Opera 5 Named
Canadian Opera Company’s
Newest Company-In-Residence

The Canadian Opera Company welcomes Opera 5 as its newest Company-in-Residence. The two-year artistic residency will commence on July 1, 2025, with one of the major collaborations of the partnership being the creation of an operatic work slated for presentation at the Canadian Opera Company. The COC’s Company-in-Residence program has been in place since 2016; through it, the COC is able to offer support and industry guidance to local opera companies, helping to ensure a flourishing environment for the art form to evolve.

Opera 5 is a Toronto-based independent opera company specializing in chamber opera productions, new works, web series, and artist mentorship; it is composed of General Director & Founding Member Rachel Krehm, Artistic Director Jessica Derventzis, Music Director Evan Mitchell, and Programs Manager Jaclyn Grossman.

Since 2012, the company has produced a wide range of operas from well-known titles like The Barber of Seville, Die Fledermaus, and The Turn of the Screw, to forgotten gems such as Ethel Smyth’s The Boatswain’s Mate and Reynaldo Hahn’s L’île du rêve, as well as the world premieres of new Canadian operas that include Cecilia Livingston’s The Masque of the Red Death and Darren Russo’s Storybook. In 2024, Opera 5 won Opera America’s Digital Excellence Award (Noteworthy Project) for its nine-episode web-series called Threepenny Submarine which combined opera, puppetry, and animation to showcase the unique emotional storytelling power that opera holds.