COR
  • Home
  • About COR
    • About COR
    • How To Use COR
    • FAQ – For Users
  • Operas
  • Creators
  • Submit Your Work
    • How To Submit Works
  • Log In
  • Sign Up
COR
COR
  • Home
  • About COR
    • About COR
    • How To Use COR
    • FAQ – For Users
  • Operas
  • Creators
  • Submit Your Work
    • How To Submit Works
  • Log In
  • Sign Up
    Canadian Opera Resource
    Canadian Opera Resource
    COR
    Operas
    Eshna
    Elvet is struck with grief over the death of his newborn child, not yet named.
    Composer: August Murphy-King
    Librettist: Kanika Ambrose

    Eshna
    Eshna
    Jacqueline
    Content warning: terminal illness

    This is not a biographical opera, it is an exploration of an emotional journey. At age 5, Jacqueline has instant chemistry and sparks fly when she meets her cello. Their relationship grows stronger and closer, and Jacqueline matures into a charismatic and likeable teen, powerful on major stages. Soon she is a...
    Composer: Luna Pearl Woolf
    Librettist: Royce Vavrek

    Jacqueline
    Morning Prayers
    An Iranian man sits in a hotel room in Canada, writing his morning prayers.
    Composer: Afarin Mansouri
    Librettist: Jessica Murphy Moo

    Morning Prayers
    Morning Prayers
    Oubliette
    Content warning: captivity, memory loss

    Laura has been forcibly confined in a basement for years until she frees herself. She approaches a stranger on the street, wondering if the stranger remembers her, and discovers that she barely remembers herself.
    Composer: Ivan Barbotin
    Librettist: Donna-Michelle St. Bernard

    Oubliette
    Oubliette
    Restoration
    A woman is being examined by various doctors.  Weakly, she sings of what she used to be.  One doctor smears lipstick on her.  She doesn’t want to go.
    Composer: Gareth Williams
    Librettist: Michael Pollard

    Restoration
    Restoration
    La Maupin
    Content warning: contains depictions of gun violence, mentions of homophobia, transphobia, self-harm, attempted suicide, memory loss, illness, death, and violence

    Julie d'Aubigny (1673-1707), more often known by her stage name "Mademoiselle Maupin," was a queer and gender non-conforming opera singer. She was a mezzo-soprano, and sang some of ...
    Composer: Colin McMahon
    Librettist: Camille Rogers

    La Maupin
    La pagaille des violons
    The story of two clans of little violinists, one that plays only in pizzicato and the other one only with the bow. They each claim to make the most beautiful music, so they argue and try separately to summon the Goddess of Music. She appears only when they play together, and reconciles the two clans, explaining that there is no such thing as the...
    Composer: Diana Cotoman
    Librettist: Diana Cotoman

    La pagaille des violons
    COR
    Excerpts
    Bandits in the Valley – Group 2, Scene 1: Love Me Lily (aria)

    Henri wonders how, after all this time, it is possible that Lily doesn't reciprocate her feelings of love.

    Bandits in the Valley – Freddy’s Song: “So It Goes” (aria)

    A lament over the disbanding of brotherhood. Freddy wonders what will become of his friendship with Jeremiah.

    Betty Box Office – “Box office, may I help you?” (aria)

    A box office worker longs to be on the opera stage.

    Constantinople – chapter 4: “Ah Kalleli”

    An electroacoustic setting of an old Sufi song composed by Muhammad ‘Uthman (Egypt 1855-1900).  The texts are considerably older; they were written by Sana’ il-Mulk (Egypt 1155-1211). The text is a poetic adoration of clouds: “O clouds adorn the crowns of the hills with garlands/And make the bending stream a bracelet for them/O sky...

    Constantinople – chapter 2: “Kyrie”

    A setting of twelve statements of the words “Kyrie Eleison” (“Lord Have Mercy Upon Us”), a standard orthodox ritual practice.

    Dark Star Requiem – “Zoonosis” (aria)

    Recounts the presumed origin of the HIV virus, initially as SIV non-human primates in Central Africa.

    Dark Star Requiem – “0”

    A spoken monologue about the arrival of HIV to North America and Gaetan Dugas, the presumed patient-0.

    Elsewhereless – Prologue: “What I feel” (aria)

    Malcolm describes his sense of suspension in time and space as we hear gunshots outside.

