Opera Briefs September 23, 2010

“…the best executions of new music you can find anywhere in the world.” John Terauds, Toronto Star

Tapestry announces Opera Briefs –
its showcase of bite-size,
world premiere operas

TORONTO, ON… Tapestry New Opera is pleased to announce that the 2010/2011 season will open with the 10th annual instalment of Opera Briefs, a workshop production of scenes resulting from its 14th Composer-Librettist Laboratory (LibLab), September 23, 24 & 25, 2010 at 8pm in the Ernest Balmer Studio at Tapestry. The writers chosen for the 2010 LibLab were David Brock, Charles Hayter, Michael Pollard, and Maja Ardal. Joining them were composers Norbert Palej, Anna Höstman, Iman Habibi, and Gareth Williams.

This year’s Opera Briefs will be directed by Sue Miner, graduate of Tapestry’s Directors Lab in 2002, and co-artistic director of Pea Green Theatre Group (with husband Mark Brownell, librettist for Tapestry’s landmark production Iron Road). Acting as Co-music directors for Opera Briefs are James Bourne and Christopher Foley, both repetiteurs during the LibLab, and pianists for the performances of Opera Briefs. Foley just completed an internship at Tapestry as the company’s first “Leadership Legacy” candidate, acting as Associate Managing Artistic Director from June – September 2010, a position funded by an anonymous private donor.

At the LibLab Tapestry Studio Company members soprano Carla Huhtanen, tenor Keith Klassen and baritone Peter McGillivray (who have all appeared in Opera to Go and The Shadow) were joined by veteran mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber, as resident singing actors for the LibLab, and all four will return to reprise these world premiere roles for Opera Briefs 10.

For most composers and writers the artistic process is a solitary one. Producers around the world agree that forming workable artistic partnerships between composers and playwrights is the single greatest challenge facing the development of new opera and music theatre. The Composer-Librettist Laboratory is Tapestry’s response to this challenge. Initiated in 1995, the laboratory is an intensive workshop for composers and writers to explore the collaborative process. Currently, the program attracts participants from Canada, the United States, Germany and England. It is also the model for the English National Opera Studio’s All-in Opera, as well as Pacific Opera Victoria’s Composer-Librettist Workshop.

Tapestry’s annual Composer-Librettist Laboratory provides artists with the opportunity to work with several partners in a short period of time, thereby developing techniques for effective collaboration. Throughout the program, writers and composers are partnered with one another for one day each. With input from music and stage directors, each pair writes a short piece of music theatre and investigates the collaborative process. Their work is performed at the end of each day by a resident ensemble of singers and repeitteurs and then constructively critiqued by the group.

Since 1995, Tapestry has nurtured over 90 creative artists through this unique program. Previous LibLabs have yielded 43 creative teams many who currently have projects in development in the Ernest Balmer Studio, including: Juliet Palmer and Julie Salverson, Rose Bolton and Jill Battson, Andrew Staniland and Jill Battson and Aaron Gervais and Colleen Murphy.

The 2010-2011 season firmly establishes Tapestry as an international home to new opera for creators, developers and performers, all collaborators in telling stories that need to be told. This season is presented in the intimacy of Tapestry’s home, the Ernest Balmer Studio, in the Distillery Historic District. Sign up for a Studio Pass to attend all 5 events in the season for 20 to 50% off the single ticket price.
Studio Passes
$99 Regular / $49 Student & Arts Worker
Single Tickets
$25 Regular / $20 Student & Arts Worker
Box Office
416.537.6066 / tapestrynewopera.com
Opera Briefs 10 PERFORMANCE DETAILS:

September 23, 24, 25 8pm
Ernest Balmer Studio at Tapestry, 55 Mill Street, Building 58, The Cannery, Studio 315

