Book Your Tickets Today!

The Tapestry Songbook will  showcase bravura arias from the extensive library of Tapestry produced operas, performed by artists from the Tapestry New Work Studio Company and participants from Tapestry’s New Opera 101 Master Class/Workshop.

Tickets $25
Call (416) 537-6066 x 243
Ernest Balmer Studio – Distillery District

Performances By

Xin Wang, soprano
Scott Belluz, countertenor

We are pleased to welcome the following artists to the New Opera 101 Master Class and to open the floor for them to perform during the Tapestry Songbook concert on January 28th.

Julia Barber, mezzo
Vania Chan, soprano
Marta Herman, mezzo
Kristin Hoff, mezzo
Eliza Johnson, soprano
Jeremy Ludwig, baritone
Julie Ludwig, soprano
Maghan McPhee, soprano
Courtney V. Murias, mezzo
Joshua Wales, tenor
Jialiang Zhu, pianist

Don’t miss out!  Book your tickets today by calling us at (416) 537-6066 x 243

Order your Studio Pass today: call (416) 537-6066 x 222

Pub Operas canadian premiere will feature a presentation of new opera vignettes based on real-life stories in Glasgow’s historic Sloans Pub, produced in July for the 2011 Merchant City Festival. The Tapestry Songbook concert will showcase bravura arias from the extensive library of Tapestry produced operas, performed by artists from the Tapestry New Work Studio Company and participants from Tapestry’s New Opera 101 Master Class/Workshop. This season will also give you behind-the-scenes access to six new works in development at the New Opera Showcase and finally, after a thrilling workshop presentation of the first Act of Oksana G. last winter, is the next stage of this electrifying new opera by the Governor General’s Award winning playwright, Colleen Murphy and SOCAN award-winning composer, Aaron Gervais.

Energetic youth participated through the The Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club of Regent Park; it is difficult to inspire youth ranging in age from 5-9 to do anything, let alone write, stage, and sing in an opera.   However, through positive motivation, colorful costumes, and a little bit of patience, Color World premiered to great success!  Telling the adventure of the Rainbow family as they set off to Mars to rescue the President of Purple Planet from the evil Spider Monkey and his sidekick Neat Freak, Color World presented the issues of sharing, inner beauty, and the importance of keeping the environment clean.

At the same time, Tapestry ran the INside Opera program at St. Andrew’s United Church with youth from St. James Town’s City Hope Summer Camp.  A slightly older group ranging in age from 6-14 allowed for a more critical discussion on the people, places, and things found in their communities.  Special guest, and Tapestry’s Emeritus Director Martin Hunter, a longtime resident of Toronto, gave us insights about what life was like growing up in the area when communities such as St. James Town had yet to be built.

With this foundation, the youth unleashed their brilliant and wacky ideas, learning how to tell their story through music and song while working towards their final performance.  Performed in front of excited supporters, Escape from Wonderland told the story of a group of campers trapped in a secret prison at Wonderland.  A whirlwind of secret identities, talking pets, and uplifting power ballads, led to the importance of working as a group, no matter what species you are, and the importance of each generation in a community.

As we move forward with the 2011/12 season, we look forward to continuing our partnership with the Kiwanis Boys and Girls Club of Regent Park, St. James Town’s City Hope Summer Camp, and St. Andrew’s United Church.  We also congratulate all of this year’s INside Opera participants!

New Opera 101 is intended not only as a tool for the growth of artists but as a way for Tapestry to discover emerging talent.

Visit the New Opera 101 page for more information and to download the application form.

Photo by Meghan Hall

Writers
Maja Ardal
Hannah Moscovitch
Michael Pollard
Anusree Roy

Composers
Iman Habibi
Anna Höstman
Norbert Palej
Gareth Williams

Artist Pictured: Composer Gareth Williams in the 2009 International LibLab. Photo courtesy Marjorie Chan.

About the LibLab
For 15 years (!) Tapestry has been introducing writers and composers to the collaborative creation process with the annual LibLab, the beginning of the Tapestry Creative Development Programme and a launching point for operatic projects in Canada and beyond. It is also the model for the English National Opera Studio’s All In Opera, as well as Pacific Opera Victoria’s Composer-Librettist Workshop.

