The Opera Glasses Podcast

The Development and Cancelled Premiere of Indians on Vacation

A premiere disappears three months before opening night, and the artists are told after the decision is already made. That’s the moment that frames our conversation with mezzo-soprano and broadcaster Marion Newman, a singer we’ve long admired for her voice, her wit and her steady insistence on truth. We talk about Indians On Vacation, the new Canadian opera adapted from Thomas King’s novel, and why Marion was drawn to Mimi: an Indigenous, middle-aged woman who stays alive, loves hard, laughs often and refuses to let anxiety impact her travel. Marion walks us through Mimi and Bird’s relationship and the rare power of a story that centers Indigenous joy, curiosity and normal life without pretending history isn’t there. From there, we zoom out to the the development of the operatic Indians on Vacation: pandemic-era workshops, the thrill of a Banff sing-through with orchestra, and then the gut punch of cancellation after years of work involving roughly two dozen Indigenous artists. Marion speaks plainly about what it feels like when stories are shaped inside institutions where final authority still often sits outside the community being represented, and why meaningful consultation can’t be an afterthought. We close with what comes next: Stories Don’t Die: The Artists of Indians on Vacation, a May 9 event in Toronto presented by Against the Grain Theatre featuring selections from the score and a live conversation with the audience. All episodes of The Opera Glasses podcast are hosted by the editor of Opera Canada, currently Michael Jones after Elizabeth Bowman hosted seasons 1 and 2. Follow Opera Canada on Instagram [http://instagram.com/operacanada], Twitter [http://twitter.com/operacanada], Facebook [http://facebook.com/OperaCanadaMagazine] and Visit OperaCanada.ca [http://operacanada.ca] for all of your Canadian Opera news and reviews.

Dean Burry – Inside the Mind of an Opera Storyteller

A four-month-old mystery wrapped in newspaper. A fairy tale that has toured hundreds of times. A classroom full of kids who cheer without restraint. We sit down with Canadian composer Dean Burry to explore how opera becomes irresistible when it balances big myths with small, human truths. Dean shares the thread that runs through his work from The Brothers Grimm and The Hobbit to the headline-gripping Baby Kintyre: find the poetry inside a story, then let music and text reveal the people beneath the plot. He traces his start in Newfoundland’s drama clubs, his early interest in musical theatre, and why he writes so many of his own libretti. We dig into years of education work at the Canadian Opera Company, where he wrote operas with seven-to-twelve-year-olds and built all the masks and props for them himself, turning limited budgets into creative fuel. His take on accessibility is refreshing – keep the craft sharp, the ideas bold, and the path clear enough that first-time listeners feel invited rather than tested. All episodes of The Opera Glasses podcast are hosted by the editor of Opera Canada, currently Michael Jones after Elizabeth Bowman hosted seasons 1 and 2. Follow Opera Canada on Instagram [http://instagram.com/operacanada], Twitter [http://twitter.com/operacanada], Facebook [http://facebook.com/OperaCanadaMagazine] and Visit OperaCanada.ca [http://operacanada.ca] for all of your Canadian Opera news and reviews.