Writers: Maja Ardal, David Brock, Charles Hayter, Michael Pollard
Composers: Norbert Palej, Anna Höstman, Iman Habibi, Gareth Williams
Director: Sue Miner
Co-Music Directors: James Bourne, Christopher Foley
Cast: Kimberly Barber, Carla Huhtanen, Keith Klassen, Peter McGillivray
Stage Manager: Isolde Pleasants-Faulkner
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ARTISTIC BIOS
Sue Miner, Director
Sue is delighted to be working with Tapestry and Opera Briefs. Versed in both classical and new works Sue is a freelance director and co-artistic director of Pea Green Theatre Group with her husband Mark Brownell. Her work with Pea Green includes the musical The Barbeque King, Conservatives in Love, Medici Slot Machine, Monsieur d'Eon is a Woman, Playballs, The Blue Wall and Orchidelerium. Other recent credits include Say Ginger Ale (Summerworks/ Marcia Johnson Productions) The Love List (Sudbury Theatre Centre) Orphea and the Golden Harp (Jeunesses Musicales/ Theatre Cotton Robes) The Fantasticks (Red Barn Theatre) The Tempest (Canadian Stage) I Love You Forever and More Munsch (Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People) and Sexy Laundry (Theatre Aquarius). Other notable productions include Women Beware Women (Theatre Erindale), Sunday in the Park with George (George Brown/Equity Showcase), Le Chevalier St. Georges (Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra), Titus Andronicus and Measure for Measure (both for Shakespeare in the Rough).

Sue has garnered several Dora nominations, been thrice nominated for the Pauline McGibbon Award for body of work in directing and has been twice touted as one of Toronto’s Top-10 theatre artists by NOW Magazine. She along with Mark Brownell were recently given a Harold Award for “Outstanding Contribution to the Toronto Performing Arts Scene.” Her production of Love You Forever and More Munsch for Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People, which she also co-adapted, garnered a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding TYA Production. She has participated in the Tapestry New Opera Works Director's Lab, the Director’s Masterclass at the World Stage Festival. and is a graduate of the National Theatre School’s acting section.. Sue also teaches at Sheridan College’s Music Theatre Dept. and at George Brown. Theatre School.
Christopher Foley, Co-Music Director
Christopher Foley is a collaborative pianist dedicated to the fields of teaching, chamber music, art song, opera, and contemporary music. At the Eastman School of Music, he received a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1994, majoring in Piano Accompanying and Chamber Music. He is currently teaching at the Royal Conservatory of Music, where he serves as head of the voice department in the Conservatory School. He is a member of the Tapestry New Opera’s New Work Studio Company, where he has been a coach/repetiteur for recent productions of Opera to Go 2010, Opera to Go 2009, Opera to Go 2008, Opera To Go 2006, The Shadow, Nigredo Hotel, Opera To Go 2004, and Facing South, as well as being on the creative team for Tapestry’s unique Composer-Librettist Laboratory. In 2010 he was the first Associate Managing Artistic Director Leadership Legacy Intern at Tapestry. He recently performed at the Eastman School of Music’s Faculty Concert Series, the Women in Music Festival, the University of Western Ontario, the Festival of the Sound, Word on the Street, and the Algoma Fall Festival. As author of the Collaborative Piano Blog, he writes about issues of importance to the collaborative pianist, as well as current musical events in Toronto and elsewhere. Dr. Foley was a pianist and coach for the singers featured on the Bravo!Canada reality show Bathroom Divas, and was recently interviewed for CBC Television’s Living in Toronto.

James Bourne, Co-Music Director

CAST BIOS

Kimberly Barber, mezzo soprano
Canadian mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber is known for the expressive power, purity and refinement of her voice, her elegance of phrasing and musical gesture and the intelligence and intensity of her physical portrayals. Her eclectic and varied career combines not only the standard repertoire sung on some of the great opera house and concert stages of the world, but also contemporary and baroque works with smaller, experimental companies. Kimberly Barber's extraordinary artistic spirit defies categorization. Her operatic repertoire encompasses more than 35 roles, many of them from twentieth century or lesser-known works, and her concert repertoire stems from every genre.

Ms Barber's career has taken her to major opera houses throughout the world (Opéra de Paris, Lyric Opera of Chicago, New York City Opera, Seattle Opera, Opéra de Marseille, Japan's Seito Keinan Festival, ENO, Canadian Opera, to name a few), where she is recognized for the verisimilitude of her portrayals of the trouser roles of Mozart, Handel, Rossini and Strauss. She is renowned for the intensity and depth of her interpretations of such roles as Strauss's Composer, Handel's Xerxes (for which she was nominated for Toronto's Dora Award as Best Singing Actress),Ariodante and Nerone (AGRIPPINA), Cherubino and Annio (CLEMENZA DI TITO), as well as Samuel Barber's Erika (VANESSA), and Ravel'sConcepciòn, among many others.

