{"id":111325,"date":"2025-01-28T16:39:42","date_gmt":"2025-01-28T21:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=111325"},"modified":"2025-01-29T08:17:44","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T13:17:44","slug":"interview-general-co-artistic-director-valerie-kuinka-talks-highlands-opera-benefit-concert-february-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/01\/28\/interview-general-co-artistic-director-valerie-kuinka-talks-highlands-opera-benefit-concert-february-9\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | General And Co-Artistic Director Valerie Kuinka Talks About Highlands Opera &amp; Their Benefit Concert February 9"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_111327\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-111327\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-111327\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-FEATURE-8.jpg\" alt=\"L: Soprano Christine Goerke; Middle: Tenor Scott Rumble, Baritone Samuel Chan; R: soprano Lauren Margison; Mezzo soprano Simona Genga (Photos courtesy of the artists)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-FEATURE-8.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-FEATURE-8-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-FEATURE-8-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-FEATURE-8-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-111327\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">L: Soprano Christine Goerke; Middle: Tenor Scott Rumble, Baritone Samuel Chan; R: soprano Lauren Margison; Mezzo soprano Simona Genga (Photos courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On February 9, American soprano Christine Goerke and alumni from the program will perform a benefit concert for Highlands Opera Studio. The Toronto concert date benefits the Highlands Opera Studio program, which offers professional level training for selected Canadian candidates each summer.<\/p>\n<p>Christine Goerke\u2019s career got a start with a four year tenure in the Metropolitan Opera\u2019s Young Artist Program. She\u2019d go on to sing with the Glimmerglass Opera, New York City Opera, and other companies nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Later in her career, Goerke turned to Wagnerian operas, including highly acclaimed performances in the Edinburgh International Festival production of the Ring Cycle. She was named Associate Artistic Director of Detroit Opera in 2021, alongside her continuing performing career.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GtiAMQ_inwg?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Also on the program will be soprano <strong>Lauren Margison<\/strong>, (daughter of Richard and Valerie, see below), mezzo soprano <strong>Simona Genga<\/strong>, tenor <strong>Scott Rumble<\/strong>, and baritone <strong>Samuel Chan<\/strong>. <strong>Timothy Cheung<\/strong> and <strong>Vladimir Soloviev<\/strong> will accompany on the piano.<\/p>\n<p>We spoke to General and Co-Artistic Director Valerie Kuinka about Highlands Opera and the benefit concert.<\/p>\n<h2>Highland Opera Studio<\/h2>\n<p>Highland Opera Studio was founded in 2007 by partners in marriage and business Richard Margison and Valerie Kuinka.<\/p>\n<p>Margison is, of course, the operatic tenor who enjoyed an international career, including 14 consecutive seasons in Met Opera productions starting with his debut there in 1994. On that occasion, he sang the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, conducted by Placido Domingo.<\/p>\n<p>Kuinka made her name in the worlds of opera and multidisciplinary performance as a stage director. Over a career that spans more than three decades, she has collaborated with the world\u2019s premier opera artists, including Anna Netrebko, Jose Cura, and others, along with dancers Veronica Tennant and Rex Harrington, and musicians from Alannah Myles to Shauna Rolston. For four years, she directed productions at NYC\u2019 s Met Opera.<\/p>\n<p>Kuinka is also a violist and seasoned orchestral and chamber musician who performed in the Canadian Opera Company, National Ballet, and Esprit orchestras for years.<\/p>\n<p><em>Patricia Morehead &#8211; Elegy for viola and piano (1987) Patricia Morehead &#8211; Valerie Kuinka, viola:<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ASHo4PNzQvU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Valerie Kuinka: The Interview<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s an interesting story,\u201d Kuinka says of Highlands Opera\u2019s beginnings. \u201cAt the height of his career, we were feeling very much the pressure of the urban environment.\u201d The first discussions between the couple revolved around Vancouver Island. Richard Margison is a native of Victoria, BC. Valerie suggested checking out the region north of Toronto. \u201cWe started the three bears story&#8230;\u201d she jokes.<\/p>\n<p>Margison, raised on the West Coast, wasn\u2019t aware of what he\u2019d find in northern Ontario. \u201cI&#8217;d spent time there as a kid,\u201d Kuinka says. They ended up staying with various friends to get a feel for the area, first near Huntsville, then in the Peterborough region. Then, they ended up near the Haliburton School of the Arts, on Head Lake in the Haliburton Highlands.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat would have been about in 2000,\u201d she recalls. \u201cWe decided at that time that the best fit for us and our decompressing would be in Haliburton.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>They eventually settled on a location in the township of Minden on a lake. \u201cIt was meant to be a sanctuary and an escape from the opera world,\u201d Kuinka says.<\/p>\n<p>For a few years, an escape was all that was needed. As Kuinka explains, both she and Margison are closet visual artists, and so they got into the habit of attending classes at the Haliburton School of the Arts. Through the experience, they began to meet people, and eventually got into a conversation with the people who run the Highlands Summer Festival, a longstanding multidisciplinary arts celebration in town.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey have quite a full season,\u201d she notes. The organizers also, crucially, had infrastructure in place. The couple introduced themselves formally.<\/p>\n<p>The festival organizer\u2019s response was simple: \u201cYou must bring opera to Haliburton county!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It began a longstanding professional relationship. The Highlands Summer Festival organizers helped by providing access to what they lacked, such as ticketing facilities, and other infrastructure details. \u201cThey facilitated the establishment [&#8230;] of Highlands Opera.