Remember waaay back in 2019 when we brought our uniquely Canadian version of La Bohème on tour across the country? We were so thrilled to be able to bring La Bohème to bars from Banff to Toronto, and to have it become Canada’s first ever professional live-streamed opera!

And now, this AtG favourite is coming back to your home screen for the first time since the premiere. It will be streaming from October 1st to October 29th, 2023. If you register to watch now, you’ll get a link to stream the filmed version the moment it’s available.

Speaking of streaming…

We’re bringing back more of our beloved films this year, and you can already sign up for those! Messiah/Complex will be streaming this holiday season and BOUND will stream in the new year. Sign up to watch (or rewatch), and share with a fellow classical music lover in your life.

AGAINST THE GRAIN THEATRE PRESENTS ENCORE PRESENTATION OF MESSIAH/COMPLEX IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE TORONTO SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

***Only one ticket required***

Please register to watch on-demand. You may watch as many times as you wish between 8:00 pm on Sunday, December 10, 2023 and 11:59 pm on Sunday, January 7, 2024. Running time of Messiah/Complex is 78 minutes.

The multi-award-winning innovative team at Against the Grain Theatre (AtG) is proud to present an encore presentation of the bold interpretation of Handel’s Messiah, created in partnership with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO).

The daring, seventy-eight-minute filmed performance of Messiah/Complex will showcase multilingual translations, and feature a diverse cast of soloists and choirs from every Province and Territory across Canada, accompanied by the exceptional sounds of the TSO and conducted by Johannes Debus (Canadian Opera Company).

Messiah/Complex is co-directed by the Founding Artistic Director of AtG, Joel Ivany, and Banff Centre’s Director of Indigenous Arts, Reneltta Arluk.

Messiah/Complex features an array of diverse and superb Canadian voices, including Jonathon Adams (AB), Looee Arreak (NU), Spencer Britten (BC), Rihab Chaieb (QC), Catherine Daniel (AB), 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).

Fusing diverse choral traditions and voices from every Provinces and Territory in Canada with one of the most enduring classical works of all time, Messiah/Complex is one 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.

AtG is proud to offer an encore performance of our 2022 smash film BOUND!

BOUND - Film Release

By Against the Grain Theatre (OTHER EVENTS)

SUN, FEB 4 2024

8:00 PM EDT

—

SUN, MAR 3 2024

11:59 PM EDT

More about BOUND:

Four life stories that challenge Canada’s myth of belonging are tied together by themes in Handel’s enduring music, a stellar cast of voices and in partnership with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Crow’s Theatre.

BOUND uses a series of ripped-from-the-headlines interviews with four Canadian citizens from diverse backgrounds who have each had challenging—and remarkably different—journeys finding their place and voice in Canada as the starting point for this new piece.

These non-fiction narratives undergo their own transformation in the film—shape-shifting from interview segments exploring their lived experiences into melody and song with each storyteller being by a musical avatar.

The musical canvas that Lau has stretched here for the singers and orchestra will have opera fans recognizing a number of segments from Handel’s iconic operas, oratorios, and melodies—but if we were comparing this work, to say, a Baroque painting, what Lau does here is enjoy the freedom to move around his source material, zooming in and out—as if the composer is plucking out pixels from Handel’s music to sample from and riff off—creating something new in the musical journey, and enhanced by the electronic design of Toronto DJ ACOTE (Jeff-Antoine Côté).

Language: English (English Subtitles available)

Length: 82 Minutes

For tickets visit:againstthegraintheatre.ticketleap.com.

Photo: Scene from Against the Grain’s La Bohème. © 2019.