Although the production is postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis, Barbara Hubbard, owner of Baden-Baden Boutiques, is committed to supporting the company through the uncertainty that lies ahead. Last week, Barbara chatted with us about opera and philanthropy.

Q: As owner of Baden-Baden, a European and North American fashion store, you’ve been an annual sponsor of Pacific Opera productions since 2006 and in that role alone, you’ve made a significant contribution to cultural art in this city. We’d love to share your connection to Pacific Opera with our audience.

Yes, long-time supporter of Pacific Opera Victoria – indeed. I used to collect and frame all posters of Pacific Opera productions that I sponsored and although they don’t give me any dates (unfortunately), I have one that celebrates the 35th anniversary of Pacific Opera with the production of Lucia di Lammermoor. Now we are celebrating our 40th anniversary and I consider it a great privilege to be part of this opera family. Having recently watched the video of “Inside Opera” with Timothy and Robert – what could be more invigorating, fascinating and exciting than watching those two outstanding artists give their interpretations of the five operas they would take to a desert island. Over the years I have been witness to the ever-evolving quality of productions and the courage to present lesser known works, most of which were received to high acclaim.
 

Q: What was your first opera and where did you see it? What is it about opera that continues to engage you?

Looking back on my first opera – I was 10 years old and growing up in Germany when my grandmother took me to see Nabucco. I remember my reaction at the time. I wished quietly that the singing would stop so I could listen to the music. I have to admit that I have come a long way since then. I can’t think of a more precious and unique instrument than the human voice.

Q: What inspired you to become a sponsor of Pacific Opera Victoria in particular? Where did you find the connect between fashion and philanthropy?

While serving as a Director on the Pacific Opera Victoria board for many years I felt more and more connected to the world of opera and was astonished and delighted to find an ever-increasing interest and love for this art which I hope will never end.

Many years ago, when I looked at my Baden-Baden advertising budget and wondered how to promote the arts, it became obvious that my choice would be to support this wonderful opera company called Pacific Opera Victoria. Many of my customers were loyal opera subscribers and I knew they would appreciate Baden-Baden’s corporate philanthropy.

Q: As we move into the 2020’s, what are your aspirations for Pacific Opera Victoria?

As we move into 2020, our new life with and after the Coronavirus will undoubtedly be very instrumental in motivating composers and librettists to create new operas expressing the calamity, despair and loneliness (how operatic) but also the healing and revival of life in the post-COVID 19 era.

I anticipate and hope to be able to support Pacific Opera Victoria in the future and can’t wait for the new operas to be created and performed.

It is a pleasure to speak with you. Thank you, Barbara!

Although the production is postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis, David and Karen are more committed than ever to supporting the company through the uncertainty that lies ahead.

David first became a fan of opera as a student at Columbia University in New York City. He enjoyed many operas from the 50-cent standing room section at the back of the old Metropolitan Opera house. After he moved to Victoria, he started to attend Pacific Opera’s productions and quickly became an integral part of the opera community. He joined the Pacific Opera board in 2008, served as President from 2010 to 2014, and is now the Chair of the Pacific Opera Victoria Foundation.

In this role David reminds us that “the Pacific Opera Foundation has had very small holdings until recently. We have made some lofty goals to increase our endowment and unrestricted funds to help us in times such as these.”

“Thanks to the generosity of donors who have included their opera company in their wills we are in a good position to weather this very serious storm. In my own estate planning, I am thinking about the organizations that I have supported through my live, and Pacific Opera is one that has meant a lot to me.”

When asked why he supports so many local organizations, including the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Victoria Symphony, UVic, and Royal Roads University, David says that he is deeply interested in his own community. “I can make a difference, and I have more bang for my buck here. I’ve got no mortgage and my children are ok. I simply have money to give away, and I prefer to choose where I give it.”

Karen Jensen is a licenced Victoria Realtor® with a long history of involvement as a community volunteer, starting nearly 30 years ago with the Hospice Swimathon Committee which met at the United Way of Greater Victoria offices. Currently she volunteers for the Garth Homer Society and the I-witness Holocaust Field School at UVic, and she serves as an active member of Pacific Opera’s President’s Circle Committee.

Karen was exposed to the arts from a very young age. She saw her first opera, La bohème, as a young child at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in 1962. She studied ballet from the ages of 6 to 18 and was immersed in the world of classical arts.

While there are many worthy causes to support, Karen believes in the power of the arts to take people’s minds off their worries and give themselves a mental vacation.

Service to the community is a crucial value for Karen, “Those of us who can carve out time, who are self-employed or who can find the time, should try to help our community; it’s easier for us than for those with 9-to-5 jobs. I have learned that this community is run largely on volunteer people power. That has really stayed with me over the last 30 years.”

Thank you, David and Karen, for your service in the community and for helping to power Pacific Opera!

More information on how you can get involved in supporting Pacific Opera Victoria:

• Making a gift in your will to the Pacific Opera Victoria Foundation
• Volunteering for Pacific Opera Victoria

While it might seem as if Sandra McLellan was born to be a costumer, she recalls being surprised that making costumes could be a career.

Today she is Head of Wardrobe at Pacific Opera Victoria, leading a three-person department. But growing up in Vavenby, B.C., a forestry town of about 700 people, she was taught to sew by her grandmother just to keep her busy.

“She was a professional dressmaker who had one of those old-fashioned sewing machines, with a treadle, and I remember being five or six and working the treadle for her,” Sandra recalls.

As a teenager, Sandra got involved in student theatre. But she had no intention of going on the stage or working behind it when she applied to the University of Victoria’s theatre program. She was inspired by her high school drama teacher to teach.

“But one of my course requirements was in a backstage discipline and the minute I walked into the costume shop…” she begins, punctuating the sentence with a gasp, as she remembers being awestruck. “I didn’t know this could be a career.”

She graduated from UVic in 1988 and found her first job as a seamstress at Ontario’s renowned Stratford Festival. She recalls that it was like a second education, as she learned how to build lavish period costumes for Shakespeare’s big casts.

Sandra joined Pacific Opera in 1992 and says it’s the perfect challenge for Wardrobe, with some shows having as many as 80 costumes.
 

Sandra’s job begins after the designer delivers a vision for the show. She researches the period, estimates the costs, and then logs a lot of time online as she sources everything from fabric and trim to accessories and wigs.

The trick is to build costumes that enhance the story-telling without distracting the audience. The company’s 2019 operetta Countess Maritza, set in the Edwardian era, was a particular challenge with five “diva gowns” as they’re known, made in the elaborate style of 110 years ago.

Each required a minimum of 80 hours labour plus 16 yards of fabric plus the trim. And they had to pull audiences into Countess Maritza’s world without making them calculate the costs of the fabulous ensembles. Then there were the men’s suits. And the chorus.

Sandra has a pro-tip for getting a luxe look on a budget: buy the best fabric you can afford.

“It has to drape properly to look good,” she says. “We can shape a cheap synthetic fabric into what we need, but it takes a lot of labour to make it behave.”

Then she laughs: “There’s nothing worse than fabric that is misbehaving.”

Sandra is grateful for a never-boring job and says her three decades with the opera came with an unexpected perk: she developed a love of the music that goes well beyond the conventional favourites.

“I credit [Artistic Director] Timothy [Vernon] for that. He selects wonderful operas, including some that are a little obscure. It’s hard to pick a favourite, but I really enjoy Benjamin Britten.”

December 5, 2019