COR
Operas
Content warning: political indoctrination, interrogation
Winston Smith is interrogated by a member of The Party about some of his journal entries. In this scene, Smith struggles to differentiate his reality from the reality of The Party.
Winston Smith is interrogated by a member of The Party about some of his journal entries. In this scene, Smith struggles to differentiate his reality from the reality of The Party.
Composer: Chris Thornborrow
Librettist: Nicolas Billon
Winston Smith helps Julia after she trips. This seemingly mundane interaction upends Smith’s world when he reads the note Julia slips into his hand. The words carry so much promise- and so much danger, in the context of an authoritarian government.
Composer: Chris Thornborrow
Librettist: Nicolas Billon
Rain and Simone are in the kitchen, prepping dinner. Things are weirdly tense. Suddenly, Rain snaps and accuses Simone of killing his ex-girlfriend, Sally. Of course, Rain doesn’t really have proof of this (other than the time Simone killed a Yorkie for biting her - but they’re an aggressive breed). Simone tries to placate Rain. She’s always bee...
Composer: Chris Thornborrow
Librettist: David Yee
A security screening at an airport takes on a somewhat more intimate frame; written verbatim from actual security language.
Composer: Benton Roark
Librettist: Daniel Solon
A summer evening. A writer is experiencing a bit of writer’s block as she is sitting in an outdoor cafe in an historic area of town. She looks around for inspiration and happens to see a man looking at the stars with binoculars. Clouds block his view, and when he looks around he catches her glance and smiles. Is he really there? Or is he just in...
Composer: Ivan Barbotin
Librettist: Liza Balkan
Content warning: murder
Nighttime on a dock on a lake. Tea lights have been carefully arranged on the side of the dock to illuminate a path. Adele stands at the end of a dock holding an urn that contains her husband’s ashes. She takes the lid off the urn, and begins to sprinkle ashes on the water.
Her son Theo joins her and asks what she’s...
Nighttime on a dock on a lake. Tea lights have been carefully arranged on the side of the dock to illuminate a path. Adele stands at the end of a dock holding an urn that contains her husband’s ashes. She takes the lid off the urn, and begins to sprinkle ashes on the water.
Her son Theo joins her and asks what she’s...
Composer: Iman Habibi
Librettist: Charles Hayter
Content warning: AIDS, death, illness
The interior of a thumping, vibrating gay nightclub with obligatory disco ball and coloured strobe lights. A middle-aged gentleman is sitting at the bar, back to the audience, lost in his thoughts and seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. The truth is he isn't used to going to clubs, or hasn't since th...
The interior of a thumping, vibrating gay nightclub with obligatory disco ball and coloured strobe lights. A middle-aged gentleman is sitting at the bar, back to the audience, lost in his thoughts and seemingly oblivious to his surroundings. The truth is he isn't used to going to clubs, or hasn't since th...
Composer: Andrew Staniland
Librettist: Jill Battson
The Don Valley. 1880, Toronto.
Join George Taylor and the travelling Gilbert & Sullivan theatrical troupe The Vagabonds in a twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of the birth of his papermill. Unbeknownst to him, Jeremiah - the leader of a local small-potatoes bandit group called The Rift Rafters - just discovered a long-hidden secret abo...
Join George Taylor and the travelling Gilbert & Sullivan theatrical troupe The Vagabonds in a twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of the birth of his papermill. Unbeknownst to him, Jeremiah - the leader of a local small-potatoes bandit group called The Rift Rafters - just discovered a long-hidden secret abo...
Composer: Benton Roark
Librettist: Julie Tepperman
A box office worker longs to be on the stage. When the lead of the production is injured, she begs for her chance in the spotlight.
Composer: Jack Perla
Librettist: Ken Gass
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
Content warning: war
In a shack surrounded by barren fields, a dying father and his son drink their last bowl of water. They need oil for the machines that will keep them alive and purify their water. A truck rolls past with a huge barrel of oil in the back. The son flags it down, only to discover the person driving the truck is a monstrous c...
In a shack surrounded by barren fields, a dying father and his son drink their last bowl of water. They need oil for the machines that will keep them alive and purify their water. A truck rolls past with a huge barrel of oil in the back. The son flags it down, only to discover the person driving the truck is a monstrous c...
Composer: Christiaan Venter
Librettist: Norman Yeung
Democracy lies dead in a coffin, mourned by two citizens...
