≈ 2 hours and 45 minutes · With intermission
Last updated: June 12, 2023
Conductor’s Note
I recall with such joy the production of La bohème that I led with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Opera Lyra just a few years before my tenure as Music Director here in Ottawa began.
I recall admiring what a wonderfully fine opera orchestra we have here at the Centre and learning with interest of the deep and rich history of operatic productions and festivals that this city has hosted.
That history is just one of the reasons that I believe it is important and enriching for opera to be part of our lives in Southam Hall.
I believe it also because opera represents the most enthralling coming together of artistic disciplines and creative talents. The marriage of word, music, narrative, stage, character, design, direction, voice, and instrument brings out the best of each, conjuring a whole that is one of humanity’s most kaleidoscopic creations.
And of course, few composers and librettists have achieved that oneness in the way that Mozart and Da Ponte did. Riffing on an age-old story they bring with Don Giovanni a profundity, charm, beauty, and wit into our hearts and minds that even now, more than two centuries later, moves us deeply.
To be collaborating on the project with not only a sensational cast, but also with our friend, the visionary Joel Ivany, is a dream. That the National Arts Centre and the Banff Centre stand shoulder to shoulder on this production and that the brilliant cast of next generation artists who have supported us here in Ottawa will take it to the Rockies in a few weeks is a statement of intent and creative partnership of which we are all very proud.
I wish you an evening of joy and fulfillment with this timeless masterpiece and these extraordinary artists.
Director’s Note
Don Giovanni. Two words that have a lot of meaning for many of us who are passionate lovers of this beautiful art form that we call opera. This story and character are forever linked to its creators, Mozart and Da Ponte. New productions, new interpretations, alongside classic recordings and countless experiences over many years. As opera returns to the National Arts Centre, with this piece, I took time to reflect on its origins.
This opera was commissioned and written within nine months. For a new opera, this is an incredibly short amount of time. Mozart and Da Ponte were not short on ideas. Don Giovanni is loosely based off of a real-life Don Juan, Casanova. A man who lived during Mozart and Da Ponte’s time, Casanova lived a full life until age 73, with many pseudonyms and likely personalities, mingling with royalty, popes, cardinals, and creatives like Voltaire and Goethe. Best known for his affairs with women, he was labelled a libertine. Someone devoid of moral principles, responsibility, and sexual restraint (all so undesirable). Casanova was someone who looked at societal norms and decided to go against the grain.
We have people like Casanova and Don Giovanni living in a society that seeks restrictions and control.
This opera has become a hot topic for a more “woke” generation that sees Don Giovanni as an abuser and rapist, especially during and following the #MeToo movement. Don Giovanni is also seen by many as an archetype and champion for living a moral-free life.
Can both interpretations exist? It’s important to realize that both types of people exist. There are those that see Don Giovanni as a criminal deserving to be locked up (if not worse) and those that desire to live fully in the world without attachment to it.
If I asked you what you desire today, your thoughts and answers would likely vary. Some may desire new curtains for the living room, while others have desires and impulses buried deep within that no one knows about.
I believe this opera is about viewing someone who represents going after those impulses and desires without guilt, repercussions, or thoughts about feeling bad about what they are doing.
In some ways, it’s a freeing way to think about life…but it is also not reality.
It may be a reality for that one person, but life is about more than one person. If we have been reminded of anything over the past three years, it is about community and its place in society. This opera is about more than just Don Giovanni. It’s about Leporello, his friend, and the women he has influenced—Donna Elvira, Donna Anna, and Zerlina—as well as the men in this opera—Don Ottavio, Masetto, and Anna’s father, the Commendatore. It is also about the people who represent their community: our chorus.
As you sit and listen and watch this masterpiece of an opera, played tonight by Canada’s NAC Orchestra, I invite you to listen and watch with open eyes and ears to a timeless story and see how you may interact with it in new ways.
Program
DON GIOVANNI
Performed in Italian with English surtitles
Music Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto Lorenzo Da Ponte
Synopsis
ACT I
Leporello, the servant of the licentious nobleman Don Giovanni, is keeping watch while his master attempts to seduce the Commendatore’s daughter, Donna Anna. He complains about his thankless job, with no sleep and little pay (Introduction: “Notte e giorno faticar”). Suddenly, Anna rushes out of the house; she struggles with the masked Giovanni but is unsuccessful in discovering his identity. She screams and goes for help. The Commendatore appears, challenges Giovanni to a duel and is killed. Giovanni and Leporello escape, while Anna returns to the scene with her fiancé Don Ottavio and finds her father dead. She asks Ottavio to help her avenge the Commendatore’s death (Duet: “Fuggi, crudele, fuggi!”)
In the morning, while Leporello is attempting to persuade his master to reform his womanizing ways, they see a veiled woman. It’s Donna Elvira, one of Giovanni’s former lovers, who rages over his betrayal (Aria: “Ah chi mi dice mai”). Not yet recognizing Elvira, Giovanni, thrilled by the possibility of another conquest, approaches her to comfort her, but she recognizes him as the man who had seduced and abandoned her. Stunned, Giovanni makes an escape, leaving Leporello to explain to Elvira the scale of his master’s womanizing (Aria: “Madamina, il catalog è questo”).
