COR
Operas
Act One
In the mountains of British Columbia in 1980, Irene and her son Jimmy pack up Irene’s beloved cabin, in preparation for moving her to the city for better care. Jimmy discovers an old-fashioned spinning top. Irene reveals it once belonged to Lillian Alling, a mysterious woman who disappeared into the wilderness more than fifty years ago....
In the mountains of British Columbia in 1980, Irene and her son Jimmy pack up Irene’s beloved cabin, in preparation for moving her to the city for better care. Jimmy discovers an old-fashioned spinning top. Irene reveals it once belonged to Lillian Alling, a mysterious woman who disappeared into the wilderness more than fifty years ago....
Composer: John Estacio
Librettist: John Murrell
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
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
A historical reenactment: Prime Minister Stephen Harper sets off to the Arctic to claim dominion over a particular ice floe. Mr. Valernikov, a Russian seal, mistakes Harper for a full-figured female seal and propositions him. After sorting out the misunderstanding, Valernikov claims Harper is in Russian waters. Harper, chagrined, tries to make h...
Composer: Norbert Palej
Librettist: Charles Hayter
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: 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
Partition in 1947 drives Naila’s family to the new country of Pakistan while her best friend Lolo must remain in India. In a child’s-eye view of this world event, the significant concerns for these two nine-year-olds are custody of a tin box with important valuables (“marbles and flowers and keys and rings”), and the care and feeding of a pet ra...
Composer: Elisabeth Mehl Greene
Librettist: Anusree Roy
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
Lost and Found is a sexy tango encounter between two lost travelers who don’t share a common language, but bond over the serendipitous lexical delight of learning that the word “mango” is gloriously, sensuously, mutually intelligible. Jubilant over their shared discovery, the man asks the woman about returning to his place posthaste. The travele...
Composer: Elisabeth Mehl Greene
Librettist: Sharon Bajer
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
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
COR
Excerpts
Sofiya goes to Asa to have her cards read for news of Oksana. The police will not treat Oksana's disappearance as crime, as she went with the men willingly. The cards say Oksana has been robbed of her soul.
Westerner Jackie and sherpa Pasang summit Everest without using oxygen cannisters. Soon their victory turns into a culture clash as they argue about their affair and the mountain, and slowly die of hypoxia.
In Greece at a bar, three women are held captive: Konstantin sends Lyubia with a businessman, Natalyia with the Immigration officer who cuts her, and Oksana is bought by Konstantin at auction. Konstantin then offers to the crowd a gang rape just as the police arrive to raid the bar. Instead, he escapes with Oksana and Natalyia.
Pavlo checks in with Sofyia and Yuri for news; Sofiya and Yuri argue & blame each other for letting Oksana go.
On the Albanian coast the women captives wait for the boat to Italy. Oksana is still defiant, trying to figure out an escape for herself and others. The boat and Konstantin arrive, and Oksana fails to convince him to free her and Natalyia.
Screaming, Oksana awakens from a nightmare; Father Alexander comes to her and she admits she may have let Natalyia drown to save herself. The Father counsels forgiveness of herself and others, but Oksana is not convinced that is possible.
Father Alexander and Oksana realize they share an attraction for each other, but Oksana is determined to go home and tell her parents what has happened. Konstantin phones the refuge to get Oksana back.
Pavlo reads Oksana's letter to her parents telling them she'll be home on November 8, her birthday. They are thrilled, and get carried away planning a party for her.
On the eve of Oksana's departure, Father Alexander has to go to pick up another woman in distress. He leaves his knife with Oksana because she is afraid Konstantin will show up. Lyuba and Oksana say their goodbyes.
As he tries to get into the train car, James explains to Sydney the elephant why it is best for her to leave the zoo for a new home.
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.
Sydney and James arrive in Tennessee, remembering their 22 years together. They say goodbye.
In a forest in Romania, Oksana discovers she has been tricked and is now in danger. Konstantin and his partners rape Oksana & Natalyia.
Though others are at first suspicious, Russian Konstantin convinces Ukranian teenagers Nataliya and Oksana to come work for him at a hotel in Romania for the summer.
The 1947 Partition of India forces two children to say goodbye. One departs for Pakistan, leaving her pet rabbit and childhood treasures with her friend.
Jackie realizes that her sherpa has died.
A child walks on a beach, in search of their parents.
Two travellers trying to communicate in English- which neither of them speaks well- find they are attracted to each other.
In her prime, Jackie admits she finds the pace of touring life dizzying. The sycophants at parties are starting to get to her.
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.
Before dying, Ama tells Lai Gwan of her father, gives her a wedding dress, and urges her to go to North America to find her father - but always remember Chinese traditions.
While claiming sovereignty of an ice floe, Harper meets a seal, then drowns as the floe melts.
Josephine wonders what discovery is worth.
Peary is unsure if they have reached the North pole.
An ill and delirious Peary reminisces about his polar days; his wife remembers their early love.
An alarm goes off, triggering a pat-down at airport security.
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