A Viennese Classical Cabaret

featuring members of the
UBC Opera Ensemble
Nancy Hermiston - director
with selections from Johann Strauss II
Die Fledermaus

Intermezzi Strings
James Malmberg - conductor
Delta Youth Symphony Orchestra
Stephen Robb - conductor
Jonathan Der - assistant conductor, chamber music director

Sunday November 16th, 2008
Cocktails 6 pm ~ Dinner 7pm
Best Western Hotel and Conference Centre
7551 Westminister Hwy, Richmond BC.

The Delta Youth Orchestra will be holding its thirteenth annual Classical Cabaret and Silent Auction on Sunday November 16th  at the Best Western Hotel in Richmond BC. Cocktails will be available at 6:00 pm, with dinner served at 7:00pm. We extend an invitation to you, your family and friends to join us for an evening of great music, wonderful food and the opportunity to take home a number of the silent auction items.

This event will be a major fund-raiser for the 2008 - 2009 season. Please come out and enjoy a great evening of music, food and festivities.

The evening will feature members from the  UBC Opera Ensemble. Created in 1995 by Professor Nancy Hermiston, the UBC Opera Ensemble draws its performers from advanced students in the UBC School of Music and young professionals. This evenings performance will feature overture and arias from Johann Strauss Jnr's Die Fledermaus.

Live and Silent Auction Items will also be available throughout the evening.

The program will include selections from Die Fledermaus by Johann Stauss.

Tickets: $60 per person (including dinner)

Contact: lena(at)dyo.bc.ca for more information 

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UBC Opera Ensemble featured Soloists

Stephanie Nakagawa is majoring in opera performance at UBC, studying under Nancy Hermiston.  She won the Western Canada District Metropolitan Opera Competition.  Last year, she performed the roles of Musetta in La Bohème, Adele in Die Fledermaus with the VSO and at the Wesben Festival, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni in the Czech Republic and at Bard on the Beach.  She has won numerous awards in festivals including first place at the BC Provincial Festival of the Performing Arts.  She holds ARCT Performance Diplomas in both piano and voice from the Royal Conservatory of Music.  Stephanie has attended several summer festivals, including the MusikSeminar in Vienna, Mozarteum in Salzburg, and Orford Festival of the Arts.  Stephanie was awarded the Wesbrook Scholar, June Goldsmith Music Scholarship, Johann Strauss Foundation Lotte and John Hecht Memorial Scholarship, UBC BMO National Scholarship, UBC TREK Excellence Scholarship, Canada Millennium Excellence Award, and the UBC President’s Entrance Scholarship.  In December, she will perform the role of Gretel in Hansel and Gretel. 

 

Born and raised in Kelowna BC, soprano Gina McLellan-Morel began studying classical voice at a very young age with such teachers as Katherine van Kampen, Roslyn Frantz and Joan Weaver-Gass.  She was involved in numerous opera and musical theatre productions with The Viva Musica Society in Kelowna including La Bohème, Suor Angelica, Down in the Valley, The Elixir of Love, and Show Boat before moving to Vancouver to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Opera at UBC. 
During her time at UBC, Gina has performed in many UBC productions including Die Zauberflöte, H.M.S. Pinafore, La Bohème, The Merry Widow, The Ghost in the Turret, Manon, Orpheus in the Underworld, and Eugene Onegin.  Gina's most notable roles include Pamina in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Mimi in Puccini's La Bohème and Josephine in Gilbert & Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore and Violetta in a concert production of Verdi’s La Traviata.  Gina has had the opportunity to work extensively with conductors Leslie Dala (Vancouver Opera) and Norbert Baxa (Usti nad Lebem, Czech Republic) and has appeared in productions with the Vancouver Opera AssociationVancouver Opera Orchestra, the Prince George Symphony, Bard on the Beach and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She recently toured and performed with Vancouver Opera’s “Opera in the Schools” program as the understudy for the roles of Queen of the Night, Papagena, and 1st Lady in an adaptation of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.  Most recently, Gina was privileged to perform the role of Emma Jung in the World Premiere of West Vancouver composer Lloyd Burrit’s new opera Dreamhealer alongside Mezzo-Soprano Judith Forst, Tenor Roelof Oostwoud and Baritone John Avey, conducted by David Agler.  Gina is currently continuing her vocal training with Nancy Hermiston, and is looking forward to her upcoming auditions and performances

Mezzo soprano Valery Saul recently returned from the Czech Republic this summer singing the role of Sesto in Handel’s Giulio Cesare with the European Music Academy. Since her return, she has been understudying the role of Rosina for Vancouver Opera’s adaptation of Rossini’s Barber of Seville, The Barber of Barkerville. A native of Portland, Oregon, she has appeared in many roles with Portland State University Opera, including Dorabella in Cosi Fan Tutte in which she worked with renowned stage director, Tito Capabianco. Ms. Saul has also sung the roles of Madame Pernelle in Kirk Mechem’s Tartuffe and Mistress of the Novices in Puccini’s Suor Angelica. She has been seen in concert singing excerpts from La Clemenzo di Tito, Beatrice and Benedict, and L’incoronazione di Poppea for Astoria Opera Summer Festival. Valery made her debut with UBC Opera Ensemble singing Orlofsky in Die Fledermaus this past December and was later seen in The Dream Healer as Dora. Valery is looking forward to her upcoming performances as Hansel in UBC Opera’s production of Hansel and Gretel. She is in her second year as a Masters student in Opera Performance at UBC and currently studies with Judith Forst and Nancy Hermiston.

Tenor Sunny Shams began singing at the age of 18, after studying classical and jazz piano since he was 9.  Sunny became interested in taking some jazz voice lessons while working on a diploma in jazz piano at Camosun College in Victoria, and started working with Joanne Hounsell on jazz voice, but he was soon encouraged to train in classical voice, and after working with her as well as a couple of the school’s vocal coaches he switched to a classical voice major.  Now at the age of 21, Sunny is currently in his 3rd year at UBC in the Bachelor of Music with a major in Opera, studying voice with Peter Barcza.
This past July, Sunny toured with the UBC Opera Ensemble to Westben, Ontario to perform the role of Gabriel von Eisenstein in Johan Strauss’ Die Fledermaus – a role he had previously understudied during the school year at UBC. He also went with the ensemble to Teplice in the Czech Republic, where he performed the role of Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni.  He returned to Vancouver and gave performances of Don Ottavio in Vancouver’s Bard on the Beach Opera Shows with the ensemble this past September.
Sunny sang in the chorus for all of UBC’s productions last year, including Die Fledermaus, La Boheme, and a newly commissioned opera, The Dreamhealer. This year he has joined the Vancouver Opera chorus and is performing in two of their operas – Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin in November, and Bizet’s Carmen in January.  He is also currently preparing roles for the upcoming UBC production of Verdi’s Falstaff in March 2009. 

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