"She lies silently in a coffin of ice, arms bound by a flag, eyes sewn together, mouth wired shut...”
But slowly Democracy raises her weak head and begs the two citizens to keep her alive by executing a difficult but necessary task.
"She lies silently in a coffin of ice, arms bound by a flag, eyes sewn together, mouth wired shut...”
But slowly Democracy raises her weak head and begs the two citizens to keep her alive by executing a difficult but necessary task.
Composer: August Murphy-King
Librettist: Colleen Murphy
Each of two brother bulls attempts to convince the other to enter the barn. Neither wants to go, knowing their lives are at stake. The two flatter, dare, and challenge one another, until a race finally settles it: first one to the barn wins. Sort of.
Composer: Justine F. Chen
Librettist: David James Brock
Content warning: illness, death, HIV/AIDS
Dark Star Requiem is a poetic chronicle of the 25 years (as of 2010) of HIV-AIDS, reflecting the many faces of the disease and those affected by the pandemic.
Dark Star Requiem is a poetic chronicle of the 25 years (as of 2010) of HIV-AIDS, reflecting the many faces of the disease and those affected by the pandemic.
Composer: Andrew Staniland
Librettist: Jill Battson
In a schoolyard full of kids, nine-year-old Elijah still feels alone. He’s had a lot of trouble from Big Billy Brett, who takes every opportunity to bully and tease Elijah and his friends. For comfort, Elijah brings his favourite kite to school. One day, they meet a strong new girl called Miriam. Miriam isn’t afraid of Billy and stands up to him...
Composer: James Rolfe
Librettist: Camyar Chai
Content warning: genocide, colonialism, death, gun violence, death of a child, violence against animals
“Nothing is as comforting as captivity.”
Beth, a young diplomat, and her husband Andrew are stationed at a Canadian Embassy in Africa. They are troubled by news of political upheaval, forced migrations and indiscriminate slaughter. They ...
“Nothing is as comforting as captivity.”
Beth, a young diplomat, and her husband Andrew are stationed at a Canadian Embassy in Africa. They are troubled by news of political upheaval, forced migrations and indiscriminate slaughter. They ...
Composer: Rodney Sharman
Librettist: Atom Egoyan
A son gets caught sleeping with his father's girlfriend, Eva. A three-way fight erupts, the son professing his love for Eva and vice versa, while the father warns they’ll betray each other soon enough. They leave, and the father grieves the loss of them both.
Composer: Stephen Andrew Taylor
Librettist: Anna Chatterton
Content warning: illness, death, colonialism
Facing South is inspired by the life story of American Arctic explorer, Rear Admiral Robert Edwin Peary, and his contested discovery of the North Pole in 1909. The opera takes place in the inner landscape of Peary’s mind during the last hours of his life in February 1920, as he lies dying of pernic...
Facing South is inspired by the life story of American Arctic explorer, Rear Admiral Robert Edwin Peary, and his contested discovery of the North Pole in 1909. The opera takes place in the inner landscape of Peary’s mind during the last hours of his life in February 1920, as he lies dying of pernic...
Composer: Linda Catlin Smith
Librettist: Don Hannah
Charlie and Robert stand over a toilet examining Charlie's poo and reflecting on lost loved ones.
Composer: Rene Orth
Librettist: Daniel Solon
Content warning: sexual violence, incarceration, religious abuse, homophobia, conversion therapy
Through several vignettes, Forbidden examines the idea of rules and taboos. Do they protect people, or do they control them? Are they of any value, or do they simply exploit the powerless?
A young girl, punished with repetition of religious tex...
Through several vignettes, Forbidden examines the idea of rules and taboos. Do they protect people, or do they control them? Are they of any value, or do they simply exploit the powerless?
A young girl, punished with repetition of religious tex...
Composer: Afarin Mansouri
Librettist: Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
Get Stuffed is a comic opera about serious decisions, featuring vocalizing vegetables and a big helping of other opinionated edible characters, all competing to influence one child's daily diet. Written for 5 singing actors and 2 musicians, this opera is intended for family audiences and touring to schools with a focus on encouraging youth to ma...
Composer: Richard Payne
Librettist: Alexis Diamond
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
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...
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
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...
