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    • FAQ – For Users
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    Canadian Opera Resource
    Canadian Opera Resource
    COR
    Operas
    The Call of the Light
    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.
    Composer: Iman Habibi
    Librettist: Bobby Theodore

    The Call of the Light
    The Call of the Light
    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)
    Otherworld
    Two miners are making their way into the heart of the mountain. There, they discover another world.
    Composer: Norbert Palej
    Librettist: Bobby Theodore

    Otherworld
    Otherworld
    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
    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
    Rocking Horse Winner
    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...
    Composer: Gareth Williams
    Librettist: Anna Chatterton

    Rocking Horse Winner
    My Mother’s Ring
    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...
    Composer: Stephen Andrew Taylor
    Librettist: Marcia Johnson

    My Mother’s Ring
    My Mother’s Ring
    My Eyes are Bright and Sparkly
    “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

    My Eyes are Bright and Sparkly
    Lullaby at the Shore
    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 ...
    Composer: Afarin Mansouri
    Librettist: Marcia Johnson

    Lullaby at the Shore
    Lullaby at the Shore
    Sanctuary Song
    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

    Sanctuary Song
    Sanctuary Song
    Hydrophis Expedition
    "My real voice is my cry: OPEN YOUR EYES."

    The Hydrophis is a Deep Sea Submergence Vehicle (DSV) that takes scientists on extreme-depth expeditions to research and explore. During a recent expedition, a rare jellyfish, Stygiomedus Gigantea, has been captured on film. It is rarely seen but thought to be one of the largest invertebrate predator...
    Composer: Benton Roark
    Librettist: Colleen Murphy

    Hydrophis Expedition
    Hotel Lobby
    Two exes, each with their new partner, run into each other in a hotel lobby. Unresolved tension and suppressed emotions resurface in an awkward encounter no one will forget.
    Composer: Gareth Williams
    Librettist: Maja Ardal

    Hotel Lobby
    Hotel Lobby
    The Perfect Screw
    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...
    Composer: Abigail Richardson
    Librettist: Alexis Diamond

    The Perfect Screw
    The Perfect Screw
    The Sermon
    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

    The Sermon
    The Sermon
    YES
    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

    YES
    YES
    TAP:EX Forbidden
    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...
    Composer: Afarin Mansouri
    Librettist: Donna-Michelle St. Bernard

    TAP:EX Forbidden
    The Translator
    Content warning: death, incarceration, interrogation, suicide, torture

    A translator at a secret prison for suspected terrorists witnesses extreme torture and death of detainees. She leaks the information to news broadcasters, but the government covers it up as a hoax. Her supervisor begs her to say nothing more about the things she has seen -...
    Composer: David Ogborn
    Librettist: Leanna Brodie

    The Translator
    The Translator
    The Waterfall (LIBLAB)
    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 ...
    Composer: Norbert Palej
    Librettist: Maja Ardal

    The Waterfall (LIBLAB)
    The Waterfall (LIBLAB)
    The Waterfall
    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...
    Composer: Norbert Palej
    Librettist: Maja Ardal

    The Waterfall
    The Waterfall
    COR
    Excerpts
    Rocking Horse Winner – Scene 9: The Money Gets Spent

    The predictions keep coming true, and the money keeps coming. The money gets spent, and Paul keeps riding. All the while the house is getting filled with finery. But it keeps singing. There must be more, but Paul’s luck falters as his energy wanes.

    My Mother’s Ring – My Mother’s Ring

    Paul is being interviewed about his missing parents. Is Paul a suspect? Is the interrogator a police officer or a psychiatrist? Who were the people who were in his parents' house when Paul returned from his trip? All is not as it seems.

    Pub Operas (The Sloans Project) – Country Song

    Two men break into their old haunt, bringing their recently deceased friend along for the ride. They pour three pints and pull up a country song on the jukebox. In turn, they reflect on what they’d tell him if he were still alive.

    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.

    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.

    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 ...

    Restoration – Restoration

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

    Rocking Horse Winner – Scene 10: Ava and Paul

    Paul begs his rocking horse for more luck for the Derby. Ava decides Paul’s been too agitated lately, and the distance between them grows wider. Ava leaves his room and bemoans Paul’s lack of understanding. She deserves luxury now and then, and Paul robs her of comfort. As if on cue, she hears Paul noisily riding his rocking horse again. Whil...