Canadian Coloratura: Tracy Dahl

A mountain hotel, a piano in the lounge, and two lovers who return in disguise with beards worthy of an NFB classic – Mozart has never felt more Canadian. We invited coloratura icon Tracy Dahl to share how a beloved trickster like Despina changes when the artist brings more life to the stage, and why comedy lands best when the ensemble breathes as one. The stories are wild, but the craft is precise. Tracy takes us inside her infamous Lucia di Lammermoor night in San Francisco – an emergency call, costume chaos, a first step from her son, and a knock on the dressing room door from Joan Sutherland. She breaks down the mad scene’s E-flat, explaining why she chooses to ride the phrase in one breath rather than stop, and what that decision reveals about breath, line, and respecting your own instrument. We also revisit her unscheduled Met debut as Adele, where readiness, language clarity, and a sense of direction – literally – made all the difference. Between performances, Tracy has helped turn Winnipeg into a vibrant hub for emerging singers. We talk about teaching that stays close to the industry, and then we head back to Così fan tutte in Vancouver: a witty staging set at a grand Canadian hotel, an onstage piano as continuo, local flavor woven through surtitles, and disguises that wink at national folklore. With a cast that feels like family, the rehearsal room becomes a masterclass in timing, listening and trust – the real fuel behind great Mozart ensembles. All episodes of The Opera Glasses podcast are hosted by the editor of Opera Canada, currently Michael Jones after Elizabeth Bowman hosted seasons 1 and 2. Follow Opera Canada on Instagram [http://instagram.com/operacanada], Twitter [http://twitter.com/operacanada], Facebook [http://facebook.com/OperaCanadaMagazine] and Visit OperaCanada.ca [http://operacanada.ca] for all of your Canadian Opera news and reviews.

Nikan Ingabire Kanate: Rising Soprano with Two Big Wins

A rising soprano, two audience prizes, and a leap into contemporary opera —this conversation brings you inside a young career. Opera Glasses down with Nikan Ingabire Kanate to map her path from Ottawa choir rehearsals to  the Curtis Institute, then through a fall packed with finals, flights and a first-prize finish at the Center Stage competition hosted by the Canadian Opera Company. We also open the score of Kaija Saariaho’s La Passion de Simone, where Nikon serves as the soprano voice tracing Simone Weil’s fierce, searching life. Nikon shares how she prepares for that challenge, why performing music by a woman composer feels important, and how the role expands her range as an artist. Of course, the classics are never far. We talk about Kanate's competition repertoire – "Depuis le jour," "Porgi amor" – and her dream roles. There’s practical wisdom here for singers and fans alike: building rest into audition season, protecting the voice while traveling, finding community among finalists, and trusting technique when the moment arrives. All episodes of The Opera Glasses podcast are hosted by the editor of Opera Canada, currently Michael Jones after Elizabeth Bowman hosted seasons 1 and 2. Follow Opera Canada on Instagram [http://instagram.com/operacanada], Twitter [http://twitter.com/operacanada], Facebook [http://facebook.com/OperaCanadaMagazine] and Visit OperaCanada.ca [http://operacanada.ca] for all of your Canadian Opera news and reviews.

Reframing Butterfly Through History

A revered classic can hide a hard truth. We sit down with director Mo Zhou to unpack how Madama Butterfly shifts when you move it out of fantasy and into the charged reality of post–World War II Japan. Mo charts her own journey from closed doors in commercial theater to a thriving opera career, and then into the heart of a work she once refused to stage. By resetting the opera in 1946 and 1953, during and after the American occupation, she finds inspiration for why characters perform identity to survive, how power dynamics distort intimacy, and where Puccini’s score can be heard as evidence rather than ornament. What stands out is the research and the reckoning. Mo traveled to Nagasaki, traced documented sources behind the Butterfly myth, and examined how original Asian women’s stories were reshaped by European adapters into familiar tropes – the self-effacing innocent (Cio Cio San) or the menacing “dragon lady" (Turandot). Her production asks us to see Cio-Cio-San as a person of faith and agency, not an exotic symbol: faith in reinvention, agency in the face of limited options, and a dream that collides with structural imbalance. The result is not a softened Butterfly but a sharper one, where history clarifies character and empathy doesn’t absolve harm. All episodes of The Opera Glasses podcast are hosted by the editor of Opera Canada, currently Michael Jones after Elizabeth Bowman hosted seasons 1 and 2. Follow Opera Canada on Instagram [http://instagram.com/operacanada], Twitter [http://twitter.com/operacanada], Facebook [http://facebook.com/OperaCanadaMagazine] and Visit OperaCanada.ca [http://operacanada.ca] for all of your Canadian Opera news and reviews.