A Special Day Under a Vancouver Sky

My family had a special day today. 

My nephew graduated with his Masters in Arts in Psychology.
Graduation ceremonies take place over 3 consecutive days twice per year. Each day there are 3 separate ceremonies.
My nephew's was the 2nd ceremony of the 2nd day which seemed fitting given it is his 2nd degree. It was also the best time weatherwise over the 3 day period.

The crowd assembles in the beautiful Chan Centre.

Ph.D. graduates are seated in their fushia and blue robes at the back  of the stage behind the professors and dignataries. The fuschia looks red in the photo but the UBC website says the colour is maroon.

The Mace is carried by the ‘Macebearer’ who leads the Platform Party, which includes the Chancellor, the President, and other dignitaries, onto the stage for the Congregation ceremonies.

 In the fall of 1957, the University commissioned the late Haida carver Bill Reid to undertake the project of carving the mace. Due to Reid’s heavy workload, he suggested that George Norris be asked to help design and carve the Mace. The planning of the Mace took some time and a final design was not approved until 1959.

(Source:  UBC Website)

The mace is made of yew wood and has west coast carved designs as well as inlaid copper.

President Santa Ono addresses the crowd. He was born in Vancouver but comes to us from Chicago, Illinois.

Vancouver has been having a deluge of rain for the last few days. Miraculously today the rain stopped, the clouds parted a bit and we even had sunshine. A much nicer way to celebrate the graduation as all the graduates like to take photos outside.


After photos we all trekked to the Robert H. Lee Alumni Center.  Along the way I snapped photos of the clock tower which used to be where the main library was located.

The stone building behind the tower is the former library. I spent many hours working there as a student.

An eastern view of Wesbrook Mall a pedestrian mall for approximately 4-5 city blocks.

A new totem pole on campus. I didn't have time to find out its significance. Perhaps it is welcoming people to campus.

The new alumni centre, made of glass, is pictured in photo below.  There the new graduates and their families were treated to complimentary cake (vanilla or chocolate), coffee and water. The chocolate cake was pronounced delicious by our family party. No one tried the vanilla but I'm sure it was also delicious.

Graduates were each given a complimentary glass of wine if they chose.  They were also permitted to keep the glass as a keepsake. Etched on the stemware are the words "UBC Alumni".

All in all we had a lovely day with my nephew. He is now currently working on his Ph. D. And an exceedingly busy young man.

Joining 

Skywatch Friday 

and

Friday Foto Friends

 I may not get a chance to visit you in the next little while as I am having major computer issues which I will need to sort out.

Happy Thanksgiving

to all my American friends who celebrate.

Friday Night at the Opera

Half the day is gone and I'm just putting up my Tuesday post.

It is pouring rain here right now and will likely be like this all week. It was a glorious, sunny day yesterday though.

I wanted to share my photos from the opera I went to last Friday. It was performed in a small church called Canadian Memorial United Church.

It is a beautiful church.

(Photo Credit:  Church website) This is the church located on a busy Vancouver corner (Burrard & 16th Avenue)

I took a friend as a Christmas gift and she enjoyed it very much. She bought us coffee and cookies at the break .  The coffee was fabulous and the cookies were too. I believe the church was raising funds for its out of the cold program.

I've never been to the church before.  Apparently they have different outside events throughout the year.

(Photo Credit: Church website) - This is the main window of the church. Simply stunning.

The opera written by Giuseppe Verdi is Un Ballo in Maschera (A Masked Ball)  was ably performed by a new partnership between a  company called Opera Mariposa and another, called Heroic Opera. Both of these companies were formed by female opera singers for the purpose of giving more performing opportunities to young and upcoming opera singers.

(Photo credit:  Mariposa and Heroic Opera Brochure) - This photo aroused my interest to look for tickets.

The summary of the opera story can be found here. I chose not to recite the summary in this post because it is rather a long story and some of you may not be opera buffs. 
Let's just say, like any good opera, it is full of drama, love and tragedy.

People settling in before the show

Of course I could not get any photos during the opera but here are the photos I managed to get during the bows at the end.

Flowers presented to Sarah Templeton in the role of Amelia, Renato's wife and love interest of King Gustavo

Mark Pepe who played King Gustavo

A longer shot of the stage and the ensemble actors

Andrew Greenwood who played the role of Renato, friend and protector of the King

Director Adam Da Ros, who seems to have grown up in my small hometown. He brought this complex opera to life

It was my first time to the lovely church and my first time to see an opera in a church. 

The director remarked that he chose to keep the set design minimal and play up the features of the church itself.
I thought the idea worked rather well. 
The costumes were meticulously designed.
It's always lovely to see such beautiful period costumes.

The opera singers were all good and I mean that very sincerely.
Seeing the opera in such a small venue gave an intimacy and poignancy to the performance that isn't possible in a large theatre.  I enjoyed this smaller venue as I saw the same opera in a large theatre many years ago and it was nice to have the comparison.

Despite everyone being so talented, I still had a favourite soloist. 
She is soprano Sarah Templeton and her voice is absolutely marvellous.

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I have one more event to go to before Christmas; possibly two. I don't normally go to so many concert events in such a short space of time.
But as my plans are totally different this year given that it is the first time I will not have my dear late mom to visit.  Going to concerts and symphonies is something that is a real treat and at Christmas is even more enjoyable so I'm indulging myself this year.

I hope you too are getting a chance to see some marvellous musical events this holiday season.

Joining in with Our World Tuesday

Enjoy your week ahead.