Filipino Soprano Plays Lead Role in Canadian Premiere of Mansfield Park

 Philippine Ambassador to Canada Petronila P. Garcia (second from left) and Philippine Consul General to Toronto Orontes Castro (rightmost) with Ms. Renee Fajardo (third from right), a Filipino Opera Singer who played the lead role during the opening night performance of “Mansfield Park” held at the Macmillan Theater in Toronto on 12 March 2020. Also in the photo are Dr. Don McLean, Dean of Musicology at the University of Toronto (leftmost), Mrs. Ma. Theresa Fajardo, mother of Renee (third from left), Ms. Maria Lourdes Enriquez (fourth from right) and Cultural Officer Cecilia Santos (rightmost). (Toronto PCG photo)

TORONTO 19 March 2020 – Philippine Ambassador to Canada Petronila P. Garcia flew in from Ottawa to attend the Canadian premiere of Jonathan Dove’s “Mansfield Park” at the Macmillan Theatre of the University of Toronto on 12 March 2020. Ambassador Garcia was accompanied by Philippine Consul General to Toronto Orontes Castro.

Ambassador Garcia and officials from the Philippine Consulate General in Toronto were invited by Ms. Renee Fajardo to the opening night of the opera.  Ms. Fajardo, a Filipina soprano and MA student of Opera on scholarship at the University of Toronto, played the lead role as Fanny Price in Mansfield Park.

Ambassador Garcia noted that Ms. Fajardo’s performance would bring pride to Filipinos in Canada not only because of her key role in the performance, but also because she was the lone Filipino singer in the show, and in the Opera program of the said university.

Jonathan Dove’s Mansfield Park is based on the novel by Jane Austen in which the young Fanny Price is sent from her impoverished home to live at Mansfield Park, the country estate of her wealthy uncle, where her problems become increasingly complicated.

The University of Toronto Opera’s production of Mansfield Park is directed by renowned director Tim Albery, with set designed by Michelle Tracey, and lighting by Jason Hand. Sandra Horst conducted the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra. END

The cast of Mansfield Park opera. Ms. Renee Fajardo (rightmost), the lone Filipina singer in the show, played the lead role of Fanny Price. (Toronto PCG photo)

For more information, visit https://www.torontopcg.dfa.gov.ph, https://www.philcongen-toronto.com or https://www.facebook.com/PHinToronto/.