    Eshna – Eshna

    Elvet is struck with grief over the death of his newborn child, not yet named.

    Facing South – Scene 5: “Undersea” (aria)

    Minik remembers Greenland.

    Facing South – Scene 10: “Sea Anemone” (aria)

    Josephine wonders what discovery is worth.

    TAP:EX Forbidden – Act 1, Scene 1: “Understanding”

    The Child is taught a lesson. She attempted to speak her truth, but was met with discipline.

    TAP:EX Forbidden – Act 1, Scene 6: “Book’s Lament”

    A book pleads with the audience to be read. A rhythmic chorus rises. A tribute to the banned, the burned, and the hidden.

    Get Stuffed – Scene 2

    Zach longs for a lunch of junk food!

    Hydrophis Expedition – Serpent’s Aria

    An undersea monster sings to the scientists observing her.

    Ice Time – “Once upon a time…” (aria)

    A figure skating coach reminisces about her own time in the competition spotlight.

    Ice Time – “We all fail…” (aria)

    A figure skater reflects on her experience in competition and decides to switch to a new career path.

    Iron Road – Manli’s Aria

    Filled with regret over his life, Manli sings of an abandoned love.

    Iron Road – “Cool Mountain Water” in Bb (aria)

    Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

    Iron Road – “Cool Mountain Water” in C (aria)

    Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

    Iron Road – “Cool Mountain Water” Short Version in Bb (aria)

    Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

    Iron Road – “Cool Mountain Water” Short Version in C (aria)

    Lai Gwan compares her love for Nichol with the pull of the cool mountain water.

    Iron Road – Act 1, Scene 1: The Ship

    Aboard a ship taking Chinese workers to British Columbia - they are hungry & thirsty. Ah Lum starts a fight with Lai Gwan, who is disguised as a young man, but they stop as the coast comes into view.

    Jacqueline – “Disease” – voice and cello

    In her prime. At a post-gala cocktail party, Jackie ironically confesses she has a terrible disease: glissando-itis.

    Jacqueline – “Samson” – voice and cello

    Comparing herself to Samson, Jackie and her husband have a tangled night of love one rainy night.

    Jacqueline – “Dizzy” – voice and cello

    In her prime, Jackie admits she finds the pace of touring life dizzying. The sycophants at parties are starting to get to her.

    Jacqueline – “Telephone” – voice and cello

    On a phone call with her mother, Jackie is admonished. She begs her mother to visit. She’s alone with fragments of memory.

    Jacqueline – “Run” – voice and cello

    Delirious, Jackie envisions running to the ocean again through the fields, this time with her sister, Hilary. She asks that Hilary not tell Daniel about the disease.

    Jacqueline – “Bathing in the Sea in October” – voice and cello

    Jackie tells us how she can blur the lines between fantasy and reality at will. She can escape the confines of her chair by dreaming of bathing in the sea. She wonders where Daniel is, and who he’s seeing.

    Jacqueline – “You and Me” – voice and cello

    Jacqueline, the child, tells her cello they will play great concert halls and make records.

    Jacqueline – “Intense Perfumes” – voice and cello

    Jacqueline remembers playing in the fields with her sister in her childhood, and the fragrance of wildflowers.

    Jacqueline – “Psychoanalysis” – voice and cello

    Jacqueline experiences symptoms, but her physical illness is undiagnosed, and she is instead told it is hysterical or psychosomatic.

    Jacqueline – “Dirty Joke” – voice and cello

    Jacqueline enjoys telling a joke about some monks' sexual arousal.

    Jacqueline – “Mon Ami” – voice and cello

    Jacqueline remembers happy times with her cello in childhood.

    Jacqueline – “Cancellation” – voice and cello

    Angry and frustrated at her physical inability to play, Jacqueline cancels her remaining performances.

    Leaving – “I spend my days looking” (aria)

    Simone describes her postpartum depression and wonders how it is that she cannot love her own child.

    Lisa – Scene 2

    "A perfect score is all that counts." Lisa fixates on the consequences of her test and predicts that Annie and Caroline will banish her from "the circle of three" because of her imperfect score. She blames Mr. Herwin.

    M’dea Undone – Act 1, Scene 7: Revealed (aria)

    In a dream state, M'dea recalls all she has done to survive.

    M’dea Undone – Act 2, Scene 8: Killing (aria)

    Just before the wedding, Jason discovers Dahlia and the President murdered.

