An opera couple

Julien and Elena

“We were both raised in Europe by opera lovers and had the chance to see beautiful productions at a relatively young age...

Opera Under 30 tickets for Lucia di Lammermoor, Salome and Dialogues des Carmélites go on sale Saturday, April 6 at 10 a.m. Read on to learn more about one of our Opera Under 30 ambassadors and improve your opera knowledge. Never miss a sale by signing up for our special Opera Under 30 email list.

Who?

Lyndsay Promane, 20
Student at University of Toronto, Faculty of Music

1. What was your first introduction to opera?
When I began classical vocal training, I found a recording of Beverly Sills as Rosina singing “Una voce poco fa” from The Barber of Seville and was blown away. My next discovery was Kathleen Battle and Wynton Marsalis’ album “Baroque duets”. Those artists acted as a springboard for me to discover opera and art song.

2. How did you find out about the Opera Under 30 program?
My brother took me to my first COC opera (Stravinsky’s The Nightingale and Other Short Fables) and he purchased our tickets through the Opera Under 30 program. I’ve continued to buy tickets this way ever since.

3. How many COC performances have you seen?
I’ve seen all the performances from the 2012-2013 season so far.

Who?

Kip Sawyer, 18 years old.
University of Toronto student.

1. How were you introduced to opera?

It was a natural progression from my enjoyment of musical theatre. I really liked shows with romantic or dramatic music like The Light in the Piazza, or The Phantom of the Opera, especially the Canadian cast recording featuring the COC's own Rebecca Caine. I realized I should give opera a try since so many of the shows I liked had some operatic influence.

2. What was your first opera?

It was the premiere of Life is a Dream at the Santa Fe Opera. The production was well done, but I disliked the opera because it was too atonal for my tastes. After that, it was over a year and a half until I saw another opera, which was Iphigenia in Tauris at the COC (I listened to and watched a number of recordings in the time between, it's just hard to see live opera when you're in Maine!)

3. How did you find out about the Opera Under 30 program?

Part of my decision to come to Toronto from Maine was all the art and culture that Toronto had to offer over some of the smaller cities where I had been accepted to universities. Thus, some of my university research led me to the COC's website, where I saw the info about the Opera Under 30 program.