Avertissement de contenu: meurtre

La nuit, sur un quai au bord d'un lac. Des bougies ont été soigneusement disposées sur le côté du quai pour éclairer un chemin. Adèle se tient au bout d'un quai, tenant une urne qui contient les cendres de son mari. Elle enlève le couvercle de l'urne et se met à répandre les cendres sur l'eau.

Her son Theo joins her and asks what she’s...

Avertissement de contenu : SIDA, décès, maladie

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...

La Démocratie gît morte dans un cercueil, pleurée par deux citoyens...

« Elle repose en silence dans un cercueil de glace, les bras liés par un drapeau, les yeux cousus ensemble, la bouche fermée par un fil… »

Mais lentement, la Démocratie relève sa faible tête et supplie les deux citoyens de la maintenir en vie en exécutant une tâche difficile mais nécessaire.

Avertissement de contenu : maladie, décès, VIH/SIDA

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.

Avertissement de contenu : génocide, colonialisme, mort, violence armée, mort d'un enfant, violence contre les animaux

« Rien n’est aussi réconfortant que la captivité ».

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 ...

Elvet est frappé de chagrin par la mort de son nouveau-né, qui n’a pas encore de nom.

Avertissement de contenu : maladie, mort, colonisation

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...

Charlie et Robert se tiennent au-dessus des toilettes, examinant le caca de Charlie et réfléchissant à leurs êtres chers disparus.

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...

Avertissement de contenu: maladie, perte de mémoire

Une mère et son fils soupent ensemble. La mère souffre d'Alzheimer, et son fils a de plus en plus de mal à faire face à la situation.

Avertissement de contenu : racisme, colonialisme, violence, mort

En Chine dans les années 1880, Lai Gwan, une jeune femme appauvrie, est à l'aube d'un énorme changement. Sa mère mourante la presse de respecter et d'honorer la mémoire de son père, Manli, dont la disparition au Nouveau Monde les hante tous les deux.

Armed with the hope that she will find her father aliv...

Avertissement de contenu : maladie en phase terminale

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...

Avertissement de contenu : mort, meurtre, mention d’abus sexuels d’enfants

Lisa a douze ans et fréquente une école de filles où elle est la meilleure amie d’Annie et de Caroline. Ensemble, elles forment un groupe appelé les Teacher’s Angels, composé de filles qui obtiennent des notes parfaites à leurs examens.

When Lisa scores a nine out of ten on a math test, she is kicke...

Avertissement de contenu: meurtre

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...

Avertissement de contenu: xénophobie, emigration

Un jeune enfant se réveille seul sur la plage. Il cherche sa mère. Le bruit des vagues étouffe les voix des gens qui s’inquiètent des nouveaux arrivants et de l’effet qu’ils auront sur leur société. D’autres voix prennent le relais : d’autres enfants disent que sa place est avec eux maintenant.

Inspired by ...

Avertissement de contenu : mort, meurtre, suicide, xénophobie

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...

Avertissement de contenu : mort

Piégé par une avalanche et enseveli de neige, un homme ne pense qu'à sa femme et à trouver une issue. Pendant ce temps, la femme est remplie de suspicion. Elle pense qu'il poursuit une relation amoureuse et que son silence en est la preuve. Entre les deux, la Mort chante les façons dont elle provoque le désastre.

Avertissement de contenu : violence, mort, meurtre

Basée sur un film des années 1960 du même nom, cette histoire suit deux médecins, James et Sam, alors qu’une dispute devient mortelle.

Avertissement de contenu: mort, capacitisme

Le vieux Merk sent son âge. Il va bientôt mourir. Il essaie de préparer Pauline, sa fille adulte handicapée mentale, à l'inévitable. De quoi, le cas échéant, se souviendra-t-elle de lui ? De la maison qu'ils partagent ? De leur vie commune ? Se souviendra-t-elle de l'amour de son père ? Se souviendra-t-elle de l'étreinte de la maison ? Est-ce qu'elle comprendra...

Punk and operatic virtuosity collide in Tapestry’s third installment of the Tapestry Explorations (TAP:EX) series. Metallurgy is a collaboration between Jonah Falco and Mike Haliechuk of F*cked Up, the Polaris Prize-winning punk provocateurs, and two of Canada’s most masterful and versatile opera singers, mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó and tenor ...

Avertissement de contenu : mort

Juste avant d’atteindre le sommet du Mont Everest, sur la crête sud du sommet, Jackie et son partenaire Pasang célèbrent le fait qu’elle est la première femme à atteindre le sommet sans oxygène. Puis quelque chose change. Serait-ce Mère Everest qui punit les alpinistes ?

Avertissement de contenu : meurtre, violence, maladie mentale

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...

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...

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.

Avertissement de contenu : captivité, traite des personnes, travail du sexe, violence sexuelle, violence, mort

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 ...

Avertissement de contenu : meurtre, mort, cadavre

Le compositeur Gareth Williams et le librettiste David James Brock ont créé un opéra-promenade in situ inspiré du plus ancien pub de Glasgow, Sloans. Le public se déplace dans ce pub vieux de 250 ans et découvre une série de scènes racontant des histoires d’amour, de perte, de vengeance et de pardon.