    TAP:EX Metallurgy – Metallurgy A – final movement

    Duet between the woman and a violin, symbolizing her daughter.

    Morning Prayers – Morning Prayers

    A man tries to write a letter home, but he cannot find the right words. He burns each rejected attempt.

    Mother Everest – “Namaste” (aria)

    Jackie realizes that her sherpa has died.

    My Mother’s Ring – “You are my beautiful boy”

    Julia remembers the love she felt for her son Paul when he was a baby.

    Nigredo Hotel – “Until I was a child…” (aria)

    Ray, a jaded neurosurgeon, muses on the loss of his childhood wonder and innocence.

    Nigredo Hotel – “If it was a man” (aria)

    Alone in his hotel room, Ray worries that he hit someone with his car on the road. After fearing it might have been a child, he convinces himself it was only a raccoon.

    Nigredo Hotel – “I hate water” (aria)

    As Sophie runs a bath in the distance, Ray reflects on how uncomfortable bathing makes him feel.

    Nigredo Hotel – “When I was small” (aria)

    Ray sings of the ambivalence his parents felt towards him as a child.

    Nigredo Hotel – “The square root…” (aria)

    Ray frantically tries to calm himself by reciting scientific jargon, while a being claiming to be his own child self tries to open the door.

    Nigredo Hotel – “Wisdom Aria” Option 1

    Sophie, the manifestation of Ray's soul sings an extended aria explaining how she has been locked away from Ray since he was a child.

    Nigredo Hotel – “Wisdom Aria” Option 2

    Sophie, the manifestation of Ray's soul sings an extended aria explaining how she has been locked away from Ray since he was a child.

    Noor Over Afghan – Scene 7: Desert (aria)

    In a letter, Jaan asks if Noor still loves her.

    One Night, One Bell – “It peals and carries my prayers” (aria)

    A woman makes an appeal that the metal of her bell shouldn't be used for a war machine.

    Opposites Attract – Scene 3

    Jackie demands Alex say something, but Alex doesn't. Erica paces.

    Oubliette – Oubliette

    Having escaped forced confinment in a basement, a girl approaches a stranger. She asks if the stranger knows her, as she tries to remember her past.

    Pub Operas (The Sloans Project) – “I remember the drink we shared” (aria)

    An old drunk recounts his failed marriage.

    Pub Operas (The Sloans Project) – Chopin’s Ghost (aria)

    A bar manager recounts the night she heard Frederick Chopin play piano, and the effect it had on her relationship with the bar’s resident piano player.

    Pub Operas (The Sloans Project) – “I have killed seventeen” (aria)

    A man recounts his prior murders.

    Restoration – Restoration

    A woman cryptically remembers her past as she is briefly examined by three different people.

    Rocking Horse Winner – Scene 1: Ava at the piano (aria)

    A waltz is cut short. Ava discloses how far she’s fallen, and how difficult she finds caring for her son.

    Rocking Horse Winner – “Now I’m All Nerves” (aria)

    Ava bemoans Paul's lack of understanding, and her need for luxury.

    Sanctuary Song – Scene 2: Capture

    James and Sydney start their journey. Sydney remembers being young and playing in the forest with her friend Penny. One day, they are both captured, and the family herd is shot.

    Sanctuary Song – Scene 4: Alone (aria)

    Sydney on her first day at the zoo. Frightened and alone, she thinks of her homeland.

    Sanctuary Song – Scene 6: Arrival

    Sydney and James arrive in Tennessee, remembering their 22 years together. They say goodbye.

    Shanawdithit – “Out of this world” (aria)

    Shanawdithit, dying, speaks to her ancestors. She is ready to leave this world.

    Shanawdithit – “These last few months” (aria)

    Cormack presents his findings about Shanawdithit to the members of the Beothuk institute.

    Shanawdithit – “What? A man?” (aria)

    Shanawdithit reprimands Cormack for his saviour complex.

    She Sees Her Lover – “Oh, it’s beautiful” (aria)

    Excited by the possibility of a night with a new lover, Sumana anxiously expresses her anticipation.

    She Sees Her Lover – “So many ways” (aria)

    Agnieska questions why all of her previous relationships have failed.

    She Sees Her Lover – “Cinnamon Limbs” (aria)

    Waking early, Agnieska admires her new lover Sumana as she is sleeping.

