Gail Asper is well known as a philanthropist, but she also happens to be a former Manitoba Opera chorus member. This gives her the unique perspective of knowing first hand the labour and love it takes to bring the beauty of opera to the stage.
Gail Asper has been a steadfast supporter of Manitoba Opera for decades. With deep roots in Winnipeg and a passionate belief in our city’s potential, The Gail Asper Family Foundation is strongly committed to helping Manitoba Opera foster and showcase local talent.
As the Mainstage Series Sponsor for the 2020/21 season, The Gail Asper Family Foundation helped Manitoba Opera navigate the COVID lockdown while ensuring Winnipeg-based artists could keep working. The Foundation’s generous funding for The Sopranos of Winnipeg in November helped Manitoba Opera stay connected with its audience and featured captivating performances by Andriana Chuchman, Lara Ciekiewicz, Tracy Dahl, Monica Huisman, Andrea Lett, Lara Secord-Haid, and Lida Szkwarek in a powerhouse livestream concert.
The Gail Asper Family Foundation’s support for The Solo Sessions in late spring was also invaluable, allowing Manitoba Opera to showcase Winnipeg singers Lisa Bell, Lizzy Hoyt, Aaron Hutton, James McLennan, and Stephanie Sy, as they worked across musical genres in a series of intimate online cinematic concerts directed by award-winning local filmmaker Deco Dawson.
As well, The Gail Asper Family Foundation provided generous gifts to the Digital Emerging Artists Program in 2020 and 2021. This innovative project, conducted completely digitally, helps young opera singers build their careers online.
This fall, The Gail Asper Family Foundation is once again there for Manitoba Opera, as the company returns to live performances with two one-act operas in November that both showcase Winnipeg’s deep pool of female talent.
Jacqueline Loewen will make her company directorial debut, while Naomi Woo, RBC Assistant Conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, will take to the podium for her Manitoba Opera debut.
The two 20th- century works being featured – The Telephone and La voix humaine – both demand a lot from their singers, both musically and dramatically. In the romantic and relatable tale opera, The Telephone, soprano Lida Szkwarek will show off her coloratura singing and crack comic timing as Lucy.
Soprano Lara Ciekiewicz will perform the role of Elle in La voix humaine. The lone vocalist for the entire piece, this long-time favourite of patrons, will move through an intense emotional range of regret, rage and despair, an immense feat for any singer, as she speaks with her estranged lover, desperate to keep him from saying goodbye.
As it opens its 49th season, Manitoba Opera celebrates the talent and resilience of Winnipeg’s artistic community and takes to the stage again (with a live audience!) thanks to the unfailing commitment of Gail Asper and The Gail Asper Family Foundation.
