In preparation for the Canadian premiere – and new VO production – of John Adams’s modern masterpiece Nixon in China, Vancouver Opera presents a series of free and ticketed community engagement events.

Exploring the historic 1972 meeting between Richard Nixon and Mao Zedong, the opera it inspired, and the establishment of the Chinese community in Vancouver, this series will engage the mind and imagination through music, history, politics and film.

VO will collaborate with other arts, cultural, and social organizations to present this major series of events, running until March 2010. For up-to-the-minute details on these events, visit VO’s Nixon in China blog.

The Nixon in China Community Engagement Series:

Oliver Stone’s Nixon
Sunday, January 24th
12:30pm
Vancity Theatre
1181 Seymour Street, Vancouver
Free Admission
For more information, click here

The Vancity Theatre and VO present a special free screening of Oliver Stone's 1995 film Nixon and introductory remarks and a Q & A Session with Professor Paul J. Quirk, Phil Lind Chair in US Politics and Representation at UBC.

Seating is limited. Free tickets will be available at the door ($2 required VIFF membership available at the door).

This special event kicks off a series of co-presentations between Vancouver Opera and the Vancity Theatre. Look for more Vancouver Opera film events at the Vancity Theatre in the spring.

Turning Point Ensemble – John Adams’s “Son of Chamber Symphony”
Wednesday, February 24th
8:00pm
Vancouver Playhouse
Dunsmuir Street & Hamilton Street, Vancouver

Tickets from $20. Online at Ticketmaster or call 604-280-4444
For more information, click here.

The Canadian premiere of John Adams's newly completed chamber piece ("riveting and full of surprises" said the Los Angeles Times), plus Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony Op. 9 and the world premiere of a new chamber concerto by John Oliver.

This concert is co-presented with Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

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, and conductor John DeMain, who conducted the original 1987 production of Nixon in China.

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 esteemed China scholar Dr. Jan Walls. Speakers include eminent architect Bing Thom, UBC historian Henry Yu, 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 to close the two day colloquium hosted by the Institute of Asian Research. For more information, click here.

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 Eleanor Wachtel
Wednesday, March 17th
7:30pm
Granville Island Stage
Tickets: $18. On sale Friday, January 22 online at VancouverTix or call 604-629-8849.

Margaret MacMillan talks with celebrated interviewer Eleanor Wachtel, host of CBC Radio’s “Writers and Company” 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.