    Shelter – Scene 4: Hope Grows Up, “This is Our House” (aria)

    Hope grows up quickly, climbing out of her crib as a woman of twenty-one. She sings to herself, wanting to leave the house.

    Shelter – Scene 6: Trinity (aria)

    Hope introduces the pilot to her family. He leaves, and Hope argues with her parents about going with him.

    TAP:EX Tables Turned – Beyond the Sound – voice, percussion, and track

    A deconstruction of moments in The Sound of Music.

    TAP:EX Tables Turned – Hitchcock Etudes – voice, percussion, and track

    A celebration of iconic Hitchcock film moments, sampling from The Man Who Knew Too Much, Psycho, and The Birds.

    TAP:EX Tables Turned – La Callas Fantasie – voice, percussion, and track

    Using quintessential recordings of Maria Callas arias, an aspiring soprano engages with the full and intense presence of her idol. What begins as suffocation and frustration ends as confidence as the soprano gains a deeper understanding of her idol: she’s human. They both are.

    TAP:EX Tables Turned – Schoolhouse Etude – voice, percussion, and track

    A celebration of iconic Hitchcock film moments, sampling from The Birds.

    TAP:EX Tables Turned – The Graduate – voice, percussion, and track

    A short scene, sampling the wedding scene where Elaine screams for Ben.

    The Cellar Door – “Down there I won’t go” (aria)

    Daniel sings of his fear at the prospect of going down into the cellar of his childhood home, after his father has died.

    The Cellar Door – “That’s all you have to say?” (aria)

    Judith sings angrily at her brother when he expresses his desire to leave their childhood home after their father has died.

    The Colony – “No Ants?!”

    The Queen of the Amazon Ants laments the fallen state of her realm to her lone remaining subject.  She decides she must find a mate.

    The Laurels – “Lost” (aria)

    A young woman, Laurel, runs through a dark forest, filled with anxiety and haunted by disturbing memories.

    The Laurels – “And so I killed a man…” (aria)

    Laurel stabs the Stranger, killing him. As his body slides to the ground to rest at her feet, she begins to feel a new sense of freedom, not realising that it is at the cost of her conscience and her humanity. The aria should be performed with an improvisational blues quality over the regular pulse of the accompaniment, to convey both this se...

    The Perfect Screw – Act 1, Scene 1: “Ladies and Gentlemen” (aria)

    Robertson demonstrates the new “automatic spiral ratchet spring-loaded screw driver,” affectionately called the “Yankee.” The demonstration is cut short when the driver slips off the single slot screw, injuring Robertson’s hand.

    The Perfect Screw – Act 1, Scene 2: “Fates, I curse you” (aria)

    Robertson in his shop, Amalia (present day) in her bathroom with her antique vanity, Phillips in his workshop, also injured by a screw driver slip.

    The Perfect Screw – “In my journeys far and wide” (aria)

    Phillips sings the praises of his new screwdriver.

    The Perfect Screw – “Wandering endlessly” (aria)

    Amalia dreams of what can be accomplished with hardware.

    The Perfect Screw – “Hmm… he cuts quite a figure” (aria)

    In the afterlife, Henry Ford invites Robertson to present his screwdriver.

    The Perfect Screw – “Double slit Phillips” (aria)

    Amalia critiques the two screwdrivers and chooses the Robertson.

    The Perfect Screw – Act 1, Scene 3: “Wandering Endlessly” (aria)

    Wandering in a big box store, Amalia dreams of what can be accomplished with hardware.

    The Perfect Screw – Act 2, Scene 3

    Amalia critiques the two screwdrivers and chooses the Robertson.

    The Perfect Screw – Act 3, Scene 2

    Robertson, still sad, hopes his screwdriver will still be of use to others.

    The Shadow – Scene 6

    Allegra has lost her engagement ring.

    The Shadow – Scene 7

    Raoul still hasn't paid off his debt. Allegra arrives and tells him she has lost the ring, not knowing that he is also Hernando.

    The Shadow – Scene 8

    The Shadow arrives to haunt Raoul.

    • Page 1 of 2
    • Next
    COR

    Powered by: Tapestry Opera | Translations by: proScenium Services Inc. | Site designed by: TK416

    Terms of Service | Privacy Policy

    en_CAEnglish
    fr_CAFrench en_CAEnglish