The Artist of the Week is Canadian director Julie McIsaac. She will be directing composer Lembit Beecher and librettist Hannah Moscovitch‘s chamber opera Sophia’s Forest at City Opera Vancouver from May 29th to June 1st (tickets and info here).
Julie is a stage director, dramaturg, playwright/librettist, actor and multi-instrumentalist. She is a founding member of the Honest Fishmongers and was the inaugural Director/Dramaturg-in-Residence at the Canadian Opera Company in 2019. As an opera director, she has staged shows with the Canadian Opera Company, Pacific Opera Victoria, City Opera Vancouver, the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, East Van Opera, the Banff Centre and the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy.
This week, Julie shares what she loves most about working with singers, her favourite composers and her go to pair of shoes. Read on to find out more.
My mom has eight sisters and whenever they gather, there’s always music. They love to sing and dance, and I grew up immersed in that communal music-making.
Chocolate oat milk.
Blundstones.
I love living on Vancouver Island, but I love visiting Paris.
Poulenc, Verdi and Tori Amos.
Jenůfa, La bohème and Peter Grimes.
Canada’s own Sarah Dufresne. I heard her sing Gilda recently, and it was extraordinary.
Oboe was my high school band instrument, and I’ve always been drawn to its unique, plaintive tone.
What’s your favourite thing about working with opera singers?
My favourite thing about working with singers is to experience their voices up close day after day in rehearsal. It’s such a joy and an honour.
Greed.
Decaf soy latte.
The Pearl Fishers. What I recall most is the pastel palette of the design… lots of peach, lilac and light pink.
French, Scottish, Irish and Norwegian.
Vipassana meditation.
Captain Fantastic.
LEARN MORE ABOUT JULIE MCISAAC
VISIT HER WEBSITE
© Gaetz Photography
Canadian Opera Company’s Fantasma (2022)
Composer: Ian Cusson; Librettist: Colleen Murphy; Stage Director & Dramaturg: Julie McIsaac
© Photo used with permission from the artist
Julie and her collaborator Corey Payette at the 2024 Leo Awards, where they won Best Musical Score Motion Picture for their trilingual feature film Les Filles du Roi.
© Sam Javanrouh
The premiere of Serouj Kradjian and Marjorie Chan’s The Nightingale of a Thousand Songs at the Canadian Children’s Opera Company, directed by Julie
© Photo used with permission from the artist
Les Filles du Roi, a musical film by Corey Payette, screenplay adapted by Corey Payette & Julie McIsaac. Directed by Corey Payette, Production Design by Anna Shearing, Directors of Photography Ian Mrozewski & Parham Banafsheh. Produced by Urban Ink, Raven Theatre, and The Cultch. Actor: Julie McIsaac.
Sophia’s Forest
City Opera Vancouver
ADULT SOPHIA: Elena Howard-Scott
ANNA: Adanya Dunn
WES: Luka Kawabata
EMMA: Audrey Gao
CHILD SOPHIA: Arya Yazgan
STAGE DIRECTOR: Julie McIsaac
MUSIC DIRECTOR: Gordon Gerrard
Sophia’s Forest is a groundbreaking chamber opera by composer Lembit Beecher and Canadian librettist Hannah Moscovitch, that delves deep into the inner life of a young immigrant girl, Sophia, as she navigates the haunting memories of a childhood scarred by civil war. This poignant opera captures her emotional journey with striking intimacy and raw power, blending traditional operatic storytelling with cutting-edge innovation.
What sets Sophia’s Forest apart is its multi-disciplinary approach. It merges live performances with contemporary technology, including a mesmerizing mechanical sound sculpture that becomes an integral part of the narrative, interacting with the singers and musicians. The fusion of acoustic and electronic soundscapes offers a profound exploration of memory, trauma, and healing, creating an immersive experience that resonates long after the final note.
Lauded by The New York Times for its stirring emotional impact, Sophia’s Forest promises to take audiences on a transformative journey, where the lines between past and present, reality and memory, blur into an evocative, deeply human story.
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Máiri Demings is Opera Canada’s digital content specialist. She’s also a mezzo-soprano who has sung with Tapestry Opera, performs regularly with VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert and Toronto Operetta Theatre, and is one half of duo mezzopiano with pianist Zain Solinski.
