Stage Door News
Stage Door News
TORONTO, ON…Tapestry invites Toronto opera-lovers with a penchant for new and innovative productions to a workshop presentation of Ruth, a new one-act choral opera in development by composer Jeffrey Ryan and librettist Michael Lewis MacLennan. Ruth tells the story of a woman struggling to build a new and better life in a new land. In the operatic tradition of telling a historical story to illuminate the present, Ruth forces us to ask: How differently would Ruth be treated today? The workshop performance of Ruth, presented in collaboration with Wilfrid Laurier University’s Faculty of Music, will take place on Saturday, May 4, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ernest Balmer Studio in the Distillery Historic District (9 Trinity Street, Studio 316).
Jeffrey Ryan has emerged as one of Canada's leading composers. A five-time JUNO nominee, his varied catalogue ranges from opera, art song, and choral music to chamber and orchestral works, including commissions for the Cleveland Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Arditti Quartet, Tokyo String Quartet, and Tapestry. He is an alumnus of Wilfrid Laurier’s composition department. Vancouver-born Michael Lewis MacLennan now divides his time between Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles working as a playwright, screenwriter and TV producer. With six published plays, he is a two-time finalist for Canada’s Governor General’s Award. Michael has written over 50 television episodes and produced over 150. His current TV credits include consulting producer for CBS/CTV series Flashpoint and Executive Producer and Co-Creator for Global TV’s Bomb Girls. A previous collaboration for the Ryan/MacLennan team was the Tapestry-commissioned chamber opera The Laurels, which premiered at the Opera America Conference in 2002, and was subsequently produced in Winnipeg, Vancouver and Toronto as well as recorded by the CBC.
Canadian mezzo-soprano Kimberly Barber leads the young cast as Naomi, the mother of Ruth’s recently killed husband. Ms. Barber is known for the expressive power, purity and refinement of her voice and the intensity of her physical portrayals. Her eclectic and varied career combines standard repertoire sung in some of the world’s great opera houses, but also contemporary and baroque works with smaller, experimental companies. Ms. Barber’s operatic repertoire encompasses more than 35 roles, many of them from twentieth-century or lesser-known works, and her concert repertoire stems from every genre.
Laurier’s Vocal Intensive offers the 17 young singers enrolled in the program the opportunity to be part of developing a new operatic work for the stage. This is the second collaboration/outreach by Tapestry to Wilfrid Laurier University’s renowned Music Faculty. Opera Laurier previously presented a showcase of short works drawn from Tapestry’s extensive archive of original operatic works.
“Tapestry’s role in providing an entrance into contemporary Canadian operas has never been more important,” says Tapestry Artistic Director Wayne Strongman. “There are few opportunities for opera singers in training, our stars of the future, to engage with composers, writers and established interpreters in the development of new work.”
Ms. Barber is joined by Tom Diamond as Dramaturg for the workshop, with pianist Emily Hamper at the keyboard and Wayne Strongman as Music Director. This innovative collaborative initiative has received generous funding from Laurier’s Special Initiatives Fund.
Glen Carruthers, Dean of Laurier’s Faculty of Music, believes it is absolutely necessary to establish connections between developing artists and the professional musical community. “This important collaboration between Wilfrid Laurier’s Faculty of Music and Tapestry advances the work of Canadian composers and librettists, and provides opportunity for our students to work alongside leading lights in the field of new opera. This is on-the-job training that benefits everyone.”
Tickets to the workshop presentation of Ruth are $29 (including HST) and may be purchased online at tapestryopera.com or by calling 416-537-6066 ext. 225.
2013-04-22
Toronto: Tapestry New Opera presents a workshop production of Michael Lewis MacLennan’s “Ruth” May 4