Internationally respected opera musicians Peter Alexander, Tina Chang, Robyn Driedger-Klassen, Barb Towell and Frédérik Robert will be in Nanaimo this weekend.
On Sunday (Jan. 25) the five musicians will be performing at Brechin United Church as QuintEssence, a newly formed Vancouver-based opera group.
The quintet will perform a number of works by renowned composers such as Leonard Bernstein, Wolfgang Mozart, Giuseppe Verdi and Gioachino Rossini.
Audience members can also expect a lot of interaction at the upcoming Nanaimo performance.
“There is a lot of humour put in between the pieces,” Alexander told the News Bulletin. “We start of with rousing drinking songs to get the audience relaxed.”
What QuintEssence has been doing since forming last year is trying to make opera accessible to the average person.
“We wanted to make opera accessible. We know that language is a barrier because most opera is in German, Italian, French and not in English and that causes a language barrier for sure,” Alexander said. “We have our own screen and projector. So the audience will see and be able to read what we are singing about.”
QuintEssence performs at Brechin United Church, 1998 Estevan Rd., at 2 p.m. Advanced tickets are $30 for adults and $20 for students. Tickets at the door are $35 for adults and $25 for students. For tickets, please call the Port Theatre box office at 250-754-8550 or visit www.porttheatre.com. You can also visit www.quintessencemusic.ca for more information.