Squamish's Apollonia Vanova will be offering a taste of Europe's favoured music while helping the local SPCA animal shelter Saturday (Oct. 11), with an operatic performance, along with fellow singer Heidi Mundell at the Brackendale Art Gallery (BAG). "We will be singing pieces by Delibes, Puccini, Verdi and Bizet. It will be a compilation of different operas, the best and the most beautiful songs of all the operas," said Vanova.She decided to organize a fundraiser concert to support the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (小蓝视频SPCA) after she saw how small the accommodations were for homeless animals in Squamish."When I went to see the shelter I thought, 'Oh my God, what a small shelter.' You know, how can they survive?" said Vanova. "I went inside and I saw how cramped and crowded everything is and I thought, 'Wow, this is definitely an organization that could use some help.' So I came up with this idea of doing an opera gala and raising money for them." Vanova said Canadians are often feel that opera is inaccessible, but the art form starting to reach wider audiences."In Europe opera was something everyone went to but I think it is becoming more popular [here]." Movie theatres have begun offering films from the Metropolitan Opera company, and that has helped the art become more mainstream, she said. There are also a few smaller opera companies around Vancouver that cater to the general public, and the tickets are more affordable than at the Vancouver Opera company, which has helped. The talented singer was born in Slovakia and came to Canada as a young girl with her parents. In her hometown she played the piano, but because her parents could not afford buying another in Vancouver, she learned to make music with her voice instead, which she said, she liked just as much. Today Vanova is an accomplished opera singer and actress, and this summer will be playing a superhero in the action blockbuster, Watchmen, directed by Zack Snyder. Vanova lives on a three-acre property in Squamish, saying she likes the option of driving into the city and enjoying what the corridor has to offer. She is able to practice her singing by going on long walks in the forests and letting her vocal cords have a work out. "I love nature and being out in the woods. It is very quiet there and I can focus on my music," she said.Vanova's fundraising gala will be held Saturday (Oct. 11) at 7 p.m. There will be a silent auction with prizes including golf tickets, a membership to a fitness centre and dinners for two. Tickets are $20 at the BAG and Mostly Books.
