Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Toronto, ON - October 1, 2015: Toronto-based independent opera company Metro Youth Opera has rebranded to MYOpera, following five successful seasons under its previous name. “This was the ideal time to make a change,” says Founder and Artistic Director Kate Applin. “We wanted to make it clear that MYOpera is here to serve the future of opera, engaging new audiences in this art form and creating a viable platform for emerging artists to kickstart their professional careers. We want to take this classical art form and let new artists and audiences mould and transform it. We’re excited that our new brand, MYOpera, speaks to this sense of ownership”. MYOpera has also updated their mission to Empowering the artists and audiences of today to create the opera of tomorrow.
In keeping with this new direction, MYOpera has chosen their most political production to-date, The Rape of Lucretia. Composed by Benjamin Britten as his first chamber opera, The Rape of Lucretia is a dark and tragic story based on the life of a Roman housewife. This sombre story resonates clearly in today’s conversations about consent and gendered violence. MYOpera’s new Stage Director, Anna Theodosakis, will bring this work to life along with Music Director Natasha Fransblow from April 29 - May 1, 2016. For the third year in a row, MYOpera will present in the Aki Studio at Daniels Spectrum, strengthening existing ties with the Regent Park community.
MYOpera was founded in 2010 by Kate Applin as an opera company in which talented emerging artists could advance their professional careers by performing complete roles and being compensated for it. MYOpera is designed to create viable development opportunities for young artists in all fields related to the world of opera: singers, stage directors, music directors, and more. Since its launch, MYOpera has mounted productions of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Donizetti's The Elixir of Love, a Triple Bill of Stravinsky's Mavra, Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona, and Vallerand's Le Magicien, Humperdinck's Hänsel & Gretel and Berlioz's Béatrice et Bénédict.
2015-10-01
Toronto: MYOPera (formerly Metro Youth Opera) presents "The Rape of Lucretia" for its sixth season