Kiwanis Festival 2005

February 2005, the Buchanan Park Opera Club chorus travels to Toronto to attend the Kiwanis Festival (receiving a Gold under the direction of Maestro David Fawcett) at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church and then attends the University of Toronto's Opera School; we have a workshop with director Michael Albano and tour the Opera School facilities.

Eduardo Villa as Don Jose

October 2004, Dawn and John Martens and four parents and five members of the BPOC travel to New York by car to see Eduardo Villa as Don Jose in The Metropolitan Opera's Carmen ; at the Met, we have a backstage tour with Dr. Brett Gutsche, member of the Metropolitan Opera Guild, and meet with Eduardo Villa backstage after the opera.

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Choirfest

March 2004, the Buchanan Park Opera Club attends The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board Choirfest in Hamilton and are awarded a Gold Medal under the direction of Maestro David Fawcett.

Kiwanis Festival 2004

February 2004, the Buchanan Park Opera Club chorus travels to Toronto to attend the Kiwanis Festival (receiving a Silver under the direction of Maestro David Fawcett) at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church and then attends Famous People Player's Black Light Night at the Opera ; we have a workshop with founder Diane Dupuy; after the performance, the chorus performs for the Famous People Player's themselves.

The Little Daughter of the Regiment

September 2003, Dawn Martens and seven leads of The Little Daughter of the Regiment and their parents travelled to Ottawa ; highlights included visits at the hotel from opera stars, soprano Tracy Dahl and baritone Ted Baerg, a personal backstage tour of the National Arts Centre, backstage visits with the stars after a performance of Don Pasquale with the aforementioned stars and tenor John Tessier, and bass-baritone Peter Strummer (in the title role).

Bluma Appel Theatre

May 2003, Dawn Martens and three leads travelled to the Bluma Appel Theatre at the St. Lawrence Centre in Toronto to take part in CBC Saturday Afternoon at the Opera's Quiz ; the students asked questions of the panelists singers Mary Bella, Sandra Boyce, and Sonja Goss while Quiz Master Stuart Hamilton presided; after the quiz, the participants were guests at "Musicools", a festival produced by Soundstreams Canada, where they attended The Canadian Children's Opera Chorus production of A Midwinter's Dream.

Opera America Conference

2002 bus trip to Toronto, Ontario, to the Opera America Conference at the Hilton. The students performed excerpts from Figaro and received a standing ovation. Dawn Martens and David Fawcett participate in the discussion on Opera education with delegates from across North America. Afterwards, the students were taken to see The Pirates of Penzance at the Toronto Operetta Theatre. Had a pre-performance lecture with Guillermo Silva-Martin (General Director of the theatre), and a post-performance QA period with the leads (including Fred Love).

Malibar Limited Opera & Theatrical Department Costume Warehouse

2002 bus trip to Toronto, Ontario, to the Malabar Limited Opera and Theatrical Department Costume Warehouse, as well as their retail store and manufacturing facilities. This tour was led by Geoffrey Curtis, who invited us to view his collection of costume design prints as well as to talk about costume design, manufacturing, and opera trivia.

The Metropolitan Opera House

2001 trip to the Metropolitan Opera House. To cover the expenses of the trip, the BPOC did several things. First, we raised $359.85 with "Have a Wienie for Puccini" hot dog day. Then, we were sponsored by a New York philanthropist for the hotel, and legal advice was given by a lawyer in Hamilton. Our flight was partly covered by the donation of Aeroplan Frequent Flyer points, and some of our trips were covered by fundraising. All of this brought the trip expense per student down to $165.

The Merry Widow

January 2001 two day trip by air to New York City to attend The Metropolitan Opera's production of "The Merry Widow" had two backstage tours of the Met with one of them led by Stephen Brown, the General Manager of The Met; four of our leads of The Merry Little Widow met Placido Domingo and Frederica von Stade backstage at the Met; accompanied on the trip by Hugh Fraser from The Hamilton Spectator and Fred Love, Broadway and stage star who has played Danilo in The Merry Widow.

La Traviata

March 2000, fifteen opera leads and sixteen supervisors made a two day trip by van to Ottawa, Ontario, to see Opera Lyra's production of "La Traviata" directed by Brian Deedrick (who directed Opera Ontario's "Aida" in 1999 and attended our Petita Aida ): fifteen of our leads visited with the Minister of Cultural Affairs, toured Parliament Hill, and our Opera club was mentioned on the floor of the House of Commons; leads met the Speaker of the House and were given a letter from Prime Minister Jean Chretien which was presented by Stan Keyes, MP; attended "La Traviata" at the National Arts Centre, had a backstage tour of the NAC, and had breakfast at the NAC with Brian Deedrick and Mark Douglas Trask, Director of Marketing and Development for Opera Lyra Ottawa; accompanied on the trip by Hugh Fraser of The Hamilton Spectator.

Carmen

March 1996 day trip by air to New York City to see "Carmen" performed by the New York City Opera in the New York State Theatre in Lincoln Centre; four of the lead children from our Carmencita had a tour of the house then visited with the stars (including John Fanning as "Escamillo") backstage after the opera; accompanied on the trip by Hugh Fraser of The Hamilton Spectator and our tour guide was Ken Freeman, the General Director of Opera Ontario.