Vancouver Arts and Cultures Forum

Canada’s Performing Arts Alliance

Moving forward together

December 8, 2008, OTTAWA – Canada’s Performing Arts Alliance, a collaboration of the Canadian Dance Assembly, Opera.ca, Orchestras Canada and the Professional Association of Canadian Dance Theatres, concluded its first-ever meeting, committed to the underscoring of the role of Canada’s performing arts organizations and artists in communities, big and small, from coast to coast. Building from a position of strength, we are looking to work with government and community builders to collaborate on proactive measures that will maximize the benefit Canadians enjoy from the arts.

Deeply concerned about the potential impact of the current economic crisis on communities across Canada and in particular their theatres, orchestras, dance and opera companies, members of the joint boards forged common cause to ensure the structural and resource ability of performing arts organizations. This forum explored policy responses to address the volatility facing companies in every corner of the country. As a significant contributor to Canada’s economy and the quality of life of Canadians, the performing arts sector came together to urge all levels of governments to ensure that the arts are part of any economic stimulus package.

Drawing on experiences and lessons from both inside and outside of Canada, leaders of Canada’s performing arts sector found common ground to fortify their collective impact, nationally and in their communities. Robert Lynch, President and CEO of Americans for the Arts, spoke passionately and convincingly about the need to engage Canadians from all walks of life and to reach out to community builders from all sectors, including citizens, business and the third sector.

At the meeting, participants considered the success of Culture pour tous and their flagship event les Journées de la culture in providing access to and participation in the arts for over 350,000 people annually in more than 300 Québec municipalities. Participants were unanimous in endorsing a national public arts engagement campaign.

Representatives of the Canadian Public Arts Funders briefed the meeting on their collaborative approach aimed at improving communications, efficiency and transparency for the benefit of artists, arts organizations, and Canadians. The importance of coordinating networks and communications was applauded by all.

The founding meeting of Canada’s Performing Arts Alliance drew together the board members of the Canadian Dance Assembly, Opera.ca, Orchestras Canada and the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres. Together we represent over 850 performing artists and arts organizations across the country. Representatives of l’Association des théâtres francophones du Canada, Canadian Arts Presenters Association, the Canadian Conference of the Arts and the Association of Canadian Choral Communities were invited to this first-ever gathering.

Canada’s Performing Arts Alliance is committed to being at the forefront of arts advocacy in Canada, working with the Canadian Arts Coalition, the Canadian Conference for the Arts, Imagine Canada and others.

For more information contact:

Canadian Dance Assembly
Shannon Litzenberger
Executive Director
416-515-8444
shannon@dancecanada.net
www.dancecanada.net

Orchestras Canada
Katherine Carleton
Executive Director
416-366-8834
katherine@oc.ca
www.oc.ca

Opera.ca
Christina Loewen
Director of Operations
416-591-7222
c_loewen@opera.ca
www.opera.ca

PACT
Lucy White
Executive Director
416-595-6455 #11
lucyw@pact.ca
www.pact.ca

An evening in the penthouse
of the Marine Building

Heritage Vancouver invites you to a unique opportunity to explore the two floors of the ultra-elegant private penthouse at the top of Vancouver’s finest heritage building. Enjoy the Art Deco atmosphere and the fabulous view, hear about its unique history, and share your experiences, stories, and photos of the Marine Building.

The Penthouse has many of its original features still intact, and is currently the office of Urbanics Consultants Ltd, our generous host and sponsor for the event. Donald Luxton and Chuck Davis will intrigue you with stories of the architecture and history of the Marine Building.

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Only two more performances!

February 9 and 11, 2009
8:00 pm

Norman Rothstein Theatre at the
Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre
950 West 41st Avenue @ Oak Street

The Emperor of Atlantis may be one of the most amazing works of art you have never heard. It was written by Viktor Ullmann and Petr Kien in the Nazi camp Theresienstadt in 1944, and has no equal.

This is the first major production by City Opera Vancouver, the only chamber opera company in Vancouver. The opening performance sold out and seats are going fast for the intimate Norman Rothstein Theatre.

The Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre’s current exhibition, In Defiance – Jewish Resistance During the Holocaust, is being held in conjunction with the performance. It documents how Jews responded actively to changing circumstances during the Holocaust. They acted individually and collectively to defy Nazism in ghettos, slave labour and concentration camps, partisan groups, and in the arena of daily life.

City Opera’s next production Pauline, is a newly commissioned chamber opera created for the great dramatic mezzo Judith Forst. The work is based on the life and final days of Canadian writer, poet, and actress Pauline Johnson. The music for Pauline will be written by Christos Hatzis and the libretto by Margaret Atwood. City Opera Vancouver plans to create many works by Canadian composers.

City Opera is a project of the Community Arts Council of Vancouver

City Opera Vancouver , the cast of Emperor of Atlantis, Music Director Peter Jorgensen, and Music Director Charles Barber are honoured to co-present, with the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre, the British Columbia premiere of a unique chamber opera, The Emperor of Atlantis, by Viktor Ullmann and Petr Kien.

While its score survived the Nazis, its creators did not. When the Nazis realized what ‘Atlantis’ was about, they shipped its entire company off to Auschwitz.

The opera speaks both to transformation and recurrence. It speaks from the nadir of the 20th century to the continued violence and despair of the 21st. Ullmann and Kien, together with their colleagues at Thereisenstadt, created a masterwork.

Among seven characters, two are principal: Death, and The Emperor. Horrified by the murderousness of the Emperor and his regime, Death goes on strike. People are killed but do not die. The Emperor demands that Death resume his business. Death finally agrees, but on one condition…

Faced by the question of how people could perform and compose even in the depths of hell, there were basically three attitudes among the inmates. The naive prisoners were oblivious to their surroundings and did not absorb the full impact of their situation. They saw no reason to change their lifestyles; if they practiced six hours a day before the war, they would continue to practice six hours a day in the camp.

The optimists believed that the war would soon be over and that the civilized world would not allow the atrocities to continue. They would continue to practice in anticipation of their imminent liberation. Then there were the pessimists who said; ‘We will soon be murdered; why not make the best of our lives while we can?’ Thus the pessimists also continued to perform.

Pavel Kling – violinist and survivor, 1928 – 2005

Tickets are $40 available online at Tickets Tonight

Or purchase by phone at 604-684-2787

Tickets are also available at Tom Lee Music, Sikora’s Classical Records, and the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre at the door.

Globe and Mail Article – Legacy of a Holocaust Survivor

The Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia, the Honourable Steven Point, and Doctor Jaap Hamburger whose parents were holocaust survivors, spoke to the sold-out audience at the opening performance on Sunday February 1, 2009.

2010 Legacies Now and the Government of British Columbia awarded a grant of $10,000 toward the production of ‘Atlantis’. We are deeply grateful for their investment in this extraordinary project.

In partnership with the Community Arts Council of Vancouver