Masetto and his bride Zerlina are to be married at a peasant wedding (Chorus: “Giovinette che fate all’amore”). Giovanni notices Zerlina and decides to seduce her (Duet: “Là ci darem la mano”). Elvira interrupts him and urges Zerlina to flee her suitor (Aria: “Ah fuggi il traditor”). Ottavio and Anna see Giovanni and appeal to him for help in their pursuit of the murderer of Anna’s father. When Giovanni excuses himself, Anna recognizes his voice. She reveals to Ottavio that Giovanni was the masked intruder who had tried to rape her and had killed her father (Aria: “Or sai chi l’onore”). She and Ottavio are now more determined than ever to avenge the Commendatore’s death.
Later that evening, Giovanni is entertaining the peasants with a party at his home. Zerlina, alone with Masetto, hears the Don’s voice nearby, and becomes agitated, making her fiancé suspicious. Masetto hides but Giovanni sees Zerlina and renews his attentions toward her. Masetto suddenly catches Giovanni by surprise, however, upon regaining his composure, the nobleman tells Masetto that he and Zerlina were merely looking for him, and he invites them to join the party. Seeing an opportunity to take their revenge on Giovanni, Elvira, Anna, and Ottavio appear, masked, at the Don’s home, into which they are welcomed by Leporello. While everyone is dancing, Giovanni attempts to drag Zerlina into an adjoining room. When she cries for help, Giovanni pins the blame on Leporello. Elvira, Anna, and Ottavio remove their masks and, with Zerlina and Masetto, all accuse Giovanni, but he and Leporello manage to slip away.
INTERMISSION
ACT II
Leporello threatens to leave his master (Duet: “Eh via buffone”), but Giovanni enlists him into another scheme. They exchange clothes and Leporello is instructed to lure Elvira away so Giovanni can seduce Elvira’s maid, Zerlina (Trio: “Ah taci, ingiusto core”). While Giovanni serenades Zerlina (Canzonetta: “Deh vieni alla finestra”), Masetto arrives with a band of armed villagers on the hunt for Giovanni. They encounter “Leporello”, to whom Masetto reveals his intent to kill Giovanni. The disguised Giovanni tricks Masetto into handing over his weapons, then beats him up and runs off. Zerlina finds her wounded fiancé and comforts him (Aria: “Vedrai, carino”).
Later, “Giovanni” and Elvira are surprised by Anna, Ottavio, Zerlina, and Masetto. They all denounce the “Don”, while Elvira begs that they spare him (Sextet: “Sola sola in buio loco”). Desperate to save himself, Leporello reveals his identity, and escapes.
In a cemetery, Giovanni laughingly tells an annoyed Leporello about his recent escapades. He hears a ghostly voice and encounters the statue of the Commendatore. Giovanni orders the terrified Leporello to invite the statue to dinner (Duet: “O statua gentilissima”). The statue accepts.
At his home, Giovanni begins to dine, while an anxious Leporello sneaks food from the table. Elvira bursts in to make a last-ditch effort to persuade the Don to change his ways, but he mocks her. Furious, she leaves, but then rushes back the other way, screaming: the statue of the Commendatore has arrived. As Leporello hides, the statue asks the Don to repent; Giovanni refuses and is consumed by flames. Elvira, Anna, Zerlina, Ottavio, Masetto, and Leporello emerge, contemplating their respective futures and the fate of an immoral man.
Synopsis by Hannah Chan-Hartley
Repertoire
Don Giovanni, K. 527
Don Giovanni is the second opera on which composer Mozart (1756–91) and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749–1838) collaborated. It was commissioned by Pasquale Bondini, the Italian impresario of Prague’s National Theatre, where the pair’s first opera, The Marriage of Figaro, had had a tremendously successful run in late 1786. On October 29 the following year, Don Giovanni premiered there, to great acclaim; Mozart himself conducted the first four performances. The opera’s Vienna début on May 7, 1788, however, was met with a lukewarm reception, though according to Da Ponte, the audiences warmed to it with subsequent performances. By the 19th century, Don Giovanni was highly revered as a model of the operatic genre and considered by many to be the best of the composer’s operas. It is one of the first operas to be staged continuously since its inception.
By the time Da Ponte created his libretto, the Spanish story about the Spanish libertine Don Juan famed for his seduction of women had been circulating for almost a century and half in various spoken-word and operatic versions. He based his text on the one by Giovanni Bertati, entited Don Giovanni o sia Il convitato di pietra (Don Giovanni or The Stone Guest), which was originally set by the composer Giuseppe Gazzaniga as an “opera-within-an-opera” and performed in Venice in early 1787. For his opera with Mozart, Da Ponte expanded Bertati’s one-act format to two, by adding several comic episodes in the latter half and fleshing out the role of Donna Elvira.
Musically, Don Giovanni unfolds like the popular opera buffa (comic opera) of the day—that is, alternating speech-like recitatives for dialogue and action with fully musical numbers, including solo arias for meditation and emotional expression and ensembles (duets, trios, etc.) that juxtapose the characters’ perspectives simultaneously while also advancing the plot. However, Mozart sought to sharpen the drama by sometimes altering the traditional function of these numbers; for example, most of the arias in Act I are sung to another character on stage, thus feelings are expressed publicly as part of the story’s action, whereas the more self-reflective type of aria appears more frequently in Act II. Throughout the opera’s performance history, it was quite common for the libretto and score to be reworked or updated in some way—whether it be interpolating spoken-word scenes from other sources, inserting dances, or making cuts and substitutions—to suit the time and place in which it was presented.