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
At 4 a.m., a composer stands looking out the window, his tools nearby. Across town, a librettist is doing the same. Both are just slightly panicking about their latest work: an opera about a dog named Harley. This work is a meditation on the personal doubt, collegial suspicion, and sudden inspiration that can keep artists awake until the wee hours.
Composer: Iman Habibi
Librettist: Maja Ardal
Content warning: racism, colonialism, violence, death
In 1880’s China, Lai Gwan, a young impoverished woman, stands on the brink of momentous change. Her dying mother urges her to respect and honour the memory of her father, Manli, whose disappearance to the New World haunts them both.
Armed with the hope that she will find her father aliv...
In 1880’s China, Lai Gwan, a young impoverished woman, stands on the brink of momentous change. Her dying mother urges her to respect and honour the memory of her father, Manli, whose disappearance to the New World haunts them both.
Armed with the hope that she will find her father aliv...
Composer: Ka Nin Chan
Librettist: Mark Brownell
Content warning: mental illness
Simone has been battling undiagnosed postpartum depression, and is losing. She decides to leave, packing her bags, and her husband Marc begs her to explain. As their son sleeps in the next room, she leaves, and Marc doesn’t try to stop her.
Simone has been battling undiagnosed postpartum depression, and is losing. She decides to leave, packing her bags, and her husband Marc begs her to explain. As their son sleeps in the next room, she leaves, and Marc doesn’t try to stop her.
Composer: Darren J
Librettist: Sharon Bajer
Content warning: xenophobia, migration
A young child wakes up alone on the beach. They call for their mother. The sound of the waves muffles the voices of people who worry about newcomers and the effect that they will have on their society. Other voices take over - other children declaring that the child belongs with them now.
Inspired by ...
A young child wakes up alone on the beach. They call for their mother. The sound of the waves muffles the voices of people who worry about newcomers and the effect that they will have on their society. Other voices take over - other children declaring that the child belongs with them now.
Inspired by ...
Composer: Afarin Mansouri
Librettist: Marcia Johnson
Content warning: death, murder, suicide, xenophobia
Jason, an army captain and now war-hero, is returning home after years of war and an uncertain future. His interpreter and lover M’dea and their son Chase accompany him to a new life in the West. Jason begins a political career, working alongside the President and Dahlia, the President’s bea...
Jason, an army captain and now war-hero, is returning home after years of war and an uncertain future. His interpreter and lover M’dea and their son Chase accompany him to a new life in the West. Jason begins a political career, working alongside the President and Dahlia, the President’s bea...
Composer: John Harris
Librettist: Marjorie Chan
Content warning: death
Trapped and encased by an avalanche, a man thinks only of his wife and finding a way out. Meanwhile, his wife is filled with suspicion. She thinks he’s having an affair, and his silence is the proof. Between the two, Death sings of the ways it brings about disaster.
Trapped and encased by an avalanche, a man thinks only of his wife and finding a way out. Meanwhile, his wife is filled with suspicion. She thinks he’s having an affair, and his silence is the proof. Between the two, Death sings of the ways it brings about disaster.
Composer: Norbert Palej
Librettist: David James Brock
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.
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
Content warning: death
Just below the summit of Mount Everest on the south summit ridge, Jackie and her partner Pasang are celebrating that she is the first woman to reach the summit without oxygen. Then something changes. Could it be Mother Everest punishing the climbers?
Just below the summit of Mount Everest on the south summit ridge, Jackie and her partner Pasang are celebrating that she is the first woman to reach the summit without oxygen. Then something changes. Could it be Mother Everest punishing the climbers?
Composer: Abigail Richardson
Librettist: Marjorie Chan
In a video game, two mice are navigating through a house when suddenly they encounter a giant squirrel.
Composer: Rene Orth
Librettist: Lila Palmer
“Hate your stupid earrings, hate your ugly shoes.” Stephanie is getting ready to go out on a date, but she begins to unravel when she checks herself in the mirror. The voices she hears in her head are variations of her own critical voice. She sees herself the way she imagines her date will see her. Nothing is right – everything is wrong. It is a...
Composer: Rene Orth
Librettist: Colleen Murphy
Content warning: murder, violence, mental illness
The story begins with a distressed Paul being interviewed about his missing parents. It switches to two weeks earlier with Harold and Julia in the airport after sending him off. Julia worries that something is wrong with their son. Harold is sure that he'll be back to his old self after the tr...
