and George Philipp Telemann's comic charmer The Canary Cantata. The Telephone featured the return from New York City of OPO regular Nadia Petrella along with the OPO début of baritone Mark Gough. whom many in our audience may recognize from his local appearances with Opera Lyra Ottawa and Pellegrini Opera. Also on the program: Antonio Salieri's Little Harlequinade and staged arias & duets.

Following on the heels of our March production, on June 10 & 11, 2011 we presented another double-bill of one-act operas featuring Leoncavallo's masterpiece I pagliacci, in Italian - a first for Ottawa Pocket Opera - featuring NYC tenor Steve Gokool as "Canio", Kim Little as "Nedda", & Philippe Courchesne Leboeuf as "Silvio". While we remain committed to presenting operas in the vernacular languages of English or French, we would like to explore the option of being able to occasionally present works in their original language. The evening began with staged excerpts & arias featuring soprano Nadia Petrella, mezzo-soprano April Babey, and OPO Artistic Director David MacAdam, tenor.

In June 2010 General & Artistic Director David MacAdam returned to Western New York State to direct the critically acclaimed Nickel City Opera production of Verdi's Rigoletto featuring a cast of renowned artists including Heather Buck as "Gilda", Eric Fennel as "The Duke", and John Packard in the title role.Read the review here: "Magnificent Rigoletto proves Nickel City Opera is for real".

Read about the achievements of two of our regular artists in the Nickel City Opera production of The Barber of Seville. Buffalo News critic Mary Kunz Goldman wrote "As Rosina, Nadia Petrella is world class - beautiful and funny", and "A special bravo to Christopher Mallory, who made Don Bartolo a delight to watch and hear".The complete Buffalo News review of the production is available at "Barber Of Seville deserving of accolades".