Here’s how it works: 4 composers and 4 writers are brought together for a 10-day period of collaborative discovery through the creation of sixteen 5-minute scenes, each of which are written, composed and performed within a 48 hour cycle that is repeated four times, enabling each writer to work with each composer. Guiding the composers and librettists throughout the process are dramaturg Michael P. Albano and musical dramaturg Wayne Strongman (Tapestry’s Managing Artistic Director). At the disposal of the creative teams for the 2010 LibLab will be some of Canada’s most respected performers, including soprano Carla Huhtanen, mezzo soprano Kimberly Barber, tenor Keith Klassen, baritone Peter McGillivray, as well collaborative pianist Christopher Foley.

Check them out below.

This week Tapestry’s Ernest Balmer Studio is home to Nabaz’Mob, a free visual arts event for Luminato.

A Nabaztag is a nine-inch-tall Wi-Fi-enabled “ambient device” in the shape of a stylized rabbit. Artist, programming engineer, and designer Antoine Schmitt and composer, film director, multimedia author, and sound designer Jean-Jacques Birgé bring together one hundred of these quirky little creatures – each equipped with flashing lights, moving ears and a built-in speaker – to perform a musical and choreographic score for three voices.

Click here for more info on Nabaz’Mob at Luminato or here for the full site.

Come by during one of these times:

Tuesday, June 15: 12:30PM and 6:00PM (special performances)

Wednesday, June 16: 12:30PM and 6:00PM (special performances)

Thursday, June 17: 12:30PM and 6:00PM (special performances)

Friday, June 18: 5:00PM – 10:00PM (drop-in viewings)

Saturday, June 19: 12:00PM – 8:00PM (drop-in viewings)

Sunday, June 20: 12:00PM – 6:00PM (drop-in viewings)

The Ernest Balmer Studio at Tapestry is located in the Distillery Historic District
55 Mill St. Bldg. 58. Studio 315
Toronto, ON

Dark Star Requiem ran for a whirlwind 2 night run at  Koerner Hall over the weekend, to open Luminato, and we’ve gotten some great feedback from local and international press and blogosphere!

Here is a quick round up of some reviews.

From the Toronto Star:

John Terauds calls Dark Star Requiem “Artistically adventurous and intellectually provocative” and “exactly the kind of project that the Luminato festival wants to be about”, comparing it to “the best executions of new music you can find anywhere in the world.”
Click here for the full review.

John also lauds the “marvel” that is Koerner Hall in a subsequent Sound Mind blog post, and writes:

“Just as the Royal Conservatory of Music did earlier this year with its inaugural opera production, Tapestry New Opera Works shows us how a concert-hall stage, with its wrap-around balconies, can effectively work as a theatrical stage as well. Dark Star Requiem director Tom Diamond and his creative team have used every curve and wooden texture around the stage to enhance the clever lighting and video projections. In fact, it was probably a more effective staging than would have been possible on a conventional proscenium stage.

From Arts & Culture Maven:

Arts & Culture Maven calls Dark Star Requiem “Striking, beautiful, and wonderfully weird.”
Click here for the full review.

From La Scena Musicale:

Joseph K. So writes “For anyone who cares about this 20th century tragedy, it should not be missed”.
Click here for the full review.

From The Baltimore Sun:

Tim Smith calls Dark Star Requiem “an ambitious work with a noble aim” which “provides a valuable jolt out of complacency.”
Click here for the full review.

From Positive Lite

Bob Leahy calls the staging of Dark Star Requiem “astonishing”, “captivating”, and “all handled with great dignity”.
Read the full review here.

Will update as more reviews are posted.

Artist Pictured: Neema Bickersteth and Peter McGillivray (turned) in the world premiere of Dark Star Requiem.
Photo © Brian Mosoff

The Toronto Star ran a lovely interview last week with Marcus Nance, bass-baritone soloist for Dark Star Requiem.

John Terauds writes:

“Even in music, it is people who help us connect with art. And it’s hard to imagine a more charismatic collection of performers than the one Tapestry New Opera Works has assembled for the world premiere of Dark Star Requiem on Friday and Saturday at Koerner Hall.”

and calls Marcus’ return to Tapestry (for the first time since Elsewhereless by Atom Egoyan & Rodney Sharman in 1999)

“a lucky break for the Luminato festival, as well as Toronto opera lovers.”

Click here for the full interview with Marcus.