The story begins with a distressed Paul being interviewed about his missing parents. It switches to two weeks earlier with Harold and Julia in the airport after sending him off. Julia worries that something is wrong with their son. Harold is sure that he'll be back to his old self after the tr...
Composer: Stephen Andrew Taylor
Librettist: Marcia Johnson
A ‘Hitchcock-style thriller’ for baritone and soprano, Nigredo Hotel is “the story of a neurosurgeon, a man of science, who has lost his soul. One night he thinks he has hit a child on the road and hides out in a decrepit, Hitchcockian motel run by a monstrous concierge called Sophie. The terrifying crone — his anima — locks him into his room an...
Composer: Nic Gotham
Librettist: Ann-Marie MacDonald
Noor Over Afghan is set in Afghanistan, and tells the story of two young Afghani sisters, Noor and Jaan. But Jaan is dying, and begs Noor to take her place in the marriage and have her child. By the time the groom finds out, Jaan will have died. They swap places, Noor disguised by the veil.
Composer: Christiaan Venter
Librettist: Anusree Roy
Content warning: captivity, sex trafficking, sex work, sexual violence, violence, death
The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. is a fictional dramatic opera built on extensive factual research. Set in Ukraine in 1997, it is the story of Oksana, a young woman lured into the world of sex trafficking by a Russian recruiter, Konstantin, who ...
The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. is a fictional dramatic opera built on extensive factual research. Set in Ukraine in 1997, it is the story of Oksana, a young woman lured into the world of sex trafficking by a Russian recruiter, Konstantin, who ...
Composer: Aaron Gervais
Librettist: Colleen Murphy
In a country torn by war, a woman works as a bell-ringer. There used to be many more in the tower, but one by one the bells were taken: metal for the war-machine. A man climbs the tower after hearing her play the one remaining bell. What seems at first a meeting of two lovers turns dark as the man tries to claim the bell. They need the metal for...
Composer: Stephen Andrew Taylor
Librettist: Marjorie Chan
Across eight brief vignettes, couples experience small moments of frustration, miscommunication, and attraction.
Composer: Iman Habibi
Librettist: Phoebe Tsang
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 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
The piece opens in the middle of a reverse custody battle, with each party demanding the other take their son, Simon. Carla believes her son will grow up dysfunctional without a father, and Peter claims he’ll do nothing but cry for her. Interspersed with their fighting is the occasional instruction to Simon, indicating he’s in the room, a witn...
Composer: Gareth Williams
Librettist: Anna Chatterton
Content warning: illness, death
Rocking Horse Winner primarily explores the relationship between Paul, a young adult, and his emotionally distant mother, Ava.
Paul is driven to bridge the relationship with his mother, but Ava s...
Rocking Horse Winner primarily explores the relationship between Paul, a young adult, and his emotionally distant mother, Ava.
Paul is driven to bridge the relationship with his mother, but Ava s...
Composer: Gareth Williams
Librettist: Anna Chatterton
An opera for all ages. Sydney, an Asian elephant poached at a young age from the jungles of Indonesia, recalls her remarkable life in captivity, far from home, as her keeper of 22 years leads her on a journey towards sanctuary in the hills of Tennessee. A dynamic weaving of opera and dance unearths friendships lost and found and restores a stole...
Composer: Abigail Richardson
Librettist: Marjorie Chan
Content warning: colonial violence, colonialsm, death, illness
1828, Notre Dame Bay, on the northeast shore of Newfoundland. William Cormack, an explorer and anthropologist, has recently created the Beothuk Institute: an organization designed to prevent the extinction of the original inhabitants of the island. After learning that a Beothuk wo...
1828, Notre Dame Bay, on the northeast shore of Newfoundland. William Cormack, an explorer and anthropologist, has recently created the Beothuk Institute: an organization designed to prevent the extinction of the original inhabitants of the island. After learning that a Beothuk wo...
Composer: Dean Burry
Librettist: Yvette Nolan
Content warning: fire, death
Janna and her grandpa are in Toronto’s distillery district. Before she has to leave, Janna asks him to tell the story of how he and Grandma met. Both were fighting a fire, and met as part of the bucket brigade. Janna proudly reminds him he saved everyone that night, but this isn’t true. Grandpa confesses that a wo...