With its distinctive blend of comic and serious elements, Don Giovanni continues to fascinate directors, performers, and audiences. The opera’s characters and their situations, highlighted by Mozart’s powerful music, seem to awaken ambivalent feelings in us. For one, how do we respond to the character of the Don? From his relentless pursuit of women to the murder of the Commendatore, we alternately laugh and shake our fists at his reprehensible and criminal behaviour. Furthermore, the music reveals very little about him; rather than having his own identity, he’s instead a vocal chameleon—listen to how his line adapts and blends with the individual styles of his antagonists as he encounters them. At the same time, we’re forced to consider what we’d do if we were in the positions of Leporello, Donna Elvira, Donna Anna, and Zerlina; we’d empathize, surely, but also likely be judgmental of their responses to Giovanni.
Perhaps the Don’s greatest moral failing is his belief that he can flout society’s laws and morals consequence free. And since he’s evaded earthly forms judgement, only supernatural force can rid him of his hubris. The Don’s demise is set up in one of opera’s most terrifying moments—the statue’s entrance into Giovanni’s dining hall. Mozart already prefigures this from the beginning of the opera’s overture, which opens with a series of D minor chords. These chords return in the climactic scene, though here, a tritone dissonance (often called the “devil’s interval”) is added to the sonority, thereby imbuing the scene with a diabolical atmosphere. When the Commendatore drags Giovanni into the flames of Hell, the furious music resolves into a triumphant D major chord. From here, as per the conventions of opera buffa, an ensemble finale follows, in which the remaining characters consider their futures, then conclude with a moral summation. Yet, even at the end, ambiguities and questions linger, evidence of why this work still provokes and resonates with us today.
Program note by Hannah Chan-Hartley, PhD
Artists
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“A natural communicator, both on and off the podium” (The Telegraph), Alexander Shelley performs across six continents with the world’s finest orchestras and soloists.
With a conducting technique described as “immaculate” (Yorkshire Post) and a “precision, distinction and beauty of gesture not seen since Lorin Maazel” (Le Devoir), Shelley is known for the clarity and integrity of his interpretations and the creativity and vision of his programming. To date, he has spearheaded over 40 major world premieres, highly praised cycles of Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms symphonies, operas, ballets, and innovative multi-media productions.
Since 2015, he has served as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra and Principal Associate Conductor of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. In April 2023, he was appointed Artistic and Music Director of Artis–Naples in Florida, providing artistic leadership for the Naples Philharmonic and the entire multidisciplinary arts organization. The 2024-2025 season is Shelley’s inaugural season in this position.
Additional 2024-2025 season highlights include performances with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Colorado Symphony, the Warsaw Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and the National Symphony of Ireland. Shelley is a regular guest with some of the finest orchestras of Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australasia, including Leipzig’s Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, the Helsinki, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Malaysian, Oslo, Rotterdam and Stockholm philharmonic orchestras and the Sao Paulo, Houston, Seattle, Baltimore, Indianapolis, Montreal, Toronto, Munich, Singapore, Melbourne, Sydney and New Zealand symphony orchestras.
In September 2015, Shelley succeeded Pinchas Zukerman as Music Director of Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the youngest in its history. The ensemble has since been praised as “an orchestra transformed ... hungry, bold, and unleashed” (Ottawa Citizen), and his programming is credited for turning the orchestra “almost overnight ... into one of the more audacious orchestras in North America” (Maclean’s). Together, they have undertaken major tours of Canada, Europe, and Carnegie Hall, where they premiered Philip Glass’s Symphony No. 13.
They have commissioned ground-breaking projects such as Life Reflected and Encount3rs, released multiple JUNO-nominated albums and, most recently, responded to the pandemic and social justice issues of the era with the NACO Live and Undisrupted video series.
In August 2017, Shelley concluded his eight-year tenure as Chief Conductor of the Nurnberger Symphoniker, a period hailed by press and audiences alike as a golden era for the orchestra.
Shelley’s operatic engagements have included The Merry Widow and Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet (Royal Danish Opera), La bohème (Opera Lyra/National Arts Centre), Louis Riel (Canadian Opera Company/National Arts Centre), lolanta (Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen), Così fan tutte (Opera National de Montpellier), The Marriage of Figaro (Opera North), Tosca (Innsbruck), and both Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni in semi-staged productions at the NAC.
Winner of the ECHO Music Prize and the Deutsche Grunderpreis, Shelley was conferred with the Cross of the Federal Order of Merit by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in April 2023 in recognition of his services to music and culture.
Through his work as Founder and Artistic Director of the Schumann Camerata and their pioneering “440Hz” series in Dusseldorf, as founding Artistic Director of the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen’s “Zukunftslabor” and through his regular tours leading Germany’s National Youth Orchestra, inspiring future generations of classical musicians and listeners has always been central to Shelley’s work.
He regularly gives informed and passionate pre- and post-concert talks on his programs, as well as numerous interviews and podcasts on the role of classical music in society. In Nuremberg alone, over nine years, he hosted over half a million people at the annual Klassik Open Air concert, Europe’s largest classical music event.
