Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Committed to experimentation and innovation, Tapestry Opera’s Tap:Ex series explores the future of opera, boldly introducing new artists and cross-disciplinary hybrids. This fourth incarnation follows bold experiments under the Tap:Ex banner previously combining opera and physical theatre (Revolutions, 2013), opera and turntablism (Tables Turned, 2014) and opera and punk music (Metallurgy, 2015).
This season, Tap:Ex Forbidden combines classical Persian music, opera and hip hop provocatively examining the temptation to transgress versus the reality of punishment, shame, and guilt, through a conversation between a young girl and Lucifer. The blending of Persian traditional instruments with hip hop creates a unique musical landscape that is both disorienting and familiar, completely contemporary and beautifully timeless.
With music by Iranian-born composer Afarin Mansouri and libretto by Afro-Caribbean hip hop artist Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, Forbidden will feature: Neema Bickersteth, soprano; Shirin Eskandani, mezzo-soprano; Alexander Hajek, baritone; and Saye Sky, Farsi rapper and spoken-word artist. Music Director Michael Shannon joins Stage Director Michael Hidetoshi Mori, (Tapestry’s General Director) to bring the work to life.
DATES/TIMES: February 8, 9, and 10 at 8 PM; February 11 at 4 PM
LOCATION: Ernest Balmer Studio
Studio 315, 9 Trinity Street
Historic Distillery District
TICKETS: $45 available online at: https://tapestryopera.yapsody.com/
ABOUT TAPESTRY OPERA: Tapestry Opera is an award-winning Toronto-based company, head-quartered in the historic Distillery District that creates and produces opera from the heart of here and now. For 38 years, the company has presented award-winning works by preeminent artists, brought to life by some of the most talented and versatile performers of the contemporary stage. As Canada’s leader in opera development, Tapestry Opera is committed to cultivating new creators and performers to serve the evolution of the art form and build a lasting Canadian repertoire.
Photo: Donna-Michelle St. Bernard and Afarin Mansouri.
2017-12-12
Toronto: Tapestry Opera presents "Tap:Ex Forbidden", a 21st-century hip hop opera