Whether featured in Richard Wagner’s The Ring Cycle or Mozart’s The Magic Flute, opera families notoriously exceed the bounds of dysfunction.

So, it’s a testament to their hard work, creativity and patience that real-life opera husband-and-wife team Anne Grimm and Benjamin Butterfield have proven family life off stage can be every bit as exciting without the additional drama.

The Oak Bay couple met mid-career, studying at a summer singing program near Chicago (Anne being from the Netherlands and Benjamin from Victoria). They later raised two daughters, now in their early twenties — a dancer and a rower, but both good singers, too.

Between being away from one another for long periods of time, conflicting work schedules and mood swings, wavering from the excitement of a good show to the m

See Full Page