Born in London in October 1979 to celebrated concert pianists, Shelley studied cello and conducting in Germany and first gained widespread attention when he was unanimously awarded first prize at the 2005 Leeds Conductors’ Competition, with the press describing him as “the most exciting and gifted young conductor to have taken this highly prestigious award.”
The Music Director role is supported by Elinor Gill Ratcliffe, C.M., ONL, LL.D. (hc).
Joel Ivany is the Founder and Artistic Director of Against the Grain (AtG), the artistic director of Opera at Banff Centre, and was recently appointed Artistic Director at Edmonton Opera. His directing credits include productions of Verdi’s Macbeth (Minnesota Opera), Carmen (Vancouver Opera), Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Edmonton Opera), Gavin Bryars’s Marilyn Forever (Adelaide Festival) and Le nozze di Figaro (revival at Norwegian National Opera).
He is the author of seven (and counting) original librettos for companies such as the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Opera Company. He is a multiple Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee for Outstanding Direction as well as for Outstanding New Opera/Musical, winning one for Figaro’s Wedding.
Recent mainstage directing credits include Dead Man Walking at Minnesota Opera and the multiple award-winning production of Gluck’s Orphée+ with Opera Columbus, AtG, and Banff Centre. He has directed productions for the Canadian Opera Company (Hänsel und Gretel, Carmen), Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Mozart’s Requiem, Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins), the Canadian Children’s Opera Company (Brundibár), Vancouver Opera (Carmen, Dead Man Walking), and Claude Vivier’s Kopernikus for AtG and Banff Centre. Recent highlights include Messiah/Complex (AtG) and directing the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards.
He is a proud graduate of the Opera School at the University of Toronto and is a member of the Alumni Wall of Fame at his alma mater, Western University.
Michael Gianfrancesco’s set and costume designs for theatre, musical theatre, opera, and dance have been seen across Canada, in Europe, and in the United States. His multifaceted designs include period, contemporary, conceptual, and site-specific work. He has worked in repertory with the Stratford Festival for 19 seasons and the Shaw Festival for 10 seasons.
Michael has designed productions for the Canadian Opera Company, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Opera Atelier, Canadian Stage Company, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Citadel Theatre, Centaur Theatre, Theatre Calgary, The Grand Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Against the Grain, Mirvish Productions, The Segal Centre, Studio 180, Young People’s Theatre, and Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, among others. Some recent productions include sets for Richard II and Chicago at the Stratford Festival, Jasper at the off-broadway Signature Theatre in New York City, the costumes for Ricciardo e Zoraide at the Rossini Festival in Italy, Frame by Frame created by Robert Lepage and Guillaume Côté with Ex Machina and the National Ballet of Canada, and the world premiere of the opera Hadrian by Rufus Wainwright and Daniel McIvor at the Canadian Opera Company. Michael’s set design for Cabaret at the Shaw Festival, directed by Peter Hinton, was featured at the Prague Quadrennial for Performance Design and Space in 2015.
michaelgianfrancesco.com
Kimberly is a Toronto-based lighting designer for theatre, opera, and dance. Her designs have been critically acclaimed across Canada, the U.S., the U.K., China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mongolia, as well as in Prague and Moscow. She has designed for the Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Canadian Stage Company, Soulpepper Theatre, Mirvish Productions, National Arts Centre, and the NAC Orchestra, as well as Pacific Opera Victoria, Opera Philadelphia, Arena Stage in Washington D.C., Tapestry Opera, Hamilton Opera, Edmonton Opera, Theatre Calgary, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Citadel Theatre, and Place des Arts, among many others. She has also designed productions for the Pan Am Games and the Vancouver and Beijing Cultural Olympiads.
Kimberly has been nominated for numerous awards for excellence in lighting design and has received three Dora Mavor Moore Awards, the Pauline McGibbon Award, a Montreal English Theatre Award, a Sterling Award, a Toronto Theatre Critics Award, and an Ottawa Critics Circle Award.
Lesley Abarquez Bradley is excited to be making her debut at the National Arts Centre, as stage manager of this production of Don Giovanni, and is looking forward to reviving it at The Banff Centre this summer as part of the Opera in the 21st Century program.
Working primarily in opera, Lesley has been on the stage management team at the Canadian Opera Company (COC) for over 25 years, and has been the stage manager for opera productions at the Glenn Gould School (GGS) for the past 10 years. Favourite credits include Tosca, Pomegranate, Centre Stage,Die Walküre, Salome, and La traviata (COC); and Flight, Rinaldo, Die Fledermaus, Svadba, and Cendrillon (GGS).
Some of her other favourite credits include Figaro’s Wedding, Kopernikus, A Little Too Cozy (Against the Grain Theatre); Orphée+ (AtG/Opera Columbus/Banff Centre); Gould’s Wall, Shanawdithit (Tapestry Opera); and The Queen In Me (Amplified Opera/Nightwood Theatre/Theatre Gargantua).
Lesley has also enjoyed being a concert manager and special event stage manager for the Royal Conservatory of Music since 2016.
Former conductor of the Vienna Boys’ Choir and Cantata Singers of Ottawa, Laurence Ewashko celebrates his 35th season of choral activity in the National Capital Region. As a choral clinician, vocal coach and adjudicator, he makes a significant contribution to the quality and appreciation of vocal music in Canada and abroad. Laurence has prepared choruses for many prestigious conductors, as he regularly does at the National Arts Centre.