On the concert stage she has performed under the baton of Seiji Ozawa asLa Ciesca in GIANNI SCHICCHI, with the London Symphony under André Previn, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Myung Whun Chung, the Mostly Mozart Orchestra at Avery Fisher Hall under Gerard Schwarz, the Minnesota Orchestra, Montréal's I Musici under the direction of Yuli Turofsky, the Chicago, Montréal and Toronto Symphonies and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra in a wide repertoire ranging from Duruflé, Fauré and Mahler to Stravinsky, Argento and Bernstein. Her frequent collaborations with pianist Steven Blier and the New York Festival of Song, with performances at Wigmore Hall in London,Weill Hall, and the 92nd Street Y in New York, have shaped her interest in presenting art song in an accessible format. Her deep attention to text and musical interpretation are hallmarks of her performances as a recitalist.

In addition to her busy performing schedule, Kimberly Barber is increasingly in demand as a guest lecturer, panellist and pedagogue in both Canada and the US. She has taught master classes at the University of Toronto, theGlenn Gould Professional School, the Victoria Chapter of NATS,Vancouver Opera Guild, Opera Nuova, Canadian Operatic Arts Academy, University of Manitoba, Elora Festival Academy andYork University. Kimberly Barber's performance workshop "Finding Your Individual Voice" was piloted in March 2000 and has been subsequently presented at educational institutions across the country. In 2005, Ms. Barber made her broadcasting debut for CBC Radio, as live colour commentator for the Montreal International Voice Competition. Kimberly Barber maintains a private voice studio and has been Associate Professor of Voice atWilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario since July of 2002, where she also acts as Administrative Coordinator of the Opera Program.

Carla Huhtanen, soprano
Soprano Carla Huhtanen, combining vocal brilliance and an alluring stage persona, is in demand internationally for an enviable mix of repertoire. In the U.K., she debuted as Serpetta in the Garsington Opera production of Mozart’s LA FINTA GIARDINIERA, a performance that was repeated at the Barbican Centre’s Mostly Mozart series. She debuted in Italy at Gran Teatro la Fenice in Venice as Daisy Park in Gershwin’s LADY BE GOOD (televised on RAI) and was invited back for a complete change of pace as Athenaïs in Cherubini’s ANACREON, which was heard on “Saturday Afternoon at the Opera” (CBC). In France, she was heard in the title role of Purcell’s THE FAIRY QUEEN for Festival Mars en Baroque (Marseille, Tarascon and Aix-en-Provence) and as Angelica in Handel’s ORLANDO for Festival Musique au Couer (Antibes). A reprise performance of LADY BE GOOD took her to Lisbon’s Teatro Sao Carlos and she was featured soloist in a Leonard Bernstein Tribute with the Israel Philharmonic
Of particular note was Ms. Huhtanen’s performances in the world premier of Omar Daniel’s opera THE SHADOW for Tapestry New Opera Works. She is also a member of Tapestry’s resident company and is involved with their programmes devoted to the creative process including ‘Lib-Lab’, ‘Opera Briefs’ and ‘Opera to Go’. She returned to Opera Atelier in for Susanna in LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and had great success in CARMINA BURANA with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony. Recent Opera Atelier productions include IL RITORNO D’ULISSE IN PATRIA, DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL and CORONATION OF POPPEA. For Opera Omaha she sang BLIZZARD VOICES and premiered a set of Salonen songs with the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony conducted by Edwin Outwater. Looking forward, she will be heard for the Edmonton Opera as Blondchen in DIE ENTFÜHRUNG AUS DEM SERAIL.
Past highlights include Handel’s ORLANDO with Festival de Chartres in France, Cunegonde in CANDIDE for Toronto Operetta Theatre,Papagena in DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE for Opera Atelier and Orchestra London (Canada). She was featured as Cunegonde (CANDIDE) with the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London and was also heard in this role for the Valleta Festival in Malta. Recording credits include the Juno winning disc MOZART’S MAGNIFICENT VOYAGE and Herbert’s BABES IN TOYLAND with the London Sinfonietta.
Ms. Huhtanen is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and the University of Toronto (Opera Division) and she has been awarded scholarships and prizes from the Canadian Opera Women’s Committee, the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation, International Yrjo Kilpinen Art Song Competition, National Association of Teachers of Singing and the Poulenc Prize from Journées de la musique française competition in Montreal. She was a young artist at Le Centre national des Artistes Lyriques, performing concerts and recitals in Marseille, Toulon and Avignon. Other roles in her wide ranging repertoire include Tytania in Britten’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM,Soeur Constance in DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES, Therèse in LES MAMELLES DE TIRÉSIAS, Despina in COSI FAN TUTTE andAdele in DIE FLEDERMAUS. Ms. Huhtanen has been heard with Opera in Concert, Toronto’s Aldeburgh Connection, and at Roy Thomson Hall, the Glenn Gould School and the Toronto Centre for the Arts. August 2010
Keith Klassen, tenor
Keith Klassen has emerged to become one of Canada's busiest tenors, averaging 12 productions a season since graduating with honours from the Opera Division at the University of Toronto in 2002. He has been engaged across Canada, as well as in Scotland, Germany, the United States, Ireland and the Czech Republic. The Star Phoenix described him as having, "...a big ringing voice and great stage presence", Classical 96.3 added, "Klassen's voice is pure honey with its ease of high notes and the lyrical grace of his phrasing.", Opera Canada raved that his Rodolfo was "...dramatically convincing, sung with passionate sincerity ensuring the audience's love.", John Terauds of the Toronto Star called him, "...one of the country's most versatile artists.", and NOW magazine's Jon Kaplan went so far as to rate Keith as one of Toronto's top ten theatre artists of 2006.
In the past season alone, critics and audiences alike have enthusiastically received his performances of Rodolfo (La Boheme), Alfredo (La Traviata), Don Jose (Carmen), the Duke (Rigoletto), Samson (Samson et Dalilah), Uriel (Haydn's 'Creation') and Spoletta (Tosca). Keith has also continued his work with Tapestry New Opera Works, joining their newly formed studio company.
Peter McGillivray, baritone
Born in Saskatchewan and raised in Ontario, baritone Peter McGillivray gained international attention in 2005 by winning 2nd prize both at the Montreal International Musical Competition and at the Queen Sonja Competition in Oslo, Norway. He first attracted the national interest of Canadians both as the winner of the 2003 CBC Young Performers Competition and as member of the Ensemble Studio of the Canadian Opera Company. His 2009-2010 season includes Messiah with the Elmer Iseler Singers, Die Fledermaus with Opera Hamilton, Massenet’s Manon with Calgary Opera, Opera to Go and Andrew Staniland’s Dark Star Requiem with Tapestry New Opera Works, the latter work a world premiere as part of the 2010 Luminato Festival in Toronto. Summer 2010 will see him appearing at the Elora Festival, Toronto Summer Music, Festival of the Sound, Music & Beyond Festival, Indian River Festival and FestiVoix Trois Rivières. He looks forward to joining the roster of the Metropolitan Opera in New York for productions of La Bohème and Capriccio during the 2010-11 season

