''Opera Canada'' is a quarterly

music magazine A music magazine is a magazine dedicated to music and culture in music cognition, music culture. Such magazines typically include music news, interviews, photo shoots, essays, record reviews, concert reviews and occasionally have a covermount with ...

published by Opera Canada Publications. It is the oldest continuously published arts magazine in Canada. It is an independent magazine separate from the Canadian Opera Association. Along with

Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

and

Opera News ''Opera News'' was an American classical music magazine. It was published from 1936 to 2023 by the Metropolitan Opera Guild—a non-profit organization, located at Lincoln Center, that was founded to promote opera and support the Metropolitan ...

, in the 1990s, the magazine was considered to be one of the three major

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

publications in the

English-speaking The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...

world.

History

In 1960, ''Opera in Canada'' was established in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ruby Mercer Ruby Mercer CM (26 July 1906 – 26 January 1999) was an American-born Canadian writer, broadcaster, soprano and entrepreneur. Mercer was born in Athens, Ohio, and grew up in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 1936, she made her debut as a member of th ...

. It was started as a publication for the 300 members of the Canadian Opera Guild. The publication was meant to be a link between the Guild members and its readers. Mercer served as editor and publisher until 1990.

Contents and reception

Bibliographic details

In 1963, the publication's name was changed to Opera Canada. The magazine was quarterly from 1960 to 1974. In 1975, six issues were planned but only five issues were published. Quarterly publication resumed and continued between 1976 and 2004. Five issues of the magazine were published annually 2004-????. The magazine has once again reverted to a quarterly publication. Over its lifetime, the magazine has had three publishers as follows: * Canadian Opera Guild (1960–1966) * Canadian Opera Association (Toronto) (1966–1974) * Opera Canada Publications (1974–present) In February 1976 Opera Canada became an independent magazine. The Canadian Opera Association was the former legal name of the

Canadian Opera Company The Canadian Opera Company (COC) is an opera company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the largest opera company in Canada and one of the largest producers of opera in North America. The COC performs at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performin ...

used between 1960–1977. With the third publisher change, the magazine became a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

in Canada. Individual donors and corporations are entitled to an official receipt per

Revenue Canada The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA; ; ) is the revenue service of the Canadian federal government, and most provincial and territorial governments. The CRA collects taxes, administers tax law and policy, and delivers benefit programs and tax credit ...

issued by Opera Canada (registration 118929108RR0001). The website and the printed magazine is available to paid subscribers. The magazine's other revenue streams are

grants Grant or Grants may refer to: People * Grant (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Grant (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters ** Ulysses S. Grant (1822–1885), the 18th president of the U ...

, advertising, and newsstand sales. Each year the publication receives funding from the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to foster and promote the study a ...

, the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

, and the Canadian Periodical Fund. Printing and targeted advertising within the magazine is delivered by Dovetail Communications Inc. The editorial succession at ''Opera Canada'' was as follows: *

: February 1960–1990. * Harvey Chusid: 1990–1992. * Cynthia Dann Beardsley: 1992–1993. * Wayne Gooding: 1993–2017. * Gianmarco Segato: 2017–2021. * Elizabeth Bowman: 2022–present."Elizabeth Bowman Joins Opera Canada as Editor"
''Opera Canada'', 2 May 2022. Accessed 2 May 2022.

Opera Canada Awards

With an endowment from the estate of

, the Opera Canada Awards (The Rubies) were established in 2000. The Rubies recognise and honour outstanding individual achievements on stage and behind the scenes. The first recipients included

Maureen Forrester Maureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, (July 25, 1930 – June 16, 2010) was a Canadian operatic contralto. Life and career Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in Montreal, Quebec, one of four children of Thomas Forrester, a British cabinetma ...

, Stuart Hamilton, and John Cook.

Footnotes

Notes

Citations

External links

Opera Canada official websiteBrowse Opera Canada 1996–presentOpera.ca The voice of Opera in Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Opera Canada 1960 establishments in Ontario Music magazines published in Canada Quarterly magazines published in Canada Magazines about opera Magazines established in 1960 Magazines published in Toronto Cultural magazines published in Canada