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  • About COR
    • About COR
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    • FAQ – For Users
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Canadian Opera Resource
Canadian Opera Resource
COR
Operas
Pub Operas (The Sloans Project)
Content warning: murder, death, corpse

Composer Gareth Williams and librettist David James Brock created a site-specific promenade opera inspired by Glasgow's oldest pub, Sloans. The audience moves through the 250-year-old pub and encounters a series of scenes telling stories of love, loss, revenge and forgiveness.
Composer: Gareth Williams
Librettist: David James Brock

Pub Operas (The Sloans Project)
Pub Operas (The Sloans Project)
The Midnight Court
"Bentley’s libretto is based on Frank O’Connor’s translation of the celebrated 1780 Gaelic poem by Brian Merriman (1749-1805), a work surprisingly contemporary in its frank discussion of women’s sexual needs and how men fail to meet them.  In Bentley’s adaptation Merriman himself becomes the opera’s central figure who falls asleep on a midsummer...
Composer: Ana Sokolović
Librettist: Paul Bentley

Glimmer
Glimmer attempts to address the urgent matters and seemingly irreconcilable coexisting realities at the core of queer existence through multiple frames and lenses. Taking full advantage of an all-queer cast of performers, with whom the piece was developed organically through a series of discussions and workshops, this work intertwines the autobi...
Composer: Thierry Tidrow
Librettist: Thierry Tidrow

Glimmer
Molly’s Veil
Content warning: illness, death

Charlotte works to prepare a Thanksgiving meal while her sister Margaret, who is ill, rests. When Margaret drops some china, the sisters are forced to confront the fact that Margaret's illness is likely terminal, and they will soon be separated. They sing a heartfelt duet, vowing to say hello to a new closeness...
Composer: Jana Skarecky
Librettist: Sharon Bajer

Molly’s Veil
Sooner Than Later
Content warning: gun violence, strong language, terminal illness, attempted assisted suicide

A father and son argue in a dark alley.  The father, sick with a tumour "the size of a fig" in his brain, begs his son to end his life.  When the gun they're using fails and the son panics, the father offers comfort and encouragement in the form of a ...
Composer: Cecilia Livingston
Librettist: David Yee

Sooner Than Later
Sooner Than Later
Before the Last Meter
A 12 minute long opera, it is set during the 1996 Olympics and Paralympics held in Atlanta.  A Paralympic athlete with a disability, and a person of color made homeless by the construction of Olympic sites, meet by chance in Piedmont Park in front of a strange statue.  “Before the Last Meter” explores and humanizes the themes of ambition, home, ...
Composer: Saman Shahi
Librettist: Isabella Dawis

Before the Last Meter
Pomegranate
On a fateful school trip to the ruins of Pompeii, the fantasies of smitten teenagers Suzie and Cass are ignited. They are transported from 1977 to 79 AD, where they discover romantic freedom in the looming shadow of Mount Vesuvius – but not for long. The timeline shifts to 1981 and the Fly by Night, a Toronto lesbian bar, in the aftermath of the...
Composer: Kye Marshall
Librettist: Amanda Hale

Pomegranate
Dragon’s Tale
Content warning: death, suicide

Dragon’s Tale is the story of a young Chinese-Canadian woman (Xiao Lian) and her ailing father, both living in Toronto. Xiao Lian wakes up in the ancient past and witnesses the last days of one of China’s greatest poets, Qu Yuan. In doing so, she begins to understand her father and herself as she returns to a c...
Composer: Ka Nin Chan
Librettist: Mark Brownell

Dragon’s Tale
Where is Ava
Chloe and Eddie are in the throes of love when they’re interrupted by Matt, Chloe’s athlete ex-husband. Matt asks where their daughter Ava is, and criticizes Chloe for abandoning Ava for some man.
Composer: Ivan Barbotin
Librettist: Katherine Koller

Where is Ava
Where is Ava
The Leaving
As the waves crash against the shore, two religious brothers go for a walk. The conversation is dominated by the older brother, and heavy with implication. The younger one announces his wish to leave the order, and is asked if his father’s death has something to do with this decision. The younger brother is furious; he could have spoken to his f...
Composer: Stephen Andrew Taylor
Librettist: Bernard MacLaverty

The Leaving
The Leaving
The Golden Boy
The scene is divided into two sections: a tense argument between mother and child, and a tender aria for the mother as she finally reveals a painful truth to her son about the prolonged absence of his father.
Composer: Darren J
Librettist: Anusree Roy

The Golden Boy
The Golden Boy
See Saw
Content warning: suicidal thoughts

A comedy. Trish laments her breakup with Ralph. She is desolate and considers suicide. Gina scolds Trish for over-dramatization and urges her to move on in her life. She succeeds in getting Trish to agree to go out for a drink at a bar nearby. They are intercepted by Ralph (on his bicycle) carrying a box of ...
Composer: Andrew Staniland
Librettist: Anna Chatterton

See Saw
See Saw
Bessie
A famous blues singer is warming up in her dressing room before the show. Her partner, Jack, enters and a fight begins.
Composer: Chris Thornborrow
Librettist: Morris Panych