Performances in past seasons with the Canadian Opera Company include turns as Sid and as the Vicar in Britten’s Albert Herring, as Schaunard in Puccini's La Bohème, as Dolokhov in Prokofiev’s War and Peace, and his professional debut as Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. He was seen as Demetrius in an acclaimed production of Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Tanglewood Festival in 2004, as Sid in a production of Albert Herring at the Snape Maltings for the Britten Festival in 2005, and starred last year in the world premiere of Omar Daniel’s The Shadow with Tapestry New Opera Works in Toronto. He has appeared with opera companies in Calgary, Saskatoon, Québec City and Victoria as well as in concert with the Calgary Philharmonic, Edmonton, Regina and Winnipeg Symphonies, National Arts Centre Orchestra, l’Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. A frequent guest on the summer festival circuit, he has sung at the Elora, Orford, Ottawa Chamber Music, and Parry Sound Festivals in Canada while having appeared at the Aspen, Ravinia, Tanglewood, Roskilde and Aldeburgh Festivals internationally.

ABOUT THE LIBRETTISTS

Maja Ardal is a playwright, performer and Artistic Director of Contrary Company. She was the recipient of the 2002 George Luscombe Award for Mentorship in the Theatre. She wrote and performs You Fancy Yourself, (published by Playwrights Canada Press). She received the 2009 Dora Award for outstanding performance. YFY toured in 2009 to the UK. Her most recent play The Cure for Everything will be produced by Theatre Passe Muraille in the fall of 2010. Maja’s first play, Midnight Sun, was produced in Iceland and the U.S. During the 90s. Maja was Artistic Director of Young People’s Theatre (Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People). An Icelandic- Canadian, Maja was schooled in Scotland. She has directed across Canada, notably for The Shaw Festival, The Grand Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects and Great Canadian Theatre Company. For ATP she directed Stones in His Pockets (Betty Mitchell Award nomination for Outstanding Direction). At present she is adapting and developing The Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat. Maja teaches playwriting and physical theatre.

