Stage Door News

Toronto: Tapestry Opera announces plans for live opera productions in 2022

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

The 2022 bill includes a site-specific robot opera and a tribute to Glenn Gould’s journey to perfection, featuring singers suspended from the Royal Conservatory of Music’s atrium  

Tapestry Opera announces plans for live performances in 2022 and 2023, with a program of deeply experiential, socially relevant and artistically expansive works. Tapestry, Canada’s most prolific creator of new Canadian Opera, are revealing two dynamic world premieres which will take the live stage in 2022, plus a further three major works in development due to premiere in the following two seasons. All upcoming projects offer unique and enthralling live audience experiences, bringing operatic life to buildings and spaces throughout the city; a stimulating antidote to isolation and the absence of in-person performances in Toronto throughout the pandemic. 

  • Gould’s Wall - Music by Brian Current, text by Liza Balkan - opera singers climb the interior wall of the Royal Conservatory of Music’s atrium in this operatic investigation of Canadian musical icon Glenn Gould’ssearch for perfection

  • R.U.R. Torrent of Light - Music by Nicole Lizée, text by Nicolas Billon - an immersive, design-and-technology rich site-specific experience including an innovative design and venue partnership with OCAD University

  • Dragon’s Tale - Music by Ka Nin Chan, text by Mark Brownell - a new opera inspired by poet Qu Yuan and the origin of the Dragon Boat race in Chinese mythology. Due to be performed this June, now rescheduled; to be performed on Toronto’s waterfront in partnership with Soundstreams.

  • Of the Sea - Music by Ian Cusson, text by Kanika Ambrose - a mythical exploration of father and daughter who fall to the bottom of the ocean and meet an underwater people, refusing to stay where fate has sent them, but striving to reach the surface, in partnership with Obsidian Theatre

  • 10 Days in a Madhouse - Music by Rene Orth, text by Hannah Moscovitch - the extraordinary story of reporter Nellie Bly admitting herself to a women’s sanitorium in 19th Century New York, in partnership with Opera Philadelphia

In a joint statement, Tapestry’s Artistic & General Director Michael Hidetoshi Mori, and Tapestry’s Executive Director Jaime Martino said:

“LIVE is coming back to Tapestry Opera with a bang! From singers in mid-air in Gould’s Wall to pioneering new integrations of technology in R.U.R., this season is going to be one of Tapestry’s most exciting seasons. We’ve been developing these and future projects during the pandemic, so that we can come back bolder than ever to thrill and engage with our audiences.” 

Gould’s Wall is a re-imagining of the life of Canadian icon and classical pianist Glenn Gould and features singers climbing along the interior wall of The Royal Conservatory’s atrium. This daring new opera echoes Gould’s constant striving for artistic perfection and the inherent climb and fall in the artist’s journey. Composed and conducted by the award-winning Brian Current, with libretto by Dora Award-winning actor, director, and writer Liza Balkan, this production will be directed by the multiple Dora Award-winning Philip Akin. For this site-specific work, audiences will watch from the RCM's café area. The orchestra will feature The Glenn Gould School’s New Music Ensemble.
Winter 2022

Performed as an immersive, site-specific experience, R.U.R. Torrent of Light is a new chamber opera exploring humanity's relationship to technology. Inspired by Karel Čapek’s 1920’s science-fiction play Rossum’s Universal Robots, the opera is set 20 years in the future where Artificial Intelligence is embedded deeply into everyday life. The R.U.R. Torrent of Light experience is built around an innovative design partnership with OCAD University, and features a dynamic cast of virtuosic opera singers, musicians and dancers. Composed by world renowned composer Nicole Lizée with libretto by Governor General award-winning writer Nicolas Billon.
Spring 2022

More details about Tapestry Opera’s 2022 world premieres, including casting and on sale dates, will be announced in Fall 2021.