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, both Margison and Kuinka had a growing concern for what she calls the \u201cdrop off\u201d that takes place between promising advanced students and a viable professional career. Many of those promising students disappear from view. Hence, Highlands Opera Studio, and what began as an intense three-week program for seven singers that has since expanded to include pianists, composers, and other opera creators as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo help these people in whatever way we could to a career.\u201d That\u2019s the simple goal. It includes professional training along with audition opportunities, networking and other professional development activities.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe more ears you sing for, the more people you have in your network, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The program is fluid, and changes with each cohort of young opera singers to better suit their needs in the moment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe change every year to really try to be bespoke for the artists who come to the program,\u201d Valerie explains.<\/p>\n<h3>Expansion<\/h3>\n<p>As she points out, the Highlands Opera Studio also incorporates an opera school where talented locals can train to participate in the Studio\u2019s productions, along with pay-what-you-can singing lessons, and, since 2022, a Highlands Opera Club for young adults, as well as year round opera-based activities for seniors as well. Along with Lauren Margison, Valerie will be teaching an introduction to opera course at the Haliburton School of the Arts later this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s grown from that modest three-week program to all these facets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In turn, the Studio has received a lot of support in the region. A new program funded by an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant looks to make opera a year-round activity in Haliburton. A recent call for stories to use as a basis for creating a series of short 15 to 30 minutes operas was recently open for submissions from people in the region.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m happy to say we had quite a flood of stories from the county.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3886gC7OJH8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h3>The Concert<\/h3>\n<p>The February 9 concert will go directly to supporting the summer professional program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis concert is supporting that,\u201d Kuinka underscores. This year, the program will run about four weeks from the end of July to the end of August. \u201cThe arts are still an important aspect of Canadian culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like most arts organizations, Highlands Opera Studio has not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels. \u201cThe difficulty is that we are having the shrink.\u201d Prior to COVID, the Studio ran at a peak of six weeks with 25 participants.<\/p>\n<p>One good thing that emerged from the pandemic was normalizing Zoom. It means that faculty can actually be anywhere in the world, in theory. Kuinka says they were also moved to offer emotional support to participants, and add agents to the mix of professional connections. \u201cSome do get signed,\u201d she reports.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s all about the goal. \u201cThe focus is how to get closer to be employed,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere&#8217;s a great need. The pandemic caused a backup of young, very qualified operatic artists \u2014 it&#8217;s stalled them,\u201d Each year, there are more emerging artists to compete with. \u201cThe need is even greater.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the same time, many of the usual funding agencies, both public and private, are tightening their purses. \u201cThe allocation of funds is less,\u201d she reports. But, culture and the arts are vital to a healthy society, particularly when times are turbulent. \u201cThe arts are a priority, especially in darker times. It&#8217;s essential to Canadian culture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This year, between 10 and 15 young opera artists will benefit from the program free of charge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrankly, these young people, we would like to be able to pay them. But, we are able to offer them a full four weeks of accommodations, and professional training at the highest level [&#8230;] in a safe, empowering environment that is Haliburton County.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find more details about the February 9 benefit concert [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.highlandsoperastudio.com\/event\/christine-goerke-hos-alums-in-concert\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/masthead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>news tip<\/u><\/a>? Need to know the best\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>events<\/u><\/a>\u00a0happening this weekend? Send us a\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"mailto:anya@ludwig-van.com?subject=Let's%20chat\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong><em><u>note<\/u>.<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em><b>#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p class=\"western\"><em>Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em>Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! \u2014 local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/583e6ce0-dfd0-48be-8a33-61256b3c58e3.mlbtlr.com\/p2\/Fbd8jWoWQQ6CdBcLIvut3Q\/02E3cYaETqaj4Xm087cpSg?contactid=S3HHYfHY5rZv5f94S15MnA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/583e6ce0-dfd0-48be-8a33-61256b3c58e3.mlbtlr.com\/p2\/Fbd8jWoWQQ6CdBcLIvut3Q\/02E3cYaETqaj4Xm087cpSg?contactid%3DS3HHYfHY5rZv5f94S15MnA&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1695737525351000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0QTqKRwRJQFGK3KoJYigxX\">HERE<\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On February 9, American soprano Christine Goerke and alumni from the program will perform a benefit concert for Highlands Opera Studio.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":111327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[41660,76,19,22,29,3693,43],"tags":[41703,2835,41702],"yst_prominent_words":[22837,16850,6886,8153,6722,27785],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-FEATURE-8.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-sXz","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111325"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111325"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111339,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111325\/revisions\/111339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111325"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=111325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}