David Brock

Charles Hayter is an award-winning writer, actor, teacher and physician who lives in Toronto. Prior to embarking on a career in medicine, he studied drama at Queen’s University and the University of Calgary. His 1986 study of the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan (published by Macmillan UK), based on his graduate work in drama, remains one of the most frequently cited works on the topic. Dr. Hayter is a specialist in radiation oncology who currently practices part-time at Credit Valley Hospital in Mississauga. Throughout his medical career, he has maintained an active involvement in the arts. A noted medical historian, his book on the history of radium therapy in Canada, An Element of Hope, was published by McGill-Queen’s Press in 2005. In 2001 Charles was awarded the John B. Neilson Award for his significant long-standing contributions to the history of health care in Canada. His acclaimed one-person show Lady-in-Waiting won the award for Best Writing: One Person Show at the Fresh Fruit Festival in New York City in 2008, and Eldorado Town-The Port Hope Play received its world premiere at 4th Line Theatre, Millbrook, in 2010. Current projects include plays about pioneering Canadian oncologist Dr. Vera Peters; the experiences of Canadian soldiers in WW2 Hong Kong prison camps; and the relationship between Franz Mesmer and Benjamin Franklin. Charles is a member of Playwrights' Guild of Canada. Fond “expressums” of thanks to Wayne, Michael, Susan, and the talented co-creators, singers and Tapestry staff who made LibLab 2010 such a fantastic experience, and to his partner Sam for enduring ten lonely days in August.

Michael Pollard may be the best music teacher students never had. But that’s what happens when you follow your passion. He was studying music at Queen’s University when an introduction to the drama department sparked a new direction. From there he would become a triple threat—an actor, writer and musician. His three loves have taken him to stages and screens large and small, roles that transcend gender and generation, and to unique collaborations with fellow artists. His selected work includes: The King The Musical at the Toronto Fringe Festival, Harriet Tubman for Playbill Theatre and Mr. Oblivious for Mikeyway Productions. Michael’s favourite roles include: Peachum in Three Penny Opera, Major General Stanley in Pirates of Penzance, Lady Bracknell in The Importance of being Earnest and Officer Rooney in Language Of The Heart.

ABOUT THE COMPOSERS
Originally from Cracow, Poland, Norbert Palej has been increasingly recognized for his “first-rate and genuinely original work” (American Composers Orchestra), and a musical language that generates “visceral excitement” (The Boston Globe). An Assistant Professor of Composition at the University of Toronto since 2008, he also serves as the director of the University of Toronto gamUT chamber orchestra, and as coordinator of the annual New Music Festival. He holds composition degrees from Cornell University (D.M.A.), The Juilliard School (M.M.), and the New England Conservatory (B.M.). His music has been heard in Canada, USA, Poland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Great Britain, and Costa Rica.

Anna Höstman’s recent premieres include the ensemble work Ghosts of Swallows, performed by both Esprit Orchestra and Continuum Ensemble (2010), the collaboration Moment Forum (with Dylan Robinson and David Cecchetto), a three-hour interactive performance installation that explored ideas of the musical moment which was presented in Canada and England (2009); the flute concerto Trace the Gold Sun (2008), written for Mark McGregor and the Victoria Symphony; and the orchestra piece Snow Variations, performed at the Victoria New Currents Festival 2009. From 2005-8, she was the resident composer of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra during which time her opera What Time is it Now? with libretto by PK Page was performed and broadcast by CBC Radio Two. Trumpetress Amy Horvey commissioned Anna for a solo piece about the female trumpet legend Edna White (1891-1992); this piece entitled Interview was subsequently performed throughout Canada and Europe, and is featured on Amy’s album entitled Interview (Malasartes Musique). In 2009, Exquisite Corpse (a collaboration with composers Marci Rabe and Kristi Farkas), was performed in Toronto by Contact Contemporary Ensemble; Divertissement, for spatialized flute choir, was performed at both the Sinclair Centre Atrium and Christchurch Cathedral in Vancouver by the Redshift Ensemble; What her Friend Said, on text by Kollan Arrici/Anna Höstman, was commissioned by Cathy Fern Lewis for the Voice +++ Festival. Anna is currently pursuing doctoral studies in the composition program at the University of Toronto. She has studied with Christopher Butterfield, John Celona, Gary Kulesha, Gordon Mumma and James Rolfe.

