Calgary Opera Comes to United’s Fish Creek Community
Residents at United’s Fish Creek community played host this week to performers from Calgary Opera’s Emerging Artists program. Residents from United’s Garrison Green visited the Fish Creek theatre to take in the performance. Four performers – Daevyd Pepper, Jillian Bonner, Geoffrey Schellenberg and Morgan Traynor – accompanied on the piano by their director Mel Kirby, thrilled the more than 50 residents with popular numbers, and songs from the upcoming Calgary Opera performance of Eugene Onegin.
Emerging artist Daevyd Pepper, a tenor, says he loves performing for an older audience. “Older adults have usually heard some of the songs before or are planning to attend an upcoming performance,” he said. “Older listeners are also quite interactive. They like to see the performers up close and often engage in conversation with us afterwards. That adds a lot of meaning to me to know that I’m reaching my listeners.”
Here is a portion of Daevyd’s performance for residents.
Calgary Opera is one of several arts, culture and higher learning organizations that United Active Living is partnering with. Each partnership provides opportunities for residents to experience small, intimate concerts within their communities, and to attend outside performances.
Jillian Bonner, a mezzo-soprano said it’s important to give concerts within the community. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to step away from our regular schedule and sing for the community. Being here allows us to perform in a more intimate setting.”
“Having a group like Calgary Opera come into one of our communities provides a unique opportunity for residents to hear the music they love, particularly if they aren’t able to get out as often as they would like,” said United’s music director Jill LaForty. “You can feel the power in their voices that you may not experience fully in a theatre setting. It’s really a special experience.”
Both Daevyd and Jillian agreed that performing in the community is a great way to bring opera to the residents.
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