Two opera companies, two very different mandates, and one big question: how do you build an opera future that feels both ambitious and welcoming? We sit down with Gordon Gerrard, newly appointed artistic director of Manitoba Opera and continuing artistic director of City Opera Vancouver, to talk about what he wants to protect, what he wants to change, and what he’s excited to try next.

Gordon takes us from a childhood on a rural Manitoba farm to collaborative piano training in New York, where opera and art song became a lifelong obsession. We dig into the moment he realized the same opera can land in completely different ways depending on the space, from a 2,300 seat hall to an intimate room where every facial expression reads, and why that insight still shapes how he thinks about programming, casting, and audience experience.

From there, we get specific about what’s ahead. City Opera Vancouver is leaning into chamber opera and new commissions, including a major work exploring Canada’s LGBT purge, developed with a partnerships that connect directly to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, just down the street from his new role at Manitoba Opera. Back in Winnipeg, Gordon shares how he plans to listen first, balance classics with contemporary work, and think seriously about what it means to be Manitoba Opera, not just a Winnipeg company.

All episodes of The Opera Glasses podcast are hosted by the editor of Opera Canada, currently Michael Jones after Elizabeth Bowman hosted seasons 1 and 2. Follow Opera Canada on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Visit OperaCanada.ca for all of your Canadian Opera news and reviews.

A new general director can change the feel of an opera company long before their first programmed season arrives. We’re joined by Ian Derrer, newly arrived in Toronto and stepping into leadership at the Canadian Opera Company, to talk about the path that brought him here and what he’s listening for as he gets to know the COC from the inside.

Ian shares how growing up around rehearsals turned into a career that moved from singing ambitions to backstage work, stage management and ultimately opera administration at major institutions. We dig into what opera leadership really looks like day-to-day: solving immediate problems, planning multiple seasons years in advance, and keeping artists and staff supported while the organization also has to fundraise, market and build public trust.

We also spotlight what’s coming up, including the world premiere of Empire of Wild and why new opera is both exhilarating and high risk, with creative teams building the work in real time and fewer safety nets when something goes sideways. From beloved standard repertoire to personal bucket-list titles, Ian gives a candid look at how taste, feasibility and community impact collide in season planning.

Finally, we tackle the big question: what makes the Canadian Opera Company a national opera company, and what responsibility comes with that label across Canada’s opera ecosystem.

All episodes of The Opera Glasses podcast are hosted by the editor of Opera Canada, currently Michael Jones after Elizabeth Bowman hosted seasons 1 and 2. Follow Opera Canada on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Visit OperaCanada.ca for all of your Canadian Opera news and reviews.

She walked into an asylum on purpose and the world couldn’t ignore what she found. We’re joined by award-winning Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch to talk about 10 Days in a Madhouse, her opera with composer Rene Orth, and the real investigative journalism of Nellie Bly, who pretended to be “mad” to expose the brutal conditions inside a women’s institution in 19th-century New York.

We start with Hannah’s route from actor training at the National Theatre School to a life built around making new work, then follow her jump into opera through Tapestry Opera’s LIBLAB. She explains why opera voices feel physical in the room to her and how contemporary opera lets a writer lean into poetry, stylization and emotional intensity. If you’re curious about how a libretto is written, how composers and librettists collaborate, or why music can deliver meaning faster than words, her craft talk is full of usable insight.

From there, we dig into the story engine of 10 Days in a Madhouse: what Bly discovered and how the system swept up women for reasons that had nothing to do with mental health. Hannah also shares a sharp opera-writing principle she lives by, the creative power of a women’s chorus, and what it takes to make a bold structure like reverse chronology land with an audience.

If this conversation sparks something for you, subscribe to Opera Glasses, share the episode with an opera-curious friend, and leave us a review so more listeners can find the show. What’s a real-life story you think deserves the opera treatment?

All episodes of The Opera Glasses podcast are hosted by the editor of Opera Canada, currently Michael Jones after Elizabeth Bowman hosted seasons 1 and 2. Follow Opera Canada on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Visit OperaCanada.ca for all of your Canadian Opera news and reviews.