Community Symposium Events for

The Ballad of Baby Doe

Due to popular demand in the past two years, Calgary Opera is once again hosting a Community Symposium to coincide with our January production. These events are designed to provide stimulating topics of interest to our patrons and the community at-large as well as to generate interest in the opera. The symposium this year features the theme of Boom and Bust, a topic that will resonate with Calgarians and a seminal theme of Douglas Moore’s 1956 opera – The Ballad of Baby Doe.

Call today to purchase tickets or book a reservation for one or more of these provocative and informative events. Calgary Opera Box Office 262-7286. For further information, contact Bonnie Gratz, Education Coordinator at bgratz@calgaryopera.com

SYMPOSIUM EVENTS:

A Taste of the Opera
January 18, 2008  7pm
Ticketed Event.  $15 per person                                                                                           
Arrata Opera Centre

Join us for a general information session about The Ballad of Baby Doe, but only if you’re hungry for ideas about the production and some down home American cuisine. Take in a talk by Stage Director Kelly Robinson and Conductor Hal France as they share their approaches to the American classic they’ve been hard at work on with only a week to go before its professional Canadian premiere at Calgary Opera. After their talk enjoy a  reception that includes food by Classic Catering of The Ranchman’s Cookhouse and Dancehall, and beverages supplied by The Wine Cellar South.

Movie Night at the Opera House                                                                                          
January 19, 2008 7:00pm    
FREE Admission                                                                                                                   
Arrata Opera Centre
Reservations required by calling 262-7286 
                                                                                                                                            
Jim Brown, host of The Eye Opener on CBC Radio One, and award winning film director Gary Burns host a screening of their acclaimed documentary Radiant City. Urban sprawl is eating the planet. Politicians call it growth. Developers call it business. The Moss Family calls it home. While Evan Moss zones out in commuter traffic, Ann boils over in her dream kitchen and the kids play sinister games amidst the fresh foundations of monster houses. Burns and Brown rummage through a toybox of cultural references, from Jane Jacobs to The Sopranos, to create a provocative reflection on why we live the way we do. Something’s happening on the edge of town. They call it Radiant City. Welcome to the neighbourhood.

Alberta Today and Tomorrow … Boom or Bust                                                                   
January 21, 2008 7:00pm
FREE Admission
Arrata Opera Centre
Reservations required by calling 262-7286 

Meet The Parkland Institute’s Ricardo Acuña and The Canada West Foundation’s Roger Gibbins in a positively charged debate about the economic forecast for Alberta. Prosperity is a good thing, right? Hear what these two leading thinkers have to say about the effects of momentous economic prosperity in the west when they face off in a “cage match” that is sure to arouse a response and stimulate discussion.

Boom Design  
January 23, 2008 7:00pm
FREE Admission
Arrata Opera Centre
Reservations required by calling 262-7286                                                                           

Get together with well-known Calgary Architects Jeremy Sturgess and Peter Burgener for an insider’s view of residential and commercial design highlights in Calgary over the past five years. What are some of the architectural trends that take place during times of plenty? Take a peek at some buildings that have made an impression on these leaders in their field.

Meet Some Doe Heads                                                                                                        
January 26, 2008  2pm
FREE Admission
Jubilee Auditorium
Reservations required by calling 262-7286 

As anticipation builds for the Canadian premiere of The Ballad of Baby Doe, the afternoon of the Opening Night, you are invited to meet some very special guests - members of The DoeHEADS - a fan club, aka The Grateful “Dead Heads”—who will present the history of this great American classic. David Kanzeg, a Programming Director at PBS Cleveland, presents his extensive research and insight into The Ballad of Baby Doe, in the presence of Leyna Gabriele, the Soprano who created the original Baby Doe in 1956. Ms. Gabriele will travel here for Calgary Opera’s Opening Night all the way from New York City.