Avertissement de contenu : maladie, décès

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 sees Paul’s attempts to engage as fussy and considers motherhood an obligation. She remains distant, trapped in a m...

Avertissement de contenu: mort, travail du sexe

After the tragic death of her first child, a baby daughter, Isabelle has run away to another town in Spain to escape the grief, leaving her husband Hector with a double loss. They are a working-class couple. The scene opens with Isabelle expecting a client in a seedy bordello. Hector has found her. He entreats...

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...

Avertissement de contenu: violence coloniale, colonialisme, mort, maladie

1828, baie Notre Dame, sur la côte nord-est de Terre-Neuve. William Cormack, explorateur et anthropologue, a récemment créé le Beothuk Institute : un organisme destiné à prévenir l'extinction des premiers habitants de l'île. Après avoir appris qu'un Béothuk...

Avertissement de contenu : feu, mort

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...

Une femme et son fils adulte quittent leur maison. Il est l'heure de se coucher, mais le garçon insiste pour qu'ils jouent une dernière fois à son jeu préféré. A contrecœur, la mère acquiesce. Ils inventent des moyens de tuer une femme anonyme.

When the game is over, the boy asks what would happen if they killed the woman “for real,” if it would make his father love them ag...

Avertissement de contenu : antisémitisme, génocide, Holocauste, infanticide, meurtre, nazis, violence sexuelle, travail du sexe, violence, guerre

Still the Night tells the fictional story of two Jewish Polish cousins, both named Bryna, who have escaped from the Nazis and joined the Partisans. Along the way they are hung on crosses, raped, almost shot and forced to tu...

Tard dans la nuit, Allie se fait hanter par sa meilleure amie décédée, Karen.

Avertissement de contenu : violence armée, mort, fusillade de masse

Dans la Salle bleue de l'Assemblée nationale du Québec, Denis Lortie tue et blesse des personnes avec une mitraillette pour protester contre la souveraineté du Québec.

Avertissement de contenu: abus sexuel d'un enfant, inceste, meutre, mort

Judith et Daniel, frère et sœur séparés depuis longtemps, sont réunis par le décès de leur père. Après tout ce temps passé, il semblerait que Judith n’ait pas changé du tout. Daniel tue sa sœur alors qu'elle veut reprendre leur relation sexuelle d'enfance.

Alors qu'elles sont à la recherche d'un nouveau compagnon, la reine des fourmis amazoniennes et l'un de ses sujets se retrouvent attaqués.

The Queen wears low cut, tight-fitting army fatigues that accentuate her shapely thorax and abdomen, and a pair of black calf-high combat boots. The Queen also has two large antennae growing out of her head because she is an ...

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...

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...

Avertissement de contenu : mort, guerre

Pendant une guerre, deux femmes se parlent au téléphone. Elles paniquent en regardant l'aîné de la ville défiler dans la rue, télégramme en main. Le message porte toujours une nouvelle horrible : la mort d'un fils. Les deux femmes espèrent presque à contrecœur qu'une autre famille recevra le télégramme. N'importe qui, sauf elles.

En vérité, le télégra...

Avertissment de contenu: mort, emprisonnement, interrogatoire, 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 -...

Avertissement de contenu : harcèlement sexuel, violence, incendie

Une terre du nord, la fin de l'hiver. Une avant-aube froide et sombre au bord d’une montagne ; à travers la vallée rugit une puissante cascade. Dans cette vallée, il y a deux fermes, une pauvre - appartenant à Runa, une femme célibataire - et une riche, appartenant à Olaf, qui souhaite que Runa soit son épouse.

Olaf proposes to Runa...

Avertissement de contenu: mort, meutre, noyade

Deux soeurs sont dehors, près de la rivière, en train de parler. Une sœur décrit le garçon qu'elle aime. L'autre sœur admet qu'elle est enceinte de lui. La jalousie est une émotion mortelle.

Avertissement de contenu : descriptions d'esclavage, de violence, de violence sexuelle, de mort

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, ...

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 ...

Avertissement de contenu : décès, 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...

Avertissement de contenu : erreur de genre, mentions d'agression sexuelle et de violence implicite

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...

Avertissement de contenu : mort, infanticide, meurtre

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 ...

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...

"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...

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 ...

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.

Avertissement de contenu : maladie, décès

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...

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...

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...

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...

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.

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.

Act One, Scene One
Autumn, 1915


In the park of a small town in the Crowsnest Pass, family and friends celebrate the wedding of Filumena Costanzo to Charlie Lassandro. As festivities proceed, Filumena seems withdrawn, stunned by her new husband’s brusqueness. Charlie has given her a new “Canadian” name, Florence, which she clearly rejects. ...

Anna and Michael are successful young filmmakers from Alberta, married in life and in art. Their latest project is a movie about Martin Frobisher, Elizabethan pirate and explorer who made three perilous journeys to the Arctic in the 1570s.  History says that Frobisher failed in his attempt to find the fabled Northwest Passage, a quick route thro...