A Full Professor of Choral Studies at the University of Ottawa, he conducts the School of Music’s two choirs. Laurence is a recipient of the prestigious Leslie Bell Prize for Choral Conducting and numerous awards from the Canada Council of the Arts. He is the founding conductor of Ewashko Singers which was established in 1992.
Hailed by the New York Times for his “robust singing” and Opera News for his “exquisite vocal beauty,” GRAMMY Award–winning Canadian baritone Elliot Madore has established himself as an international artist in demand at the leading opera houses and orchestras of the world. The 2022–23 season sees his return to the Los Angeles Philharmonic to sing Ramón in a semi-staged production of John Adams’s Girls of the Golden West, as well as his much anticipated debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra to sing Messiah under the direction of music director Gustavo Gimeno. Elliot also sings the baritone soloist in Carmina Burana in a special co-presentation by the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the Hong Kong Ballet, as well as with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Osmo Vänskä, the New World Symphony Orchestra conducted by Patrick Dupré Quigley, and the Oregon Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leo Hussain. He also makes his debut with the Kalamazoo Symphony in Brahms’s Requiem. This season Elliot also continues his position as a performing Associate Professor of Voice with the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music faculty.
The 2021–22 season saw Elliot’s house debut in the world premiere of Giorgio Battistelli’s new opera Julius Caesar with Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, directed by Robert Carsen and conducted by Daniele Gatti. He also made his role debut as Dr. Falke in Die Fledermaus with the Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in Japan. Orchestral work includes Carmina Burana with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, conducted by music director Gustavo Dudamel, and Messiah with the U.S. Naval Academy.
British Columbia baritone Justin Welsh’s career highlights include appearances as Crown in Porgy and Bess with Kent Nagano conducting l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Queegueg in the Canadian premiere of Moby Dick for Calgary Opera, in which he garnered praise from the Calgary Herald’s Kenneth Delong, who noted “Justin Welsh brings a finely drawn vocal technique to the part, his voice beautiful throughout the register. Dramatically, too, Welsh’s role was exceptionally well-realized, a major accomplishment as a singing actor.” Justin has also sung Marcello in La bohème for l’Opéra de Montréal and Papageno in The Magic Flute and Figaro in Le nozze di Figaro for Pacific Opera Victoria. In the realm of newer opera, he has made notable appearances in Vivier’s Musik für das Ende produced by Soundstreams, Flight for Pacific Opera Victoria, and Against the Grain Theatre’s on-going project, Bound.
Justin’s 2022-23 season began with Tim Brady’s Backstage at Carnegie Hall in Montreal and continues with Schaunard in Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes’ La bohème, followed by a return to Pacific Opera Victoria for Weidhoff in Braunfels’ Die Vögel and to Tapestry Opera as Izunna in Of the Sea. His 2021-22 season included performances with Tapestry Opera, Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir, White Snake Projects, and joining the Canadian Opera Company for their digital production of Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. He also joined Pacific Opera Victoria for both digital and in person productions, appearing in Raum’s The Garden of Alice and as Leporello in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Earlier career highlights include Baron Douphol in La traviata for Edmonton Opera, Verdi’s Requiem for the Okanagan Symphony, Balthazar in Amahl and the Night Visitors for Calgary Opera, Schubert’s Fierabras for VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert, an Opera Gala for Niagara Symphony and the World Premiere of Barbara Croall’s miziwie (everywhere) for Pax Christi Chorale at Koerner Hall.
A former member of the Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, Justin was featured in Ensemble productions of Swoon (World Premiere), Così fan tutte as Guglielmo and Die Zauberflöte as Papageno. On the COC’s mainstage, he has appeared as Fiorello in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Dancaïre in Carmen and the Herald in Otello. Welsh is a past Fellow at the Tanglewood Summer Institute and has appeared in the COC’s Nightingale production in Brooklyn, toured with Jeunesses Musicales as Belcore in L’elisir d’amore and sang Slender in VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert’s presentation of Salieri’s rarely heard Falstaff. Further credits include Messiah for the Winnipeg, Victoria and Regina symphonies, Fauré’s Requiem with Choeur St. Laurent, Matthäus Passion with the Guelph Chamber Choir and Grand Philharmonic Choir, Beethoven’s Mass in C and Bach’s Magnificat with the Regina Philharmonic Chorus and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Niagara Symphony.
Awards include First Place in the Kurt Weill Competition and an encouragement award from the Louis and Cristina Quilico competition. He holds a Master of Music Degree from the University of British Columbia and participated in young artist programmes in the Czech Republic and in Sulmona, Italy.
Jane Archibald’s career trajectory has taken her from Canada to San Francisco to the Vienna State Opera and other major opera houses on both continents.
In the 2022–23 season, Jane sings the title role in Salome at Fondazione Lirico Sinfonico Petruzzelli e Teatro di Bari. In concert, she sings the soprano solo in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Rune Bergmann; Mozart’s Requiem with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Bernard Labadie; Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Kent Nagano; Mozart’s Requiem with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Michael Francis; works by Haydn and Beethoven with the Orchestra dell’Opera Carlo Felice Genova and Riccardo Minasi; and Debussy’s La damoiselle élue and Dutilleux’s Correspondances with the Seattle Symphony and their Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot.
