Our People

Our People

The Artists who create original new productions, together with a Board of Directors, Administrative team and Production personnel, all contribute to the calibre of our art making. We work passionately and professionally to both serve and advance the art form.

 

Timothy Vernon, C.M., LL.D (Hon), DMus (Hon), Artistic Director

Timothy Vernon
Full Bio

 

Ian Rye, MBA, Chief Executive Officer


Full Bio

Pacific Opera is governed by a committed board of directors who advance the company’s mission through budget approval, oversight, and risk management; work on board committees and task forces; support for fundraising and donor stewardship; and ambassadorship and advocacy efforts to promote the arts, develop community collaborations, and welcome patrons and the wider community into the world of opera.

 
Honorary Directors

The Pacific Opera Victoria Foundation is a registered charitable society that exists to support Pacific Opera Victoria. The Foundation accepts current and planned gifts through bequests and estate giving or other types of future gifts to provide ongoing support for the programs and activities of POV and to develop endowment funds, reserve funds and other financial assets.

Foundation Trustees

The Victoria Symphony are key musical partners for Pacific Opera Victoria productions.

Victoria Symphony
Christian Kluxen, Music Director
Matthew White, CEO

Musicians of the VS

Violins

  • Terence Tam, Concertmaster
  • Christi Meyers, Assistant Concertmaster
  • Tori Gould, Principal Second Violin
  • Cory Balzer
  • Müge Büyükçelen-Badel
  • Courtney Cameron
  • Michele Kwon
  • Phillip Manning
  • Emily Salmon
  • Julian Vitek

Violas

  • Kenji Fusé, Principal
  • Stacey Boal
  • Kay Cochran
  • Mieka Michaux
  • Christine Prince

Celli

  • Brian Yoon, Principal
  • Hannah Craig
  • Joyce Ellwood
  • Perry Foster

Basses

  • Mary Rannie, Principal
  • Darren Buhr
  • Alex Olson

Flutes

  • Richard Volet, Principal
  • Stephanie Bell

Oboes

  • Michael Byrne, Principal
  • Russell Bajer

Clarinets

  • Keith MacLeod, Principal
  • Jennifer Christensen

Bassoons

  • Jennifer Gunter, Principal
  • Anne Power

Horns

  • Alana Despins, Principal
  • Michael Oswald, Acting Principal
  • Janet Parker
  • Dan Moses

Tuba

  • Paul Beauchesne, Principal

Trumpets

  • Ryan Cole, Principal
  • David Michaux

Trombone

  • Brad Howland, Principal
  • Marcus Hissen

Bass Trombone

  • Robert Fraser

Timpani

  • William Linwood, Principal

Percussion

  • Karl Williams, Principal

Harp

  • Annabelle Stanley, Principal

Orchestra Manager

  • Eric Gallipo

Operations Manager

  • Liz King

Librarians

  • Christopher Reiche Boucher

 

* on leave

The orchestra under Timothy Vernon was superb – led with great finesse that never overshadowed the voices, and full of lovely touches, like a sopranino recorder solo as a bird, and a blistering harpsichord solo that brought the house down.

Melissa Ratcliff, Schmopera, review of Rinaldo, 2018

 

Never before had I realized how beautiful so much of the music is: to a degree the consequence of the transparency of the smaller orchestra and, of course, the musicianship of Maestro Vernon and his players… 

The strength of the orchestra made itself apparent immediately with the magical opening to the opera, that long E flat pedal presenting primordial beginnings, with rising horn arpeggios joining in—the rise of life from the void—then the sinuous strings representing the river Rhine, the opera’s Eden. It was thrilling to watch at the same time the world take form above the stage from a pinpoint of light to the round globe itself. Despite the lack of full Wagnerian weight, the sequence had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.

Harvey De Roo, Vancouver Classical Music, review of Das Rheingold, 2014

The Pacific Opera Chorus comprises adults of all ages and includes community singers, aspiring professionals, and vocal students at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and the University of Victoria.

Over the last decade, with the support of a generous anonymous grant, Pacific Opera has offered a growing range of development opportunities for the Chorus. These include workshops on dance, movement, stage combat, and more, master classes by visiting artists, and other programs designed for members of the Chorus, as well as for other students of voice, and for practising artists working in the fields of music, theatre, stage design and direction.

Auditions for the Pacific Opera Chorus are held each year. Please check our Careers and Auditions page for future audition postings.

Soprano

  • Kyla Fradette
  • Ai Horton
  • Gina Johnson
  • Chelsea Kutyn
  • Andrea Paddock
  • Cheryl Pocklington
  • Abigail Shuliger
  • Emlyn Sheeley
  • Annalysa Tylor
  • Allison Ward

Alto

  • Margo Brody
  • Amanda Chaval
  • Rebekah Janzen
  • Cathie Lylock
  • Zoe Pelton
  • Carol Pudwell
  • Cassidy Stahr
  • Andrea Palin

Tenor

  • Joey Bulman
  • Alex Chen
  • Stephen Cropper
  • Taylor Fawcett
  • Grady Forsberg
  • Kieran Foss
  • Brian Holgate
  • Steve Wadhams

Bar/Bass

  • Brian Andiel
  • Louis Dillon
  • Jaon Fisher
  • Dale Friesen
  • Chris Hinz
  • Kurt Krebs
  • Gerald Shieven
  • Jaya Seely
  • Ron Skelton
  • William Wang

 

The Pacific Opera Chorus, too, shone bright. They looked fabulous in their roaring twenties flapper dresses and elegant suits, and sounded just as good. 

Robin Miller, Opera Canada, review of La traviata, 2019

 

With acting skills matched by their formidable vocal performance, the Chorus conveyed the pathos of the prisoners’ lot movingly.

Honorary Patron
Her Honour
The Honourable Janet Austin, OBC
Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia