THANK YOU

BMO Financial Group has been an ambassador for Manitoba Opera for over a decade.

Since our partnership began, each season has had the same major components: two mainstage productions, two student dress rehearsals, and a vast array of education and community engagement programming connecting our prairie community.

But when you take away the 40-person chorus, reduce the orchestra, strip away the imported sets, and tell Rudolfo and Mimì that they can’t embrace during the Act I love duet of La Bohème, what remains?

Thanks to the steadfast support of BMO Financial Group, Manitoba Opera’s 2020/21 Season Presenting Sponsor, we are about to find out.

At its core, opera is about telling stories through music. It changes lives by inspiring us, promoting empathy, and connecting us in an increasingly isolated world.

“At BMO, we believe that arts and culture enrich our lives,” explains Kristen Kennedy, Regional Vice-President at BMO. “Whether it emerges in a music class at a local community centre or blossoms on a national stage, the performing arts are an essential source of interpretation, inspiration, and understanding.”

BMO has been a major patron of the arts for over two centuries, establishing and demonstrating longstanding support of Canada’s founding regional and national cultural institutions. When stages across Canada went dark, BMO’s support for Manitoba Opera never wavered.

Thanks to the support of BMO, Manitoba Opera’s 2020/21 season will be a hybrid of in-person and online offerings that aim to connect us and showcase the talented singers in our community.

The 2020/21 season opens on November 7 with a broadcast of The Sopranos of Winnipeg, live from the Centennial Concert Hall.

It is only with the support of corporate sponsors like BMO that our organization is able to provide work opportunities to outstanding musicians during this critical time. Since July 2020, Manitoba Opera has employed over 40 artists – and the season itself hasn’t even begun.

We may still be a ways away from a “normal season,” but whether you join us from the Centennial Concert Hall or your living room for The Sopranos of Winnipeg on November 7, we ask that you take a moment to thank BMO.