Her artistry has generated excitement across Europe and North America with recent engagements including the title role in Daphne at Oper Frankfurt; Tytania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) at Deutsche Oper Berlin; Roxana (King Roger) at Oper Frankfurt; the title role in Alcina at Glyndebourne; Marie (La fille du regiment) at Wiener Staatsoper; Mathilde (Guillaume Tell) at Opéra National de Lyon; the title role in Semele with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra at Shanghai Symphony Hall; and Ginevra (Ariodante) at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia.
Other operatic engagements include Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), and the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor at Opernhaus Zürich; Adele (Die Fledermaus) and Ophélie (Hamlet) at The Metropolitan Opera; Olympia (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare in Egitto) at Opéra National de Paris; Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier) at Teatro alla Scala and Deutsche Oper Berlin; Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Bayerische Staatsoper, Baden-Baden Festspielhaus, and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden; and Mathilde (Guillaume Tell) and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) at Theater an der Wien.
Soprano Miriam Khalil has established herself as one of Canada’s most versatile and expressive performers. She has become increasingly known for her non-traditional performances of opera, art song, and concert repertoire. Miriam’s 2022/2023 season includes concert engagements with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (Gorecki’s Third Symphony), the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony), the Newfoundland Symphony (Handel’s Messiah), and a role and house debut as Leïla in Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers with Vancouver Opera. Notable roles include Mimì in La Bohème (Canadian Opera Company, Minnesota Opera, Opera Hamilton, Edmonton Opera, Against the Grain Theatre (AtG)); Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni (Opera Tampa, AtG, The Banff Centre, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival and next season with Edmonton Opera); Marzelline in Fidelio (Pacific Opera Victoria), Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro (Pacific Opera Victoria, Opera Lyra, AtG), and Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare (Glyndebourne Festival Opera, U.K.).
Miriam was nominated for a Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year for Ayre: Live, a song cycle by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov. Ayre has since become a signature piece with which she made her South American debut, premiering the cycle in Buenos Aires at the Kirchner Cultural Centre. She has also sung Ayre to critical acclaim in Banff, Ottawa Toronto and Victoria; to open the prestigious Rockport Music Festival in the USA, as well as the 21C Music Festival at Toronto’s Koerner Hall in 2020. Miriam also received a Juno nomination for her role as a soloist in AtG’s acclaimed Messiah/Complex.
The soprano is a graduate of the prestigious Canadian Opera Company Ensemble Studio, the Steans Institute for Young Artists (Ravinia) and the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme in England. While in her last year of the COC Ensemble Studio, she advanced to the semi-finals of the Metropolitan Opera Council auditions and represented the Great Lakes Region on the Met stage, during which she was featured in the documentary film The Audition. She is a recipient of multiple awards and grants from the George London Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Audition Scholarships.
Miriam is a proud founding member and Associate Artistic Director of the Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning chamber opera company Against the Grain Theatre, and recently joined the Voice Faculty at the University of Alberta, where she is very excited to be working with the next generation of singing artists and creators.
Tenor Andrew Haji is one of the most sought-after voices on operatic and concert stages across North America and Europe. Applauded at his debut for the Edinburgh Festival in Handel’s Saul, Haji’s upcoming season includes debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Kansas City Symphony, and NDR Hannover. As well, he will be heard with the Houston Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and at Carnegie Hall with Orchestra of St. Luke’s. During the 2023–2024 season, the Ontarian appears with the Seattle Symphony and Grand Philharmonic Choir (Bach’s Johannes Passion), Victoria Symphony (Messiah), Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (Bruckner’s Te Deum), Carnegie Hall (Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium), and at the National Arts Centre (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9), where he last appeared as Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Recent highlights include appearances with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Haydn’s Creation), Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society (Bach Cantatas), Chorus Niagara (Beethoven’s Missa solemnis), Orchestre Philharmonique et Cœur des Mélomanes (Rodolfo, La bohème), at the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts in Taiwan (Nemorino, L’elisir d’amore), and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony).
On the opera stage, Haji soon debuts the title role in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito for Pacific Opera Victoria and has been heard with the Canadian Opera Company in La bohème and L’elisir d’amore. Further appearances include Mozart’s Requiem with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Handel’s Messiah with the Houston Symphony and the NAC Orchestra, La bohème with Edmonton Opera and the Canadian Opera Company, La traviata and Macbeth with Calgary Opera, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Victoria Symphony, and Bach’s B Minor Mass with the Elora Festival.
A singer deemed “a treasure” by the Toronto Star, soprano Mireille Asselin enjoys a diverse, international career spanning concert, opera, and recital work. To date, Mireille has sung five seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, where she debuted as Poussette in Manon and has since covered many lead roles. Her performance there as Adele in Die Fledermaus under the baton of James Levine, was hailed by critics as “show stealing” and one of New York’s “most enchanting” of the season. She is a respected interpreter of contemporary and early music and performs regularly with leading orchestras and period ensembles in North America and Europe.
This season she appears with the Canadian Opera Company (Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro), Opera Atelier (Belinda in Dido and Aeneas), Edmonton Opera (Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater) and sings Zerlina (Mozart’s Don Giovanni) as well as Handel’s Messiah with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Recently, she has debuted at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris and Garsington Opera in the UK as Zerlina in Don Giovanni, as well as with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris in Mozart’s Requiem, returning also to Carnegie Hall for Bach’s Christmas Oratorio.
