Patrick Simms Performs in Midsummer Night's Dream at Halifax Summer Opera Festival

Patrick Simms will perform the role of Lysander in Benjamin Britten’s 1960 opera A Midsummer Night's Dream. The opera is presented by the Halifax Summer Opera Festival.

Patrick received Talent Trust scholarships from 2013-15. After studying opera at Dalhousie University, he performed with the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra and played the tenor role of Prince Charming in Pauline Viardot’s Cendrillon at Mazzoleni Hall at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto in 2016.

Britten’s operatic setting of Shakespeare’s play, where nothing is as it seems, is performed in English, with projected libretto, accompanied by piano.

Performance Dates and Times

Sir James Dunn Theatre
Dalhousie Arts Centre, 6101 University Avenue, Halifax

Saturday, August 4, 2:00 pm

Tuesday, August 7, 7:30 pm

Friday, August 10, 7:30 pm

Sunday, August 12, 2:00 pm

(dates and times subject to change)

Tickets

$30 for general admission
$20 for student (aged 13 to university)
$5 for children under 13

Tickets will be available in advance online from TicketHalifax.com, in person at The Coast offices, and by phone with credit card at (902)-422-6278 ex. 50

The Halifax Summer Opera Festival box office opens outside the Sir James Dunn Theatre at the Dal Arts Centre from one hour before show time, and any remaining tickets are available to purchase then. Cash, cheques and Visa/MasterCard are accepted at the door. For more details, see their Ticket Information Page.

An operatic Talent Trust reunion in La finta giardiniera on May 25 and 26

On May 25 and 26 at the Sir James Dunn Theatre in Halifax, Opera Nova Scotia presents La finta giardiniera, a story Mozart set to music for Munich at the age of 18. 

The cast of seven soloists, directed by David Overton, features four Talent Trust scholarship recipients. 

     

• Top left: Lindsay Connolly as Cavalier Ramiro 
  (Portia White Award 2015)
• Top right: Marcel d'Entremont as Don Anchise 
   (Portia White Award 2013) 
• Bottom left: Jennifer Farrell as Arminda
  (Portia White Award 1999) 
• Bottom right: Suzanne Rigden as Serpetta
  (Portia White Award 2007)

The title La finta giardiniera roughly translates into ‘the would-be, or supposed, (finta) gardener/gardener’s, girl (giardiniera)’, and we’re told a more nuanced translation contains spoilers.

The work is multifaceted, with shades of Shakespeare’s All’s Well that Ends Well and Much Ado About Nothing. It will be presented fully staged with orchestra: arias in Italian, narrative in English.

The performance begins at 7:00 p.m. on both evenings. 

For more information (and spoilers), visit the La finta giardiniera Facebook event page. 

For tickets, contact the Dalhousie Arts Centre box office.

Patrick Simms, tenor to perform in Susannah

Susannah is one of the greatest American operas:  short and packed with accessible, passionate music. Performances take place on 
Saturday, August 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, August 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, August 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 16 at 2:00 p.m.

at Sir James Dunn Theatre, Halifax (The Theatre is part of the Dalhousie Arts Centre)

Halifax Summer Opera Festival and Workshop educates and develops both singers and audiences through the performance of operatic repertoire.  For eleven seasons, HSOF has presented fully staged operas each summer, giving singers from university undergrads to professionals opportunities to learn roles in the context of performing an entire, full-staged opera. Participants are selected from live or recorded auditions and participate in rehearsals and master classes on everything from auditioning techniques to dramatic and musical interpretations by seasoned pros.  HSOF is a not-for-profit society with a volunteer Board of Directors, based in Lunenburg and Halifax.  You can find out all the details at www.halifaxsummeroperafestival.com