Iman Habibi is an award-winning composer and pianist. As a composer, his music has been performed by a number of noted ensembles and performers such as Musica Intima, The Vancouver Bach Choir, The Prince George Symphony Orchestra, DaCapo Chamber Choir, soprano Simone Osborne, pianists Carrie-Ann Matheson and Liz Upchurch, and has been workshopped by The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, The Aventa and Drosera ensembles. Iman Habibi’s music and performances have been heard across North America, in cities such as New York, Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver and has been programmed by prestigious concert organizations such as The Marilyn Horne Foundation (New York), The Canadian Opera Company (Toronto), and the BCScene Festival (Ottawa). He has received numerous awards including the second prize at The 2008 Vancouver Bach Choir’s national Competition for Large Choir Works for his work Erroneous Kudos, and first prize for his work Black Riders at the 2009 Guelph Chamber Choir’s national competition. His music and interviews are broadcast regularly on radios across North America, such as CBC Radio 2, and WQXR, New York. He has received numerous commissions including a commission to compose his first piano concerto for The Prince George Symphony Orchestra (PGSO). In Feb. 2010, Mr. Habibi appeared as the piano soloist to premiere this concerto with the PGSO. He is currently finishing the final year of his masters degree in music composition at the University of British Columbia under the instruction of Dorothy Chang.

Born in Ireland, Gareth Williams moved to Glasgow after studying music at Queen’s University, Belfast. He completed his Masters in Composition in 2000 at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and his Postgraduate Certificate in Education in 2002. In 2008 he completed his PhD in Composition at the RSAMD, studying with Gordon McPherson. His works have been performed by groups such as the Hebrides Ensemble, the Paragon Ensemble, the Ceoil Quartet, Symposia, the Black Hair Ensemble, and the London Sinfonietta. He was the winner of the British Conservatoire Composers Forum 2000, and in 2004 he won the Dinah Wolff prize for composition. His work has been featured in the Edinburgh Festival, the St. Magnus Festival, the York Late Music Festival, and Scottish Opera’s 5:15 Festival. Gareth was a participant in Tapestry’s 2009 LibLab, and his music was featured in last September’s Opera Briefs at the Ernest Balmer Studio, later to be remounted in Russia in March 2010.

ABOUT THE COMPANY
Tapestry New Opera is an international home for new work creation, development and performance through its unique and highly collaborative work process. Under the leadership of Managing Artistic Director Wayne Strongman, CM, Tapestry engages the hearts and minds of artists and audiences, using opera to tell the stories that need to be told. The Tapestry process begins at the annual Composer-Librettist Laboratory where writers and composers are introduced to collaborative creation. Successful partnerships move on to create 15-minute operas for our annual Opera to Go production and graduate to full-length works. Our INside Opera Education Programme gives students the chance to discover their own stories and engage in the creation of new opera. Our children’s operas, Elijah’s Kite by Camyar Chai & James Rolfe and Get Stuffed by Alexis Diamond and Richard Payne have already toured to over 30,000 students across Ontario. Tapestry productions which have premiered to critical and popular acclaim include Dark Star Requiem by Jill Battson & Andrew Staniland (with the Gryphon Trio and Elmer Iseler Singers) and the Dora-Award winning Sanctuary Song by Abigail Richardson & Marjorie Chan (with Theatre Direct), both for Luminato, The Shadow by Alex Poch-Goldin & Omar Daniel, Nigredo Hotel by Ann-Marie MacDonald & Nic Gotham, Elsewhereless by Atom Egoyan & Rodney Sharman, Still the Night by Theresa Tova, Facing South by Don Hannah & Linda C. Smith and the Dora Award-winning Iron Road by composer Chan Ka Nin & librettist Mark Brownell.

We have simplified our name to Tapestry New Opera. Please refer to our domain name www.tapestrynewopera.com in case of confusion.

2010-2011 SEASON AT A GLANCE
Tapestry is in a development season. Studio Passes and Single Tickets are available for 5 events in the Ernest Balmer Studio at Tapestry:

Opera Briefs 10
(Workshop Production), September 23-25, 2010

The Tapestry Songbook (Concert), January 22, 2011

The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. By Colleen Murphy & Aaron Gervais (Workshop Performance), February 2011, Date & Time TBC

Opera to Go 2012 (Workshop Performance), April 2011, Date & Time TBC

Shelter By Julie Salverson & Juliet Palmer
(Workshop Performance), June 2011, Date & Time TBC

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For further media information and artist interviews please contact Kim Blackwell at
416-346-4709, 416-686-0982 or [email protected]