Mireille is a graduate of the Canadian Opera Company Studio, Yale University, and the Royal Conservatory of Music. She is a core member of the Mirror Visions Ensemble, a group which creates and tours innovative song recitals worldwide. Her discography includes solo discs recorded for Marquis Classics and Centrediscs, as well as Haydn’s Harmoniemesse with the Handel and Haydn Society on the CORO label.
Canadian-Armenian bass-baritone Vartan Gabrielian is a graduate of the Canadian Opera Company’s ensemble and the Santa Fe Apprentice program. While still a student, he made his professional debut with the Opéra de Montréal performing the role of Sparafucile (Rigoletto).
Highlights in his 2022/23 season include his role and festival debut as Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress) at the Verbier Festival conducted by James Gaffigan, and his role and house debut as Masetto and Commendatore (Don Giovanni) at the National Arts Centre, and Nourabad (Les pêcheurs de perles) at the Vancouver Opera. At the Canadian Opera Company, Gabrielian returns to perform Jailer (Tosca) and Dottore (Macbeth) in addition to covering Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro) and Banco (Macbeth). A sought-after concert performer, Gabrielian will also be performing Verdi’s Requiem under the baton of Francis Choinière and Handel’s Messiah with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
Recent appearances include performing the title role in Le nozze di Figaro at the Trentino Music Festival, Betto (Gianni Schicchi), Armed Guard (Die Zauberflöte), and Dottore Grenvil (La traviata) at the Canadian Opera Company, the title role of Sweeney Todd at Curtis Opera Theatre, and Leporello and Commendatore (Don Giovanni) at Opera Philadelphia. In prior seasons, he has performed the following roles at the Chautauqua Institute: King (Ariodante), Colline (La Bohème), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Masetto (Don Giovanni), and Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte).
In 2022, Gabrielian was a finalist at the Belvedere Competition and was also the Western Canada District winner in the Metropolitan Opera Competition. He has been a recipient of awards from numerous organizations including the Metropolitan Opera National Council, Career Bridges Schuyler Foundation, Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, Sylva Gelber Foundation, Gerda Lissner Foundation, and the George London Foundation.
Formed in 1992 for a live broadcast marking 50 years of Radio Canada International, Ewashko Singers has developed into one of the most flexible vocal ensembles in the National Capital Region.
From Beethoven, Mahler, and Verdi to Richard Rodgers and Howard Shore, they skillfully perform music across a wide range of genres and languages. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Laurence Ewashko, Ewashko Singers regularly highlights Canadian composers and showcases young Canadian talent. In addition to their own concerts, they often collaborate with other local choirs and music ensembles. Recent highlights with the National Arts Centre Orchestra include the Juno Award–winning live recording of Ana Sokolović’s Golden slumbers kiss your eyes, and Harry Somers’s opera Louis Riel as part of Canada 150 celebrations.
Nominated for a Dora Award for Gould’s Wall, Jennifer Tung is the artistic director of Toronto City Opera and assistant conductor of the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra. She leads a uniquely versatile career as music director, collaborative pianist, and soprano. In 2020–21, she joined Tapestry Opera as a conducting fellow in the inaugural year of the Women in Musical Leadership program, in partnership with Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Pacific Opera Victoria.
Jennifer debuted with the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival conducting The Mikado in 2017 and has returned to conduct Sweeney Todd and The Tragedy of Carmen. In 2019, she debuted with Opera York in La traviata and assisted Tapestry Opera and Opera on the Avalon’s joint production of the Dora Award–winning opera Shanawdithit by Dean Burry and Yvette Nolan. Recently, she conducted the world premiere of Gould’s Wall by Brian Current and Liza Balken, a joint production with the Royal Conservatory of Music and Tapestry Opera.
For the 2022–23 season, she has debuted as guest conductor with Opera McGill’s production of Anna Pigorna and Maria Reva’s Plaything (Canadian premiere), and with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and Kamloops Symphony Orchestra. In March 2023 Jennifer conducted the world premieres of Continuum’s production of Rodney Sharman and Atom Egoyan’s opera Show Room, as well as Tapestry Opera/Obsidian Theatre's co-production of Ian Cusson and Kanika Ambrose’s Of the Sea.
Jennifer is on faculty at Toronto’s Glenn Gould School, and is a sought-after faculty member for summer programs internationally. She holds degrees in vocal performance and collaborative piano from the Eastman School of Music and has studied conducting with Denis Mastromonaco.
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Anna is thrilled to be working on this project. She lives in amiskwacîwâskahikan, known as Edmonton, Alberta. Her recent Edmonton Opera credits include Stage Manager for Tosca, Così fan tutte, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater. Her recent credits as Assistant Stage Manager include Orphée+, La bohème, Candide (cancelled), Rigoletto, The Misadventures of Count Ory, Hansel & Gretel, Electra, La Cenerentola, and Turandot at Edmonton Opera, as well as The Fiancée at the Citadel Theatre. She has worked as a stage manager and assistant stage manager in Edmonton since graduating from the Theatre Production Program at MacEwan University in 2007. Anna also works as an IATSE Local 210 theatre technician.
Canada’s National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra is praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary learning and engagement programs, and its unwavering support of Canadian creativity. The NAC Orchestra is based in Ottawa, Canada’s national capital, and has grown into one of the country’s most acclaimed and dynamic ensembles since its founding in 1969. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, engaging communities from coast to coast to coast through inclusive programming, compelling storytelling, and innovative partnerships.