    Rocking Horse Winner – Scene 2: Ava and Paul talk about luck

    Paul is curious about why he and his mother don’t have a car, and Ava explains it’s because they’re poor. Paul again asks why that’s so, and Ava states it’s because his father has no luck. Paul announces that he is lucky.

    The Waterfall – Part 1

    On the first warm spring day in the mountains, Olaf, a rich farmer, proposes to Runa, a poor farmer, only to discover that she is in love with the bandit Davith. Angered by this, Olaf burns down Runa's farm, and Runa escapes up the mountain searching for Davith.

    Rocking Horse Winner – Scene 3: Paul rides his Rocking Horse

    Paul creeps upstairs and rides his rocking horse, asking it to take him to where luck is. He rides faster and faster and at the peak, shouts a name: Daffodil.

    Rocking Horse Winner – Scene 4: Paul tells Uncle Oscar his Secret

    Uncle Oscar enters, having heard the noise, and asks Paul what’s going on. Paul reveals his secret: the rocking horse is lucky, and tells him the names of race horses. Oscar calls in Paul’s caretaker, Bassett, who admits that Paul tells him the names of winning race horses. The three head to the races to prove it.

    The Sermon – The Sermon

    A Boy slowly falls asleep as a Priest gives sermon on purity, and words go from meaningful to jibberish.

    Rocking Horse Winner – Scene 11: Paul dies

    The last ride has left Paul gravely ill. Oscar and Bassett tell him they bet it all, and they’re set for life. Paul asks his mother if she’ll finally be happy- finally smile. She does, but as they leave his room to celebrate, Paul hears the house whisper. There must be more. Paul is desperate, and crawls to his rocking horse for more luck, mo...

    The Translator – The Translator

    2003: After leaking torture photos to the internet, American army translator Alessandra Jenson refuses to be hushed up, and live streams her suicide in protest.

    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 3: Fire

    Sydney is injured in a fire and sold to the zoo.

    Sanctuary Song – Scene 7: Reunion

    Sydney exits the train with James at the Sanctuary and sees her old friend Penny. They reunite lovingly. Sydney and James say their final goodbye.

    The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. – Act 3, Scene 5

    Sofiya and Yuri consult Asa when Oksana has not arrived as her lettered promised. They are interrupted by Pavlo with news that the priest from Italy is on the phone, and wants to talk to Oksana's parents.

    The Call of the Light – The Call of the Light

    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.

    The Shadow – Scene 3

    Raoul and Allegra go out on their date and order a feast. The bill arrives and Raoul cannot pay it. He tries to escape, but in the process stabs the waiter in the neck with a fork. Raoul and Allegra leave the restaurant, Allegra is unaware of what has just happened.

    The Perfect Screw – Act 2, Scene 2

    Ford and Phillips celebrate while Robertson is chagrined and depressed by his failure to get the contract. Amalia finally finds the screwdriver aisle in the store.

    The Perfect Screw – Act 3, Scene 4

    All sing the praises of the Robertson screwdriver.

    Elsewhereless – Scene 11: “We’re frightened”

    Beth and Andrew demand Antoine that they be allowed to leave. He will keep them there forever because he wants to see them all become heroes and redeem his initial banishment with Eugene. Antoine grabs the dead monkey and begins to dance with it. A bullet explodes through the window, hitting Antoine and he falls to the ground.

    Hook Up – Section 5, Scene 1: “Mindy’s Spiral”

    Mindy tries to understand if she was raped at the party. She can't make herself contact anyone, but seeks information online; Cindy slips a morning after pill under the door.

    Get Stuffed – Scene 6

    Zach's hunger-hallucination, Part 2: The Garden Trio (Apple, Carrot and Broccoli) treat Zach to a savoury song about vitamins.

    Get Stuffed – Scene 3

    The Cafeteria Worker sets out orderly rows of premade junk food in her spic-and-span kitchen. Just then, a trio of Chefs show up and toss all of the junk food out!

    TAP:EX Forbidden – Act 2, Scene 6: “With His Serenity (Falun Dufa)”

    A watcher looks over a group of faithful. His irritation turns to hatred as he accuses them of subversion. He claims to have proof hidden in some papers, but the Child has destroyed them. The Child proclaims “I know what to do,” and the tension between authority and people escalates. The Child begins taking pages and notes from all the surrou...

    TAP:EX Forbidden – Act 2, Scene 2: “White Key”

    Lucifer jangles an entrancing key in front of the Child and a young boy. This key promises to open the gates of heaven, but the boy has his own doubts about that. Nevertheless, he zips up his vest...

    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.