Janna and her grandpa are in Toronto’s distillery district. Before she has to leave, Janna asks him to tell the story of how he and Grandma met. Both were fighting a fire, and met as part of the bucket brigade. Janna proudly reminds him he saved everyone that night, but this isn’t true. Grandpa confesses that a wo...
Composer: Lembit Beecher
Librettist: Katherine Koller
Content warning: birth
A nuclear family adrift in the atomic age. Since Prometheus stole fire from the gods, we have flirted with the dangerous beauty of science. In this cartoon fable, a father protects his family at any cost.
Thomas and Claire fall madly in love at a fundraising party. Thomas has decided to “find a wife, get a life,” whi...
A nuclear family adrift in the atomic age. Since Prometheus stole fire from the gods, we have flirted with the dangerous beauty of science. In this cartoon fable, a father protects his family at any cost.
Thomas and Claire fall madly in love at a fundraising party. Thomas has decided to “find a wife, get a life,” whi...
Composer: Juliet Palmer
Librettist: Julie Salverson
A sister and brother go through the belongings of their recently departed mother and find an old snow globe from their youth. They both really want to keep it. A bitter fight ensues and the sister inadvertently blurts out a very painful secret.
Composer: Ian Cusson
Librettist: Colleen Murphy
Content warning: gun violence, death, mass shooting
In the Blue Room of the Quebec National Assembly, Denis Lortie kills and wounds people with a submachine gun as a protest against Quebec sovereignty.
In the Blue Room of the Quebec National Assembly, Denis Lortie kills and wounds people with a submachine gun as a protest against Quebec sovereignty.
Composer: Iman Habibi
Librettist: Bobby Theodore
A farmer lovingly takes care of his brown cow, not knowing he and the cow have met before in past lives, once in the 18th century and again in the 20th.
Composer: Katya Pine
Librettist: Sharon Bajer
Content warning: death, murder, violence
This opera explores the interior realm of a woman’s response to a crisis. The Laurels plays with audience assumptions and expectations; it is well into the piece before we realize the stranger is not the person he appears to be. While it is important that Laurel’s understanding of the Stranger is consi...
This opera explores the interior realm of a woman’s response to a crisis. The Laurels plays with audience assumptions and expectations; it is well into the piece before we realize the stranger is not the person he appears to be. While it is important that Laurel’s understanding of the Stranger is consi...
Composer: Jeffrey Ryan
Librettist: Michael Lewis MacLennan
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
Content warning: mental illness, alcohol use, incarceration due to mental illness
Is it the clothes that make a man, or is it something other than?
Based on the satirical Nikolai Gogol story of the same name, The Overcoat centres on Akakiy Akakiyevich, a diligent man no one likes, who works the numbers best he can. But he can barely pay th...
Is it the clothes that make a man, or is it something other than?
Based on the satirical Nikolai Gogol story of the same name, The Overcoat centres on Akakiy Akakiyevich, a diligent man no one likes, who works the numbers best he can. But he can barely pay th...
Composer: James Rolfe
Librettist: Morris Panych
Two sock puppets long for something more than their dreary lives. They bump into each other on the street, and it doesn’t take long for them to recognize they’re each other’s perfect match!
Composer: Anthony Young
Librettist: Krista Dalby
Nominated for a 2009 Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Musical/Opera, this 40-minute tragi-comedy about creative integrity, autonomy, and the right fit is an allegorical tale that dismantles the ironies of capitalism; a parody of cross-border relations; a romance.
Due to the all-powerful Ford selecting the American Phillips screw for...
Due to the all-powerful Ford selecting the American Phillips screw for...
Composer: Abigail Richardson
Librettist: Alexis Diamond
Content warning: sexual violence
Based on the testimony of the 17th-century painter Artemisia Gentileschi on her rapist and instructor Agostino Tassi, we are given a snapshot of violation, confusion, and the oppression of women.
Based on the testimony of the 17th-century painter Artemisia Gentileschi on her rapist and instructor Agostino Tassi, we are given a snapshot of violation, confusion, and the oppression of women.
Composer: Ivan Barbotin
Librettist: Hannah Moscovitch
A boy is sitting through the longest sermon ever on the most boring subject ever: purity. He didn’t sleep well the night before, and so convinces himself that he can close his eyes during the sermon without much trouble. But it doesn’t take long for the priest’s longwinded comparison of venial sins to tablecloth stations to blur and distort as t...