Since taking the helm in 2015, Shelley has shaped the Orchestra’s artistic vision, building on the legacy of his predecessor, Pinchas Zukerman, who led the ensemble for 16 seasons. Shelley’s influence extends beyond the NAC. He serves as Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the U.K. and Artistic and Music Director of Artis—Naples and the Naples Philharmonic in the U.S. Shelley’s leadership is complemented by Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds and Principal Youth Conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser. In 2024, the Orchestra marked a new chapter with the appointment of Henry Kennedy as its first-ever Resident Conductor.
The Orchestra has a rich history of partnerships with renowned artists such as James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Renée Fleming, Hilary Hahn, Jeremy Dutcher, Jan Lisiecki, Ray Chen and Yeol Eum Son, underscoring its reputation as a destination for world-class talent. As one of the most accessible, inclusive and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.
A hallmark of the NAC Orchestra is its national and international tours. The Orchestra has performed concerts in every Canadian province and territory and earned frequent invitations to perform abroad. These tours spotlight Canadian composers and artists, bringing their voices to stages across North America, the U.K., Europe, and Asia.
Credits
CREATIVE TEAM & CAST
Creative Team
Conductor
Alexander Shelley
Director
Joel Ivany
Stage Designer
Michael Gianfrancesco
Lighting Designer
Kim Purtell
Stage Manager
Lesley Abarquez Bradley
Chorus Master
Laurence Ewashko
Cast
Don Giovanni
Elliot Madore
Leporello
Justin Welsh
Donna Anna
Jane Archibald
Donna Elvira
Miriam Khalil
Don Ottavio
Andrew Haji
Zerlina
Mireille Asselin
Masetto / Commandatore
Vartan Gabrielian
Chorus of peasants, villagers, and servants
Ewashko Singers
Production Credits
Assistant Conductor
Jennifer Tung
Assistant Stage Manager
Anna Davidson
Surtitles Caller
Bethzaïda Thomas
Rehearsal Pianist (soloists)
Holly Kroeker
Rehearsal Pianist (chorus)
Valerie Dueck
Ewashko Singers
Soprano
Donna Ager
Maureen Brannan
Allison Kennedy
Emili Losier
Ilene McKenna
Christine Muggeridge
Alto
Elizabeth Burbidge
Gabriela Comeau Gort
Katie Cruickshank
Rachel Hotte
Vickie Iles
Caroline Johnston
Mary Zborowski
Tenor
Matt Gannon
Andrew Jahn
Adam Laurenti
Chris Libuit
Alexis Poirier
Caeden Rose
Mathieu Roy
Ryan Tonelli
Bass
Russell Baron
Norman Brown
Alain Franchomme
Matthew Menard
Eugene Oscapella
Stephen Slessor
Christopher Yordi
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart DON GIOVANNI.
Edited for the New Mozart Edition by Wolfgang Plath and Wolfgang Rehm.
Used by arrangement with European American Music Distributors Company, U.S. and Canadian agent for Baerenreiter-Verlag, publisher and copyright owner.
NAC Orchestra
First Violins
**Yosuke Kawasaki (concertmaster)
Jessica Linnebach (associate concertmaster)
Noémi Racine Gaudreault (assistant concertmaster)
Marjolaine Lambert
Emily Kruspe
Frédéric Moisan
Zhengdong Liang
Carissa Klopoushak
*Erica Miller
*Martine Dubé
Second violins
Mintje van Lier (principal)
**Winston Webber (assistant principal)
Jeremy Mastrangelo
Leah Roseman
Emily Westell
Manuela Milani
Mark Friedman
Karoly Sziladi
**Edvard Skerjanc
*Oleg Chelpanov
*Heather Schnarr
Violas
Jethro Marks (principal)
David Marks (associate principal)
David Goldblatt (assistant principal)
Paul Casey
David Thies-Thompson
Cellos
Rachel Mercer (principal)
**Julia MacLaine (assistant principal)
Leah Wyber
Marc-André Riberdy
Timothy McCoy
*Karen Kang
Double Basses
Max Cardilli (assistant principal)
Vincent Gendron
Marjolaine Fournier
**Hilda Cowie
*Paul Mach
Flutes
Joanna G'froerer (principal)
Stephanie Morin
Oboes
Charles Hamann (principal)
Anna Petersen
English Horn
Anna Petersen
Clarinets
Kimball Sykes (principal)
Sean Rice
Bassoons
Darren Hicks (principal)
Vincent Parizeau
Horns
Lawrence Vine (principal)
**Julie Fauteux (associate principal)
Elizabeth Simpson
**Lauren Anker
**Louis-Pierre Bergeron
Trumpets
Karen Donnelly (principal)
Steven van Gulik
Trombones
*Steve Dyer (guest principal)
Colin Traquair
Bass Trombone
*Scott Robinson
Tuba
**Chris Lee (principal)
Timpani
*Aaron McDonald (guest principal)
Percussion
**Jonathan Wade
Harpsichord
* Thomas Annand
Principal Librarian
Nancy Elbeck
Assistant Librarian
Corey Rempel
Personnel Manager
Meiko Lydall
Orchestra Personnel Coordinator
Laurie Shannon
*Additional musicians
**On leave
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Official Car of the NAC Orchestra
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees