Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto – From November 9 to December 6, 2015, the Canadian Opera Company’s annual Glencore Ensemble Studio School Tour gives 16,000 elementary students across Ontario the chance to experience live opera performed by professional opera singers. This year’s tour features two engaging productions, Operation Superpower and The Bremen Town Musicians, which will capture the imaginations of young audience members with their superhero and fairy tale themes.
“We are incredibly proud that for over 30 years the COC has been able to introduce thousands of young people to opera through the company’s annual school tours,” says COC General Director Alexander Neef. “For many students, the Glencore Ensemble Studio School Tour is their first exposure to the operatic art form or live performance of any kind. It is our hope that these early experiences will help create a new generation of opera fans.”
Operation Superpower and The Bremen Town Musicians are both staged by rising star Canadian director and Ensemble Studio graduate Ashlie Corcoran, and feature sets and costumes by multi-Dora Award-winning designer Camellia Koo. A new production intended for students in Kindergarten to Grade 3, Operation Superpower is an interactive adventure that takes students on an unforgettable quest to discover their own inner superhero. The Bremen Town Musicians, based on a timeless tale by the Brothers Grimm, returns to the school tour this year after delighting audiences in 2014 and is ideal for students in Kindergarten to Grade 6.
Both operas will be presented to the public on Saturday, November 14, 2015 at the Joey and Toby Tanenbaum Opera Centre (227 Front St. E., Toronto). Before each performance, audience members are invited to participate in hands-on activities related to the operas. Tickets to each opera are $15 for adults and $10 for children, and may be purchased at coc.ca/OperaForFamilies or by calling COC Ticket Services at 416-363-8231.
Operation Superpower and The Bremen Town Musicians are each 45 minutes in length and are performed in English, making them easily accessible for younger audiences. Each performance concludes with a 15-minute question-and-answer period with the cast and crew. These annual touring productions feature the rising young stars of the COC Ensemble Studio, Canada’s premier training program for young opera professionals.
A complete 2015 Glencore Ensemble Studio School Tour schedule is available upon request. The COC welcomes media coverage of school performances. Photographers and writers must advise the COC’s media relations team 48 hours before the performance of their attendance at the in-school presentation. The COC must advise the school before any media can attend. This is a legal requirement.
Operation Superpower by Armand Ranjbaran, Tobias Greenhalgh and John Brancy
Operation Superpower was originally created by three graduates of The Juilliard School: Armand Ranjbaran, Tobias Greenhalgh and John Brancy. An interactive show from start to finish, the opera empowers students to identify their own strengths and character traits, or “superpowers,” and encourages them to nurture these powers and use them to help others. This new COC production will also travel to Sudbury for four performances.
Creative Team
Director: Ashlie Corcoran
Music Director: Jennifer Szeto
Set and Costume Designer: Camellia Koo
Stage Manager: Lesley Abarquez
Superhero #1: Jean-Philippe Fortier-Lazure
Superhero #2: Erica Iris
Superhero #3: Aaron Sheppard
The Bremen Town Musicians by Dean Burry
Based on a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm, The Bremen Town Musicians is by acclaimed Canadian composer Dean Burry and was originally commissioned by Ottawa’s Opera Lyra in 2009. The opera tells the story of a donkey, a dog, a cat and a rooster who embark on a journey to find freedom and start a new life after being mistreated by their owners. This COC production was last performed in 2014.
Creative Team
Director: Ashlie Corcoran
Associate Director: Alison Wong
Music Director: Hyejin Kwon
Set and Costume Designer: Camellia Koo
Stage Manager: Michael Barrs
Donkey: Iain MacNeil
Dog: Charlotte Burrage
Cat: Aviva Fortunata
Rooster: Andrew Haji/Charles Sy
Robber (and others): Jan Vaculik
Photo: Iain MacNeil as Donkey in The Bremen Town Musicians. ©2015 Chris Hutcheson.
2015-10-19
Toronto: Superheroes and fairy tales are in the COC's school opera tours this fall