Composer: John Harris
Librettist: Bernard MacLaverty
Barcelona, 1900. Against the backdrop of Gaudi’s surrealist Parc Guell, Raoul, a humble postman, falls for the beautiful Allegra, whose father is a wealthy aristocrat on his mail route. To impress Allegra, Raoul disguises himself as Hernando, a “wealthy suitor,” and borrows money from the local mafia to impress the girl. Raoul goes deeply into d...
Composer: Omar Daniel
Librettist: Alex Poch-Goldin
Content warning: sexual harassment, violence, fire
A northern land, the end of winter. A cold, dusky pre-dawn on the edge of a mountain; across the valley roars a mighty waterfall. In this valley there are two farms, one poor - owned by Runa, a single woman - and one rich, owned by Olaf, who wishes Runa for his bride.
Olaf proposes to Runa...
A northern land, the end of winter. A cold, dusky pre-dawn on the edge of a mountain; across the valley roars a mighty waterfall. In this valley there are two farms, one poor - owned by Runa, a single woman - and one rich, owned by Olaf, who wishes Runa for his bride.
Olaf proposes to Runa...
Composer: Norbert Palej
Librettist: Maja Ardal
Content warning: black-out drinking
A night out celebrating midterms takes a turn when Jamie doesn't return.
A night out celebrating midterms takes a turn when Jamie doesn't return.
Composer: Darren Fung
Librettist: Dave Deveau
Content warning: misgendering, intersex discrimination
A meditation on the discrimination intersex athletes face from their peers. A woman wins a gold medal, but her struggles to get there mean nothing to the organization and the other athletes. She’s disqualified and shamed.
A meditation on the discrimination intersex athletes face from their peers. A woman wins a gold medal, but her struggles to get there mean nothing to the organization and the other athletes. She’s disqualified and shamed.
Composer: John Harris
Librettist: Anna Chatterton
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
Content warning: descriptions of enslavement, violence, sexual violence, death
A father will do anything to save his daughter. Of the Sea follows the story of Maduka, his daughter Binyelum, and fellow Africans thrown overboard during the Middle Passage who now populate mythical underwater kingdoms that span the ocean floor. Amidst the waves, ...
A father will do anything to save his daughter. Of the Sea follows the story of Maduka, his daughter Binyelum, and fellow Africans thrown overboard during the Middle Passage who now populate mythical underwater kingdoms that span the ocean floor. Amidst the waves, ...
Composer: Ian Cusson
Librettist: Kanika Ambrose
The fictional tech company R.U.R., founded by couple Helena and Dom, dominates the A.I. software market and powers the now-ubiquitous androids that serve their human owners.
As Dom becomes more focused on growing R.U.R’s profits, Helena’s creative research leads to an unexpected technological breakthrough that pits the couples’ visions square...
As Dom becomes more focused on growing R.U.R’s profits, Helena’s creative research leads to an unexpected technological breakthrough that pits the couples’ visions square...
Composer: Nicole Lizée
Librettist: Nicolas Billon
A young, extraordinarily talented musician is striving for perfection in her art. Her path to greatness? A magnificent wall.
Bursting with the compulsion to reach the top, she invokes Canadian icon, classical pianist Glenn Gould to guide her towards dizzying heights – but the path isn’t easy. Each brick represents her art, her rigour, and her...
Bursting with the compulsion to reach the top, she invokes Canadian icon, classical pianist Glenn Gould to guide her towards dizzying heights – but the path isn’t easy. Each brick represents her art, her rigour, and her...
Composer: Brian Current
Librettist: Liza Balkan
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...
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
Content warning: mention of murder, violence, poison
Four Victorian women sit down for a most unusual tea time. The women have two things in common: their dislike of the other women and of their husbands. Each woman refuses to drink tea for one reason or another while brainstorming ideas such as poison, prison, bee-stings or drowning. But who...
Four Victorian women sit down for a most unusual tea time. The women have two things in common: their dislike of the other women and of their husbands. Each woman refuses to drink tea for one reason or another while brainstorming ideas such as poison, prison, bee-stings or drowning. But who...
Composer: Glenn James
Librettist: Sandy Pool
A worker ruminates on the terrifying power of flight as he loads bags. Three passengers board and discover they’re sitting beside each other. During the pre-departure safety demonstration, a flight attendant longs for an escape from her mundane life and job. The three passengers think of their own isolation and lo...
