Rigoletto, Così fan tutte, and La Bohème announced for Vancouver Opera 2025-26 season

Jonathan Darlington, Tracy Dahl, Michael Chioldi, and Glynis Leyshon are just some of the names on the roster

Clockwise from top left: Vancouver Opera Music Director Emeritus Jonathan Darlington; baritone Michael Chioldi; and soprano Tracy Dahl.

VANCOUVER OPERA HAS announced a three-production season for 2025-26, with a trio of classics by big-name composers.

The programming kicks off in October with Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, directed by Glynis Leyshon (Flight of the Hummingbird), who was artistic director of the Playhouse Theatre Company in Vancouver from 1997 to 2009 and has directed over 30 productions for Pacific Opera Victoria. Vancouver Opera music director Jacques Lacombe conducts. Making their Vancouver Opera debuts on-stage are American baritone Michael Chioldi as Rigoletto, Canadian soprano Sarah Dufresne as Gilda, and Chinese tenor Yongzhao Yu. Vancouver Opera has collaborated with Pacific Opera Victoria to create the new production.

In February 2026, the company stages Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s comedic Così fan tutte in the opera buffa’s first appearance at the VO in 20 years. Making his Vancouver Opera debut is director Rob Herriot with conductor Leslie Dala overseeing the orchestra, chorus, and all-Canadian cast, including soprano Tracy Dahl as Despina and bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch as Don Alfonso. The VO is promising a fresh twist on the classic, with a West Coast touch.

The season wraps with Giacomo Puccini’s eternally popular La Bohème in a five-show engagement across late April and early May 2026. Beloved VO music director emeritus Jonathan Darlington returns to conduct some of the most romantic and iconic music in opera history. Two alumni of the VO’s Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist Program take part in the production: Jonelle Sills sings the role of Mimi and the stage director is Pacific Opera Victoria artistic director Brenna Corner.

Single tickets go on sale July 2. Subscribers have until April 4 to renew their subscription for the 2025-26 season. For more information about Vancouver Opera and to subscribe, visit vancouveropera.ca.

Vancouver Opera has also announced that its free, open-air, family-friendly Opera in the Park is set to return to Burnaby’s Deer Lake Park on July 13. This enchanting open-air concert will take place at 7:30 pm in the picturesque Deer Lake Park in Burnaby, offering a magical evening of music under the stars for all ages.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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