    Facing South – Scene 8: “Constellations”

    Henson helps Minik reach the land of the dead; Peary and Josephine argue about Peary's Inuit children.

    Facing South – Scene 6: “Meteorites (1897)”

    The explorers make a plan to bring the Inuit to America to make money.

    Hotel Lobby – Hotel Lobby

    Ex-lovers encounter each other in hotel lobby with their new partners and insult each other.

    Elsewhereless – Scene 7: “Good evening Malcolm”

    The action continues from scene 3. Beth and Andrew are waiting for their guest, Duncan, but Antoine arrives instead and cuts into the live monkey's skullcap without hesitation. He recounts how he almost wrote Malcolm a letter of recommendation.

    Elijah’s Kite – Act 2, Scene 1: “Miriam is so cool”

    Miriam becomes a bully and destroys Elijah's kite.

    Dark Star Requiem – “Requiem”

    A funereal narration accompanied by a choral requiem.

    Dark Star Requiem – “Cuba Libre”

    An ode to alcohol and cocktails that devolves into a listing of medications.

    Dark Star Requiem – “Theory, Prayers”

    Soloists list conspiracy theories about the origin and spread of HIV, while the chorus laughs in the background.

    Dark Star Requiem – “Polygyny”

    A group of people discuss the dynamics of Polygyny before the arrival of colonizers and missionaries.

    Dark Star Requiem – “Zero Six One”

    Soloists and chorus sing the numbers attributed to HIV-1 and HIV-2 by the International Comitte of Taxonomy of Viruses.

    Otherworld – Otherworld

    Miners crack open a mountain and two green children emerge. They sing, then the minors pray to them as they fall asleep.

    Hydrophis Expedition – Hydrophis Expedition (Close Your Eyes)

    In a deep sea submergence vehicle, a crew voyages in search of a sea creature whose gaze can cause burns to the eyes.

    Iron Road – Act 1, Scene 2: The Iron Road

    In Ottawa, Canadian politicians and moguls toast the launch of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. The Railway Foreman James Nichol encourages the workers until the impenetrable Rocky Mountains block their way. The Bookman comes to supply the cheap Chinese labour that will allow Nichol to conquer “The Great Divide.”

    Iron Road – Act 2, Prologue: The Dream

    Lai Gwan dreams of the conflicting desires of her mother, father, Nichol and herself.

    Iron Road – Act 2, Scene 2: The Cave

    In the explosion rubble, Lai Gwan and Nichol declare their love depsite Ama's warnings. Nichol dies as the workers rescue Lai Gwan and Manli, who declares his renewed love for his daughter.

    Iron Road – Act 2, Scene 5: Remember the Dead

    Manli and Lai Gwan decided to make a life together in Canada. As they collect and bury the bones of Chinese workers they remember all the dead, including Ama and Nichol.

    Lullaby at the Shore – Lullaby at the Shore

    A child walks on a beach, in search of their parents.

    M’dea Undone – Act 1, Scene 1

    Jason, M'dea, and the soldiers return from war to a celebratory crowd. Some do not trust the new foreigner, M'dea.

    M’dea Undone – Act 1, Scene 11: The Ballroom

    The party is about to announce Jason's candidacy. Jason and Dahlia dance together, oblivious to all the others. Enraged, M'dea smashes a glass wall, showering fragments over the party guests.

    M’dea Undone – Act 2, Scene 2: The President’s Office

    The President threatens M'dea with prison or the loss of her son if she doesn't do as he wants. He warns her not to cause trouble for Jason.

    My Eyes are Bright and Sparkly – My Eyes are Bright and Sparkly

    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.

    Noor Over Afghan – Scene 5

    Jaan remains alive. The tribal women suggest she should write to Noor to know what has happen and ease her mind.

    The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. – Prologue

    Sofiya and Yuri take their infant daughter Oksana to have her horoscope read by Asa, who predicts that "freedom invades her future."

    The Enslavement and Liberation of Oksana G. – Act 3, Scene 4

    Konstantin breaks into Oksana's room and tries to convince her to leave with him. When this fails, he tries to rape her again but she stabs him. He gets the knife and stabs her before he dies. Father Alexander returns and Oksana dies of her wound, dreaming of home.

    TAP:EX Augmented Opera – Section 4: “Inner Sanctum”

    In memory, Eurydice C's painter lover pushes her to allow him to paint her and make love to her, even though she is reluctant.

    Opposites Attract – Scene 8

    Two couples on a resort patio watch and comment on each other.

    COR

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