Composer: Brian Current
Librettist: Anton Piatigorsky
Content warning: death, infanticide, murder
A rumble of hooves. A family is fleeing, but the baby is slowing them down. The mother is forced to choose between her husband and her child. She chooses the husband and tries to get the baby to sleep before letting it go over a waterfall. At the last minute, the baby awakes, and the mother’s grief ...
A rumble of hooves. A family is fleeing, but the baby is slowing them down. The mother is forced to choose between her husband and her child. She chooses the husband and tries to get the baby to sleep before letting it go over a waterfall. At the last minute, the baby awakes, and the mother’s grief ...
Composer: Norbert Palej
Librettist: Maja Ardal
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
"Drawn from an Irish saga of the Red Branch Knights of Ulster in the druidic era, the story tells of the doom of the ruthless Conochar, King of Ullah (Ulster), and the tragic death of Naisi and his brothers, the Princes of Ullah, as a result of the rivalry between Conochar and Naisi for the love of the foundling Deirdre."
- Carl Morey, The Ca...
- Carl Morey, The Ca...
Composer: Healey Willan
Librettist: John Coulter
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 ...
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
Content warning: war, death, gun violence
A young mother with her infant daughter is threatened by an armed military officer escorting prisoners. She wants to wait for her husband, but the officer tells her he is probably already dead. The woman sings a lament to her baby, then pleads with the officer to take her baby and raise her as his own.
A young mother with her infant daughter is threatened by an armed military officer escorting prisoners. She wants to wait for her husband, but the officer tells her he is probably already dead. The woman sings a lament to her baby, then pleads with the officer to take her baby and raise her as his own.
Composer: Jana Skarecky
Librettist: Anusree Roy
Content warning: infidelity
An ambitious politician gleefully shares with his mistress the news that his party may soon be back in power. The mistress shares her own news: she is pregnant.
An ambitious politician gleefully shares with his mistress the news that his party may soon be back in power. The mistress shares her own news: she is pregnant.
Composer: Jana Skarecky
Librettist: Norman Yeung
Mark stands with his friends Maryanne and Bob, ready to play a game of baseball. They see their other friend, Kenny, and Carley, Mark's ex-girlfriend, in the distance. Kenny proposes to Carley, and runs to the group to announce triumphantly "She said yes!" Inspired by Maryanne's encouragement, Mark calls his estranged son, who lives far away wit...
Composer: Jana Skarecky
Librettist: Sheldon Rosen
A collection of dramatic musical settings of poetry by twelve different Canadian writers. The poems range from serious to humorous, and touch on subjects including the beauty of nature, to ecology and urban animals, to language and poetry itself.
Composer: Ana Sokolović
Content warning: ableism, institutionalization, medical abuse, mental illness, sanism, sexual violence
10 Days in a Madhouse is a psychological opera that plays with notions of madness, inspired by the life of Nellie Bly, a trailblazing reporter who in 1887 faked madness in order to be admitted to Blackwell’s Asylum for the Insane and report ...
10 Days in a Madhouse is a psychological opera that plays with notions of madness, inspired by the life of Nellie Bly, a trailblazing reporter who in 1887 faked madness in order to be admitted to Blackwell’s Asylum for the Insane and report ...
Composer: Rene Orth
Librettist: Hannah Moscovitch
Content warning: PTSD, violence, war
I Have No Stories to Tell You mines the aftereffects of war through the story of a soldier’s return home from an extended assignment on the battlefield. Written as a companion piece to Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, the opera explores war as a catalyst for changed identity through th...
I Have No Stories to Tell You mines the aftereffects of war through the story of a soldier’s return home from an extended assignment on the battlefield. Written as a companion piece to Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda, the opera explores war as a catalyst for changed identity through th...
Composer: Lembit Beecher
Librettist: Hannah Moscovitch
Content warning: child neglect, death, migration, strong language, trauma, war
When Sophia’s mother dies, Sophia confronts half-forgotten traumas from her childhood. Sophia and her sister Emma grew up in a war torn country. The two young girls cope with and escape their grim circumstances – the adult world of war, death and displacement – thr...
When Sophia’s mother dies, Sophia confronts half-forgotten traumas from her childhood. Sophia and her sister Emma grew up in a war torn country. The two young girls cope with and escape their grim circumstances – the adult world of war, death and displacement – thr...
