Stage Door News

Toronto: Against the Grain Theatre presents “Messiah/Complex” December 13-26

Monday, November 9, 2020

Premiering December 13, 2020 at 8 pm EST on AtG TV, the multi-award-winning innovative team at Against the Grain Theatre(AtG) is proud to present a bold interpretation of Handel’s Messiah, accompanied by and in partnership with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO), and co-directed by Joel Ivany, Founding Artistic Director of AtG, and Reneltta Arluk, Director of Indigenous Arts at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity

The innovative, seventy-minute filmed performance of Messiah/Complex will showcase multilingual translations, and feature a diverse cast of soloists and choirs representing every province and territory across Canada, accompanied by the exceptional musicians of the TSO and conducted by Johannes Debus (Canadian Opera Company).

Messiah/Complex stars an array of superb Canadian voices, including Jonathon Adams (AB), Looee Arreak (NU), Jully Black (ON), Spencer Britten (BC), Rihab Chaieb (QC), Deantha Edmunds (NL), Leela Gilday (NT), Miriam Khalil (ON), Andrea Lett (SK), Diyet van Lieshout (YT), Julie Lumsden (MB) and Elliot Madore (ON); featured choirs include Le Choeur Louisbourg (NB), the Halifax Camerata Singers (NS), the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir (ON), and the University of Prince Edward Island Chamber Chorus (PEI).

“In response to COVID-19 restrictions, AtG has pivoted, recognizing a valuable opportunity to work alongside incredible artists and organizations across our country,” says AtG’s Joel Ivany, on the genesis of Messiah/Complex. “To support, employ, and collaborate with artists from coast to coast on this unifying project has given us hope — something we all seem to need in this fragile moment.” 

Fusing diverse traditions and voices from every province and territory in Canada with one of the most enduring classical works of all time, Messiah/Complex is an exciting way for AtG to share the stories of these incredible Canadian artists — and to celebrate the varied and beautiful places that they call home — with audiences across our nation, and beyond, this holiday season.

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