| Timothy Vernon, C.M. |
Introduction “ Vancouver born Timothy Vernon was trained in Vienna, where he immersed himself in the study of Mahler. This recording (Mahler Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor) is a real triumph. It has every right to share shelf space with the celebrated recordings of Bernstein, Karajan, Tennstedt and other greats of Mahler interpretations.” Classical Music Magazine – Rick MacMillan Positions
BiographyRecently invested as a Member of the Order of Canada, Timothy Vernon is the Founder and Artistic Director of Pacific Opera Victoria and Conductor Laureate of Orchestra London. As a guest conductor he has been engaged by Calgary Philharmonic, Vancouver Symphony, Edmonton Symphony, L’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Winnipeg and Toronto symphonies and Ottawa’s Thirteen Strings. He has also appeared with Symphony Nova Scotia, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and with the Montreal Symphony at the Lanaudiere Festival. He will be on the Orchestra London podium during 2010-2011 on four occasions conducting a wide range or repertoire and he leads Pacific Opera’s productions of VANESSA, RODELINDA and LA BOHEME. Maestro Vernon’s creative imagination in opera was honored in 2005, when he received the prestigious Ruby at the annual Opera Canada Awards Ceremony. His visionary leadership and daring repertoire choices with Pacific Opera Victoria have yielded sold out performances of works including Hoiby’s THE TEMPEST, Giannini’s THE TAMING OF THE SHREW and Janacek’s THE CUNNING LITTLE VIXEN. His skills as impresario fostered a partnership with Orchestra London and Pacific Opera Victoria, resulting in productions of Puccini’s TOSCA, Verdi’s RIGOLETTO, MADAMA BUTTERFLY and Mozart’s DON GIOVANNI and THE MAGIC FLUTE being seen in both cities. He has been associated with the Edmonton Symphony as conductor for the ‘Symphony Under the Sky’ concerts and ‘A Lighter Classical Christmas’. He was re-engaged by the Victoria Symphony and also led performances of Britten’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, produced by the Glenn Gould School of Toronto’s Royal Conservatory of Music. He conducted DON GIOVANNI for Edmonton Opera and as Artistic Advisor to the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, he led several of their performances. He conducted MADAMA BUTTERFLY for the Green Mountain Festival in Vermont and RIGOLETTO with Calgary Opera. During the 2007-2008 season for Pacific Opera Victoria, Maestro Vernon led both MADAMA BUTTERFLY as well as Blitzstein’s rarely heard REGINA. He also appeared as guest conductor with the Victoria Symphony and Ottawa’s Thirteen Strings in 2008. THAÏS, DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE and SEMELE were his operas for Pacific Opera Victoria in 2008-2009. The 2009-2010 season for Orchestra London featured major orchestral and choral works by Brahms, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Strauss, Beethoven and Mozart, among others. The expanded season for Pacific Opera Victoria included LA TRAVIATA, THE RAKE’S PROGRESS, COSI FAN TUTTE and his own orchestral reduction of Strauss’ rarely heard CAPRICCIO. In addition to his duties in London and Victoria, in recent seasons he has been engaged as guest conductor by the Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa conducting Ben Heppner and Pinchas Zukerman in a gala concert seen on CBC and filmed for worldwide television distribution. As Artistic Director of Pacific Opera Victoria, a post he has held since that company's inception in 1980, he has led over forty of its fifty productions including L’AMORE DEI TRE RE, WOZZECK, GIULIO CESARE and DER FREISCHÜTZ. FIDELIO, directed by Robert Carsen, was produced for TV and broadcast by the PBS and CBC networks and Britten's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM was heard on CBC Radio Two's Saturday Afternoon at the Opera. In 2007, the same programme broadcast a live performance of the POV production of Richard Strauss’ DAPHNE, in an orchestral reduction prepared by Maestro Vernon. As a guest conductor, he has led DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE and FAUST for Ottawa's Opera Lyra, TURN OF THE SCREW. Internationally renowned for his work with young musicians, he conducted the McGill Symphony in an ecstatically received performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 5 in Montréal, now released as a CD on the Fonovox label. Rick MacMillan of Classical Music Magazine praised both orchestra and conducting, noting that "this is the only Canadian recording ever made of a Mahler symphony, and it's a real triumph. It has every right to share shelf space with the celebrated readings of Bernstein, Karajan, Tennstedt and other giants of Mahler interpretations". Previously Vernon conducted the McGill Orchestra in acclaimed performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Roy Thomson Hall, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Le Grande Théâtre de Québec and Montréal's Place des Arts. Broadcasts of Britten's WAR REQUIEM and Mahler’s Symphony No. 9 were part of an ongoing association between the McGill Orchestra and CBC/Radio Canada brokered by Maestro Vernon during his professorship. The film McGILL, MAHLER, MONTREAL has been broadcast nationally on Bravo and on CBC. The orchestra's recording of Korngold's Symphony in F sharp, recorded live in Carnegie Hall, is distributed by Polygram and was nominated for a Juno Award. August 2010