Composer: Lembit Beecher
Librettist: Hannah Moscovitch
We open on an Alzheimer’s hallucination. Martha, a woman in her seventies, sees a surreal and exaggerated world in which strangers torment her and weather invades her kitchen. Martha remains in the grips of her hallucination until the presence of Martha’s daughter, Winnie, rips her out of it. Suddenly, shockingly, Martha i...
Composer: Lembit Beecher
Librettist: Hannah Moscovitch
A multicultural retelling of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
"The jealous king Leontes’ wife, Hermione, is accused of committing adultery with his best friend, Polixenes, and Hermione is jailed. Soon after, Leontes and Hermione’s young son dies before she gives birth to a daughter Perdita who is smuggled out of the country after Hermione’s s...
"The jealous king Leontes’ wife, Hermione, is accused of committing adultery with his best friend, Polixenes, and Hermione is jailed. Soon after, Leontes and Hermione’s young son dies before she gives birth to a daughter Perdita who is smuggled out of the country after Hermione’s s...
Composer: Juliet Palmer
Unwilling to marry a woman, a man fashions a lover from his own left side. He’s enraptured by her perfect beauty – a mirror of his own – until he discovers that this new woman longs for freedom and wildly desires another.
Composer: Juliet Palmer
Librettist: Anna Chatterton
“Made in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Italy, China, India…the U.S.A.” Who sews our clothes, who makes our shoes? Where do they live? How much are they paid? What would you dream of, sewing sleeves all day? Is life better in the village you left behind? Sweat is a kaleidoscope of characters and stories collected from factories around the world. Plunging...
Composer: Juliet Palmer
Librettist: Anna Chatterton
The opera is a poetic love story following resistance against a fictional state that oppresses lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people. It centres on the rebellious Solana and her beloved Lilah, who is now a wife and mother; together, they fight for a new future, even as their secret romance is threatened by Lilah’s unpredictable h...
Composer: Leslie Uyeda
Librettist: Rachel Rose
A not-so-pure Maiden is sent to marry a not-so-manly Lord, who is advised by a not-so-celibate Priest, and protected by a not-so-insensitive Thug in an England ruled by a King who won’t get out of bed. Based on the award winning play by Moira Buffini.
Composer: Leslie Uyeda
Naomi’s Road, which details a young Japanese-Canadian girl’s experiences as her family is interned during World War II, is a coming-of-age story that celebrates the power of hope, cultural understanding and compassion. This compelling and emotional story is taken from one of our country’s most painful and complex social periods, a time that for ...
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Excerpts
Winston Smith is interrogated by a member of The Party about some of his journal entries. In this scene, Smith struggles to differentiate his reality from the reality of The Party.
Winston Smith helps Julia after she trips. This seemingly mundane interaction upends Smith’s world when he reads the note Julia slips into his hand.
A playful duet between romantic partners that offers a comedic take on a sinister secret.
An alarm goes off, triggering a pat-down at airport security.
A man and woman meet for the first time on a summer's evening.
A nighttime confrontation between a mother and son. The son accuses her of having an affair with his uncle, and killing his father. He’s found a doctor in Chinatown who will be able to prove his father was poisoned. The mother claims she did it to end his pain.
The interior of a thumping, vibrating gay nightclub. A middle-aged gentleman sips his drink and turns to watch the dancers on the dance floor. Under the disco ball a young man, stripped to the waist, is dancing with abandon. The young man approaches and establishes immediate physical contact, which is uncomfortable. The older man needs more p...
An intimate encounter between two gay men.
Two male lovers come to terms with the fact that one of them is dying of AIDS.
George celebrates the 25th anniversary of his paper mill with an important announcement. Lily is introduced. Freddy gets some bad news.
George has a proposal for Lily. Henri has a confession. The Great Recorder Smackdown happens, and Lily is caught in the crossfire. Lily sends them all away without answering.
The Vagabond Theatrical Troupe presents! Jeremiah gives George an ultimatum but has to prove himself first in more ways than one, and all is wrapped up in the finest paper package.
A box office worker longs to be on the stage. When the lead of the production is injured, she begs for her chance in the spotlight.
A famous blues singer is warming up in her dressing room before the show. Her partner, Jack, enters and a fight begins.
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