Bessie
Bessie
Opposites Attract
Across eight brief vignettes, couples experience small moments of frustration, miscommunication, and attraction.
Composer: Iman Habibi
Librettist: Phoebe Tsang

Opposites Attract
Opposites Attract
Guitar
Singer-songwriter Josie works on a song in her shared Portland apartment, a girl-at-the-guitar on the cusp of leaving for New York City and a long-anticipated big break. Though her luggage is packed and she’s almost out the door, her boyfriend interjects with objections—he’ll miss her. Josie’s reassurances, dreams of him visiting her on the East...
Composer: Elisabeth Mehl Greene
Librettist: Norman Yeung

Guitar
Man With the X-Ray Eyes
Content warning: violence, death, murder

Based on a 1960s film by the same name, this story follows two doctors, James and Sam, when an argument turns deadly.
Composer: Chris Thornborrow
Librettist: Morris Panych

Man With the X-Ray Eyes
Man With the X-Ray Eyes
Hook Up
Content warning: explicit language, sexual violence, sexual content, alcohol, blackout drinking

Hook Up tells the story of three friends who have made it to university, each with their own unique desires and inner conflicts. Mindy is just excited to keep her high school friend circle together and finally get some privacy with her boyfriend. T...
Composer: Chris Thornborrow
Librettist: Julie Tepperman

Hook Up
In This World, George is Heartbroken
Content warning: verbal abuse

George and Martha have three very different versions of a difficult conversation over breakfast. The first two represent what happens in George’s mind when his wife insults him over breakfast. One is violent and reactionary, with George screaming and verbally abusing Martha. The other is more considered, as Georg...
Composer: Lembit Beecher
Librettist: Hannah Moscovitch

In This World, George is Heartbroken
COR
Excerpts
Hook Up – Section 2, Scene 5: “Time Out” (duet)

Mindy confronts Tyler about his “study partner” and accuses him of lying to her, which Tyler denies. Mindy makes a sudden decision: she wants a time-out, and thinks they should see other people. Tyler leaves, confused and devastated.

Bessie – Bessie

A famous blues singer is warming up in her dressing room before the show. Her partner, Jack, enters and a fight begins.

Guitar – Guitar

A couple fights as a woman leaves to pursue her dream.

Hook Up – Section 1, Scene 3: “Meet Up: The First Night”

Cindy is annoyed she’s not roommates with Mindy; the audience knows Mindy has secretly asked for her own room. Tyler wants to go a party, but Mindy convinces him to “Netflix and chill.”

Hook Up – Section 2, Scene 2: “Feminism 101: Gender, Justice & Change”

A kick-ass professor guides the girls through a "Feminism 101" presentation, while Cindy and Mindy’s relationship reaches a boiling point. Cindy judges Mindy’s homebody approach to university life; Mindy judges Cindy’s seemingly only interest in “hooking up” at parties.

Dragon’s Tale – Dragon’s Tale – Scene 4

Xiao Lian is transported back to the ancient royal court, where she witnesses the majestic entrance of King Huai of Chu. Qu Yuan is at the peak of his power but is soon outfoxed by rival minister Zhang Yi. Qu Yuan is cast down and banished by his beloved king.

Dragon’s Tale – Dragon’s Tale – Scene 1

A young Chinese/Canadian woman (Xiao Lian) faces a difficult choice: Honour her family’s traditional past or embrace a more modern future. Her father dwells on the memory of his deceased wife and honours her by performing the Qingming funeral tradition. Meanwhile, Xiao Lian’s two friends want her to get out and be more social. Her ...

Hook Up – Section 2, Scene 2A: “In the Hall”

Cindy and Mindy are kicked out of class for causing a disturbance. Mindy comes clean about having asked for a private room behind Cindy's back. The two reconcile and agree to hang out (without Tyler) that night.

Where is Ava – Where is Ava

Chloe and Eddie are in the throes of love when they’re interrupted by Matt, Chloe’s athlete ex-husband. Matt asks where their daughter Ava is, and criticizes Chloe for abandoning Ava for a man.

Man With the X-Ray Eyes – Man with the X-Ray Eyes

James, an eye doctor wanting to keep his new x-ray vision, argues with his colleague Sam and accidentally kills him, as his assistant Diane watches.

The Leaving – The Leaving

A young religous brother tells an older brother that he is planning to leave the order. The older brother advises caution and obedience.

Hook Up – Section 4, Scene 3: “Putting the Pieces Together”

Someone has posted pictures of Mindy at the party with different men. Mindy, Cindy, and Tyler argue about who is to blame. Cindy and Tyler depart angry, leaving Mindy sitting alone on her bed.

The Golden Boy – The Golden Boy

After a painful argument, a mother tells her son the truth of his father's absence and tries to comfort him.

In This World, George is Heartbroken – In This World, George is Heartbroken

George and his wife Martha have three very different versions of a difficult conversation over breakfast.

Pub Operas (The Sloans Project) – Young Love

On the wedding day of the young couple from the first scene, the now-sober old man arrives with a surprise: his wife. And they want their ring back.

Opposites Attract – Scene 3

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

Opposites Attract – Scene 1

A couple argue: Keith is trying to interrupt Erica's rant.

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