Vancouver Opera Nixon in China

Readers of COMMANDOpera are aware of the mesmerising array of marketing artillery the Vancouver Opera utilizes daily. Arriving in today’s crammed inbox was the following outreach which is only of use for local Vancouverites, but oh how one wishes to be there. The actual events on which Nixon in China are based were a thrilling moment in history, which COMMANDOpera recalls clearly. Now…. if The VO had managed to capture the iconic American journalist Miss Helen Thomas who actually acompanied Nixon to China to speak….

VO ANNOUNCES NEW DETAILS ABOUT NIXON IN CHINA COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SERIES

Vancouver, BC ~ Vancouver Opera announces a major program of events surrounding the Canadian premiere of John Adams’s modern masterpiece. VO has partnered with several groups to create this series that explores the historic 1972 meeting between Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong, the opera it inspired and the establishment of the Chinese community in Vancouver.

Former US Ambassador to the UN to Attend Nixon in China

At the invitation of the US Consul General in Vancouver and Vancouver Opera, former US Ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte, whose early career included working at the National Security Council with Henry Kissinger in the early 1970s, will visit Vancouver to attend private functions and the Canadian premiere of Nixon in China.

Community Engagement Series Details

Inside the Music of John Adams. Tuesday, March 2nd  7:00pm Vancouver Academy of Music 1270 Chestnut Street, Vancouver. Free Admission

An exploration of the music and career of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Adams. Presenters include writer and educator Thomas May, editor of The John Adams Reader, conductor John DeMain, who conducted the original 1987 production of Nixon in China, and Vancouver composer/conductor Owen Underhill.

Opera Speaks @ VPL – Chinese Vancouver Then & Now: 1972-2010. Tuesday, March 9th  7:00 – 9:00 pm. Vancouver Public Library – Central Branch, Alice MacKay Room. Free Admission – seating is limited.

Explore the history of the Chinese in Vancouver, with emphasis on the Chinese communities’ emergence and development since 1972, the year of Nixon’s momentous trip to China. Discover how our city has been shaped and transformed by Chinese culture over the past 38 years. Moderated by UBC historian Henry Yu. Speakers include eminent architect Bing Thom and filmmaker Colleen Leung.

Presented in partnership with the Vancouver Public Library. Opera Speaks @ VPL is sponsored by Omni BC Diversity Television.

In China: Comparing the Nixon, Trudeau and Harper Visits. Friday, March 12th  4:00pm – 5:30pm. Choi Building Conference Room, 1855 West Mall, UBC. Free Admission

A panel discussion exploring the past and future of Canada-China Relations, which closes a two-day colloquium hosted by the Institute of Asian Research. For more information see www.iar.ubc.ca. 

Presented in partnership with the Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia.

Literary Lunch with Margaret MacMillan and Alexandre Trudeau. Tuesday, March 16th  12:30pm – 2:30pm. Seasons at Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver. Tickets: $50 through the VO Box Office: 604-683-0222.

An intimate encounter with acclaimed Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan and journalist and filmmaker Alexandre Trudeau (son of Pierre Ellliott Trudeau) as they take us behind the headlines of history. Hosted by Hal Wake, Artistic Director of Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival. Presented in partnership with Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival.

Margaret MacMillan in conversation with CBC’s Alison Smith. Wednesday, March 17th 7:30pm. Granville Island Stage. Tickets: $18 through VancouverTix: 604-629-8849. www.vancouvertix.com

Margaret MacMillan talks with CBC’s “World at Six” host Alison Smith about her most recent book “The Uses and Abuses of History” and her earlier chronicle “Nixon in China: The Week that Changed the World”. Presented in partnership with Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival.

About Nixon in China; In 1972, Richard Nixon and Chairman Mao Zedong shook hands and changed the course of human events. West and East looked into each other’s eyes and discovered a vast mystery of differences and desires. Henry Kissinger, Chou En-lai, Pat Nixon and Madame Mao all play pivotal roles in this fascinating drama of psychology and global politics.  John Adams’s richly textured and lyrical score pulses with rhythm and Alice Goodman’s literate libretto resonates with poetry. Nixon in China is irresistible and gripping from beginning to end.

Presented with Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad. In English with SURTITLES. March 13, 16, 18, 20, 2010. All performances 7:30 pm at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Tickets starting at $29 are available exclusively at the Vancouver Opera Ticket Centre, online at www.vancouveropera.ca or by telephone (604-683-0222).