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March 18, 2005
A service to the community
New board chair mixes outreach experience with Vancouver Opera
vision.
BAILA LAZARUS EDITOR
For Arlene Gladstone, service to the community is not just a cute
buzz phrase to be left to the purview of credit unions and Sally
Ann shelters; it's a value she has held her entire life.
Growing up within a small Jewish arena in Saskatoon, she was surrounded
by relatives or friends of the family who were active on the boards
of institutions like the local synagogue and she quickly assimilated
the Jewish values of community participation, leadership and voluntarism.
Faced with the options of nursing, teaching or social work as a
career, Gladstone chose social work and continued her contribution
to society. Now, as the newest chair of the Vancouver Opera board
of directors, she is tying all her experience together.
"My biggest thrill is to see people come out of the auspices
of Vancouver Opera to talk about poverty and disablity and affordable
housing," said Gladstone in an interview with the Bulletin
earlier this month.
Gladstone was talking about Opera Speaks, a program done in partnership
with the Vancouver Public Library. The opera presents a series of
free public forums on themes and issues arising from the season's
operas. Writers, academics, psychologists, composers and other creative
thinkers engage in discussion on the operas' stories.
One might think this a strange correlation: the idea that a high-brow
performing art form such as opera (not exactly your Sunday afternoon
family outing to see The Incredibles) could somehow engender
discussion about present-day societal ills seems a bit farfetched.
Or that a medium that describes itself as "entrancing,"
"witty," "boisterous" and "sublime"
could stimulate discussions about racism or poverty with the lay-public.
But that's the beauty of combining people with experience in a welfare
field, such as social work, with those who have broader visions
for the performing arts.
When Gladstone became involved on the opera board in 2001, she had
under her belt experience not only as an in-field social worker,
she had worked on the Berger Royal Commission on Family and Children's
law, she had been the director of support services and hotel/residence
for the Young Women's Christian Association and, most recently,
she was the executive director of Family Services of the North Shore.
In addition, she was a volunteer co-founder of the National Council
of Jewish Women Block Parent program, as well as a volunteer with
the Vancouver Police board from 1992 to 1997. She knew the
issues out there.
She took that experience, and melded it with that of Jim Wright,
the general director of Vancouver Opera for the last five years.
Wright's goal was to expand the presence of the opera, not just
for putting "bums in seats," as the expression goes, but
to connect to the community through relevant, topical issues. This
is now done through the program Opera Speaks. And Gladstone is supporting
that goal in whatever way she can.
"I think it's a happy coincidence that my great interest in
community came together with Jim's vision," Gladstone said.
"It links us as an important community organization. We [are]
a place for discussion. Opera can be a medium ... to express a message,
present new ideas."
As an example of what a public discussion might entail, considering
the theme of Così Fan Tutte, where two men test their
girlfriends' fidelity, the opera held a discussion entitled "Fidelity
– What Does it Mean and What Does it Cost?" earlier this
month. The next Opera Speaks session will discuss Un Ballo in
Maschera and the issue Censorship – Where Does it Thrive,
and Who Does it?
This personal view of opera as a medium that can educate, is one
reason why Gladstone loves the art form so much. She sees it not
just as entertainment but as a launching point for scholarship.
"The complex relationships that are involved in opera are similar
to complex relationships in our daily lives," said Gladstone.
One of the reasons Gladstone feels the opera is so successful in
reaching the public is due to the fact that it's not seen as an
organization that's trying to proselytize. Those who might never
go a seminar on homelessness sponsored by the City of Vancouver
Community Service Department, might be inclined to attend a similar
discussion between a psychologist and a case worker that's illustrated
through operatic scripts.
Those discussions, as well Vancouver Opera's other outreach activites,
take money, however, and, in her current role as board chair, Gladstone's
most immediate concern is fund-raising. While there are funds coming
in from government grants, subscriptions, ticket sales and donors,
new projects mean a need for new capital. The growing programs help
keep Vancouver Opera fresh, with a competitive edge. One of the
newest projects under way fits under the Vancouver Opera's Opera
in the Schools program and is the composition and writing of an
opera based on Joy Kigawa's Naomi's Road. The opera is being
commissioned with the idea of presenting it to grades 6 and 7 with
an aim to promote discussion about equality, justice and racial
profiling, among other issues.
Gladstone has set a personal goal for herself to raise $50,000 in
the next year to help cover the cost of the presentation. As the
daughter of a shoe merchant, she has inherited a good busness sense,
she said.
"It takes a bold vision and it takes money to say, 'We are
going to write an opera,' " Gladstone said, enthusiastically.
"This is an issue that needs to be discussed and opera can
be the medium by which to tell the story on a piece of Canadian
history that we should never forget.... It speaks to Jewish people,
too."
Gladstone, who is a member of Temple Sholom, is married to Haimish
Cameron, a retired lawyer. She has two children from a previous
marriage to Mitch Gropper – Daniel, who is a rabbi in Rye,
N.Y., and Naomi, who has worked on the board of the Jewish Family
Service Agency.
The next Opera Speaks discussion takes place Wednesday, April 20,
7:30-9:30 p.m., at the downtown Vancouver library branch in the
Alice MacKay Room. Admission is free, with refreshments courtesy
of the Vancouver Opera Guild.
Mozart's Così Fan Tutte runs until March 18. Un
Ballo in Maschera by Giuseppe Verde runs April 30, May 3, 5
and 7. Both performances are in Italian with English translations
projected above the stage. For ticket information, visit www.vanopera.bc.ca.
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