Calgary Opera replaces performer who unfurled Palestinian flag during ‘Tosca’ bow

The Calgary Opera has replaced a performer who unfurled a Palestinian flag during the curtain call of the political opera “Tosca.”

On Friday, the bass singer Gabriel Sanchez-Ortega held up the flag at the end of Giacomo Puccini’s drama about love and betrayal during political upheaval in Napoleonic Rome.

In a statement issued Sunday, the Calgary Opera called the action “unexpected and unauthorized,” adding that individual political protest violated company policy. 

The institution apologized for the “discomfort and distress” some may have felt and said Sanchez-Ortega’s role will be performed by another artist for the remainder of the shows.

Sanchez-Ortega played a character named Cesare Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner. 

In an Instagram story, Sanchez-Ortega wrote that he had “no regrets” and that “this is the state of cultural institutions in Canada.”

The Calgary Opera and Sanchez-Ortega did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In its statement about the Oct. 16 performance, the Opera said individual political protest contravenes its “responsibility to create a more connected, caring and civil society through shared artistic experiences.”

Sanchez-Ortega said he holds no resentment. 

“After the theatre, (political or otherwise) we all have to go home, and look at ourselves in the mirror,” Sanchez-Ortega continued in his statement.

“It was my honour to play the role of Angelotti, an escaped political prisoner.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 19, 2026.