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  • About COR
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    • FAQ – For Users
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Canadian Opera Resource
Canadian Opera Resource
COR
Operas
Little Miss All Canadian
Content warning: murder

Two women, Eunice Rose and Samantha, sit in the audience during the semifinals of a junior “Miss All-Canadian” Pageant. Eunice’s daughter is on stage doing a dance routine Eunice choreographed herself. She holds a diet coke and eats chocolate while eying her daughter and criticizing her performance. Samantha, meanwhile...
Composer: Lembit Beecher
Librettist: Liza Balkan

Little Miss All Canadian
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
What is She?
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.
Composer: John Harris
Librettist: Anna Chatterton

What is She?
What is She?
The Two Graces
The night before her birthday, an aging Queen Elizabeth I catches an intruder in her boudoir. It turns out to be none other than her arch-nemesis Grace O’Malley, Irish pirate and chieftain, come to reclaim her seized ship and her trampled rights. A comedic opera about power and politics, destiny and desire, and how hard it is to be a woman at th...
Composer: Sean Ferguson
Librettist: Alexis Diamond

The Two Graces
The Two Graces
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 Rape of Artemisia
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.
Composer: Ivan Barbotin
Librettist: Hannah Moscovitch

The Rape of Artemisia
The Rape of Artemisia
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
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
Medusa’s Children
Content warning: misgendering, mentions of sexual assault, and implied violence

Chrysaor and Pegasus, children of the gorgon Medusa, have been living with their aunts Euryale and Stheno. They receive a message from their dead mother telling the story of her assault and murder by their father Poseidon. Rejecting his mother’s family, Chrysaor g...
Composer: Colin McMahon
Librettist: Charlie Petch

Medusa’s Children
M’dea Undone
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...
Composer: John Harris
Librettist: Marjorie Chan

M’dea Undone
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
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

Iron Road
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...
Composer: Ka Nin Chan
Librettist: Mark Brownell

Iron Road
Stitch
From the abuse of the sweatshop to the fantasy of costume and the empowerment of sewing-it-yourself, the sewing machine has been a force for liberation and exploitation since its invention in the 19th century. Hemmed in by the language of sewing and the inexorable rhythm of the machine, three women fight to find space for imagination ...
Composer: Juliet Palmer
Librettist: Anna Chatterton

Stitch
Stitch
Voice-Box
Composer: Juliet Palmer
Librettist: Anna Chatterton

Voice-Box
Voice-Box
The Man Who Married Himself

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

The Man Who Married Himself
The Man Who Married Himself
Silence
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

Silence
COR
Excerpts
La Maupin – V. The Duel

Maupin challenges a rude nobleman to a duel.

The Rape of Artemisia – The Rape of Artemisia

In pain after being raped by Tassi, Artemisia tries to understand what just happened, while Tassi justifies himself.

La Maupin – II. Introduction

La Maupin introduces herself to the audience, sharing some of the gossip that has been spread about her.

La Maupin – VI. The Last Love

Maupin remembers her romance with the Countess de Florensac.

Medusa’s Aria

Medusa sings from beyond the grave, reaching out to her children and her two sisters. She tells the story of her rape by the god Poseidon and murder by the hero Perseus. 

What is She? – What is She?

An intersex 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.

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.

The Two Graces – The Two Graces

Irish pirate Chieftain Grace O'Malley sneaks into the bedroom of Queen Elizabeth I of England, and convinces the Queen to give her back her ship and free her lover. In return Grace will attend the Queen's birthday celebration and cause a sensation - which delights Liz.

The Two Graces – “Oh, to belong to the sea” (aria)

Queen Liz imagines what it would be like to be free.

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.

M’dea Undone – Act 1, Scene 2

At a party, the Corporal mocks Jason for needing M'dea to help him win and for bringing her home.

Little Miss All Canadian – Little Miss All Canadian

Two mothers in the audience for a beauty pageant: while Eunice's daughter performs, Samantha reads an article about a murdered 11-year-old girl.

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 – “Disease” – voice and cello

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

Iron Road – Act 2, Scene 1: The Fight

As Manli and Lai Gwan argue about their situation, Lai Gwan tells of Ama's death, which crushes Manli. He decides to set the next explosive charge himself. Nichol and Lai Gwan recognise their love and follow Manli into the tunnel.

Iron Road – Act 2, Prologue: The Dream

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

Hook Up – Section 1, Scene 2: “The Rules of the Dorm”

Dorm RAs lay down the laws of drinking and sex, which are incredibly different for the boys vs. the girls.

TAP:EX Forbidden – Act 2, Scene 4: “Dubai know how to Party”

A distraught woman is trying to report her sexual assault to a policeman. She admits she’s had some alcohol. Instead of pursuing justice, the policeman arrests her for illegal possession of alcohol. The Child witnesses all of it.

TAP:EX Forbidden – Act 1, Scene 2: “With His Eyes (Male Gaze)”

An interrogator turns his lurid eyes on an imprisoned female activist. Purposefully misunderstanding her movements as seduction, he convinces himself of something horrid.

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.

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