Full RepertoireOPERA REPERTOIRE
ORCHESTRAL AND CHORAL REPERTOIRE
ENGAGED BY
DISCOGRAPHY
Engaged By
Reviews“Both in the grand overview, and in almost every last detail, Pacific Opera Victoria’s Rake’s Progress is a triumph. Under the leadership, at once meticulous, inspired, and inspiring, of conductor Timothy Vernon and director Glynis Leyshon, music and drama alike were realized as consummately as I have ever experienced in the course of more than half a century’s acquaintance with this original and compelling masterpiece.” “ Vancouver born Timothy Vernon was trained in Vienna, where he immersed himself in the study of Mahler. This recording (Mahler Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor) is a real triumph. It has every right to share shelf space with the celebrated recordings of Bernstein, Karajan, Tennstedt and other greats of Mahler interpretations.” Classical Music Magazine – Rick MacMillan
“Pacific Opera Victoria convinces one of the utter necessity of this art form in the life of a city and in a civilized life; this company brings great art to life in a unique way, and has obviously won over its audience: next year’s season, announced in the programme, is Massenet’s Thaïs, Handel’s Semele, and The Magic Flute. Talk about an exciting line-up – and you can be sure that even the oft-performed Mozart work will be enlivened, not by gimmickry, but by real intelligence and a thorough respect for the music and of the audience. When it comes to opera, this company provides season in and season out, not only the best show in town, but arguably the best on Canada’s West Coast.” Review Vancouver – J H Stape
“The orchestra received excellent direction from series conductor Timothy Vernon. From the opening brass declamation to the quietly fading winds at the end, Vernon and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra gave a reading of this famous work with an ear to freshly transmitting all its melodic beauty and symphonic grandeur.” Edmonton Journal – Bill Rankin
“Raucous offbeats were precisely done and the full-blast climaxes had a golden sound. So much for the good-orchestra part. Vernon as energetic as ever on the podium, supplied the good-conductor stuff with idiomatic touches of rubato in the inner movements.” The Gazette, Montreal – Arthur Kaptainis
“From the pit, Vernon’s tempos were stylish and his orchestra responsive.” (JULIUS CESARE, Pacific Opera Victoria) The Globe and Mail – Elissa Poole
“ Vernon evoked Mozartian fullness of woodwind colour in the arias and made the full orchestra fortissimos count for something. He also came armed with a sympathetic ear for singers and sure sense of how to bring a tempo to life…this was three dimensional orchestra playing of the sort one seldom hears.” Montreal Gazette – A. Kaptainis
“…high on the list, the fine orchestral rendering of the score under the direction of Timothy Vernon. From the first notes of the overture, it was obvious this was going to be a subtle, carefully guided performance; tempi were neither forced nor sluggish, nowhere did the drama sag, singers were not overwhelmed and from start to finish, the story was urged along with just the right amount of suspense.” Opera Canada – Peter Symcox “ Vernon and the orchestra provided a perfectly sympathetic accompaniment, lithe and lively in the outer movements, tender and loving in the andante and graceful at all times.” (HORN CONCERTO NO. 2, R. Strauss) Times Colonist – Derek Barker
“Timothy Vernon confirmed last night those qualities of dynamic leadership and excellent musicianship that he deployed so generously during his years as Music Director of the McGill Symphony Orchestra…equally at ease with the orchestral as with the operatic, throughout a programme including several epochs and styles. He conducted the Symphonic Metamorphoses of Hindemith, the most substantial work on the programme, with a keen sense of rhythmic pulsation, while enabling the different front-desk players to shine.” La Presse, Montreal – Claude Gingras
“the American composer’s delicate orchestral textures shimmered in their exquisite realization by the Pacific Opera Orchestra under artistic director Timothy Vernon.” Pacific Opera Victoria, THE TEMPEST) Opera Canada – Robert Jordan
“Under the controlled and fiercly disciplined baton of POV’s artistic director, Timothy Vernon the musicians attained a level of performance hitherto unsuspected not only by the audience but also by the players themselves. Opera Canada – Peter Symcox
“ Vernon built a deliberate and ultimately dramatic interpretation of Beethoven’s legendary FIFTH SYMPHONY. The conclusion which comes after numerous false alarms, drew the crowd to its feet with a genuine expression of appreciation.” Edmonton Symphony Edmonton Journal – Bill Rankin |