The Vancouver Opera Guild welcomes you to its popular spring tour to New York featuring four productions at the Metropolitan Opera plus the Laffont Grand Finals Concert with excellent seating in the Grand Tier Balance section.
Accommodation is at the 4-star Empire Hotel, centrally located in the heart of midtown Manhattan and across the street from Lincoln Center. The Empire Rooftop bar is open for dinner daily and for weekend brunch. The hotel is also steps away from many restaurants.
Aida by Giuseppe Verdi
Alexander Soddy takes the podum for Michael Mayer’s spectacular new staging. Soprano Christina Nilsson is the Ethiopian princess torn between love and country, one of opera’s defining roles. Mezzo-soprano Judit Kutasi, following her 2024 debut in Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, is Aida’s Egyptian rival Amneris. Tenor Brian Jagde is the soldier Radamès. The cast also features bass-baritone Eric Owens as Amonasro and bass Alexander Vinogradov as Ramfis.
Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven
Following a string of awe-inspiring Met performances, soprano Lise Davidsen stars as Leonore, who risks everything to save her husband from the clutches of tyranny. Tenor David Butt Philip is the political prisoner Florestan, sharing the stage with bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczey as the villainous Don Pizarro, veteran bass René Pape as the jailer Rocco, and soprano Ying Fang and tenor Magnus Dietrich as the young Marzelline and Jaquino. Bass Stephen Milling sings the principled Don Fernando and Susan Mälkki conducts.
La Bohème by Giacomo Puccini
Soprano Kristina Mhkitaryan is the delicate seamstress Mimi in Franco Zeffirelli’s picturesque production and tenor Joseph Calleja is the enamoured poet Rodolfo. Maestro Alexander Soddy takes the podium.
Moby-Dick by Jake Heggie
Following the haunting Met Premiere of his first opera Dead Man Walking, composer Jake Hegggie returns with his 2010 adaptation of Herman Melville’s sun-drenched, heaven-storming epic. A cast of standouts comes together on the decks of the Pequod, with tenor Brandon Jovanovich starring as the mono-maniacal Captain Ahab; tenor Stephen Costello as Greenhorn, the opera’s version of Ishmael; baritone Peter Mattei as the even-keeled first mate Starbuck; and bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green as the Polynesian harpooner Queequeg. The cast also features sopranoJanai Brugger as Pip, tenor William Burden as Flask and baritone Malcolm MacKenzie as Stubb. Maestro Karen Kamenask takes the podium.
Laffont Grand Finals Concert
The Met’s Laffont Competition is a nationwide program designed to discover promising young opera singers and assist in their artistic and professional development. Each season, more than 1,300 applicants participate in a series of auditions leading up to the Grand Finals Concert. Since the program’s inauguration nearly 70 years ago, the competition has discovered generations of star singers.
TOUR SCHEDULE
Mon. Mar. 10: Vancouver - New York
Morning departure via Air Canada non-stop to New York’s Newark Airport. On arrival, transfer to the 4-star Empire Hotel.
Tue. Mar. 11: New York
7:00 p.m. performance of Moby-Dick.
Wed. Mar. 12: New York
Free day.
5:00 p.m. Welcome reception at the hotel.
Thu. Mar. 13: New York
7:30 p.m. performance of La Bohème.
Fri. Mar. 14: New York
8:00 p.m. performance of Aida.
Sat. Mar. 15: New York
1:00 p.m. performance of Fidelio.
Sun. Mar. 16: New York
3:00 p.m. Laffont Grand Finals Concert.
Mon. Mar. 17: New York - Vancouver
Afternoon transfer to Newark Airport for a non-stop flight with Air Canada to Vancouver.
TOUR INCLUDES
- Return airfare Vancouver to New York
- Airport transfers in New York
- 7 nights accommodation at the Empire Hotel, baggage handling and hotel tax
- Welcome reception
- Four opera tickets and one Laffont Grand Finals Concert (Grand Tier Balance)
- Vancouver Opera Guild Tour Director
- $200 donation to the Vancouver Opera Guild ($250 for non-members)
TOUR DOES NOT INCLUDE
- Airport taxes and GST of approx. $170
TOUR COST
Guild Members: Cdn. $3,965 per person based on sharing twin accommodation.
Non-Guild Members: Cdn. $4,015 per person based on sharing twin accommodation.
Single supplement: Cdn. $1,150
RESERVATIONS
A non-refundable deposit of $500 per person is required at time of booking with balance due by January 3 2025. For bookings made after January 3 2025, full payment is required at time of booking.
CANCELLATIONS
The deposit of $500 is non-refundable from date paid. For cancellations received after January 3,2025 any refund is subject to the amount actually recovered from the suppliers.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
We strongly recommend that tour members purchase trip cancellation/interruption insurance to protect themselves against money loss in the event of cancellation due to personal or family illness. We also offer comprehensive insurance which includes trip cancellation/interruption plus excess hospital/medical benefits, baggage and travel accident. Some exclusions for pre-existing conditions do apply. Insurance premiums are age banded. Please ask for an insurance quote at time of booking.
MET OPERA
Seating at the Met is confirmed in the Grand Tier Balance section for the four operas and one concert. Great Expeditions is not responsible for last minute changes in the opera program nor to the performers.
DOCUMENTATION
A valid passport is required.
For further information, please contact:
Elisabeth Dawson 604-922-8008 or
Genny MacLean (Great Expeditions) 604-738-5535
PRICES
Prices quoted in this brochure are in Canadian dollars based on a full tour, and airfares and foreign exchange rates in effect at time of printing (August 2025).We reserve the right to adjust the tour cost if there are exceptional price changes beyond our control.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
This paragraph defines our responsibility with respect to all our tours. Please read it carefully. Payment of deposit represents an acceptance by purchaser of the following terms and conditions. Great Expeditions (its owners, outfitters, agents and employees) gives notice that all arrangements for accommodation, transportation and/or all related travel services, have been made by Great Expeditions only as agent, upon the express condition that Great Expeditions shall not be liable for any injury, damage, delay, mishap, inconvenience or irregularity occasioned through the default of any company or individual engaged in providing the arranged accommodation. Great Expeditions cannot be responsible for negligent conduct or financial irresponsibility of these suppliers, since they maintain no control over them. Such passenger conveyance, hotel accommodation, etc. is subject to the laws of the state or country where provided. In addition, Great Expeditions assumes no liability resulting directly or indirectly from any of the following causes: acts of God, detention, annoyance, weather, quarantines, strikes, civil disturbance, theft, government regulations, etc. over which it has no control. Great Expeditions reserves the right to substitute hotels and leaders and to alter the itinerary when deemed necessary or advisable. The right is also reserved to cancel any trip prior to departure upon the refund of all payments received, which shall release Great Expeditions from any further liability. Great Expeditions reserves the right to decline to accept or retain any person or member of any tour should such person's actions or general deportment impede the operation of the tour or the rights or welfare or enjoyment of other members of the tour, and it is agreed a refund of the amount recovered from suppliers of unused land services is the limit of Great Expeditions' responsibility.
CARRIER'S RESPONSIBILITY
No carrier shall have or incur any responsibility or liability to any passenger or for property accompanying passengers, except for its liability as a common carrier. In particular, Great Expeditions advises the customer that any air carrier's liability may be limited by its tariffs, conditions of carriage and international conventions and agreements.
B.C. Reg. 2622