From his position as Co-Artistic Director of the Canadian Art Song Project, tenor Lawrence Wiliford has spent considerable time in close quarters with composers as they write for the voice. In the latest instalment of our advice series, "Dear composer...Dear singer",...
Our advice series continues! In this latest instalment of "Dear singer..." we hear from UK-based composer James Garner, whose opera, Much Ado, is set to premiere out of Opera McGill in 2023. Garner urges composer to sing, singers to look outside of the box, and for...
If you couldn’t tell by his operatic adaptations of films like Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves, and Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light, Canadian librettist Royce Vavrek is a movie buff. So, since we’ve all got more time on our hands than usual, I figured it would be an...
Anxiously awaiting the warm weather that signals his return to the golf course, Canadian tenor Paul Frey also looks into his seeing-stone for signs of another a milestone event. April 20th, 2021 marks Frey's 80th birthday. During his heyday from the mid-1980s to 2005,...
In our latest instalment of our advice series, "Dear composer…dear singer", we're diving deep with Vancouver-based composer Rodney Sharman. What homework does he do when writing for a new voice? How does it feel when singers perform his music? Who are his memorable...
In the latest instalment of our advice series, "Dear composer...dear singer", we pair the wise words of Canadian soprano Alexandra Smither, with some enlightenment from Canadian composer Monica Pearce: What do you wish composers better understood about the voice?...
This is the continuation of a new series of Q&As with the artists of Canada's opera scene. After our "Quarantine Questions" from the spring/summer of 2020, we're checking in once again with these artists as they share new perspectives on mid-pandemic opera. Next...
In our latest instalment of our advice series, "Dear composer...dear singer", we're focusing on the words of Canadian composer James Rolfe. What kind of singer does a composer love to work with? How can singers offer feedback? Should composers sing? Rolfe has the...
This is the continuation of a new series of Q&As with the artists of Canada's opera scene. After our "Quarantine Questions" from the spring/summer of 2020, we're checking in once again with these artists as they share new perspectives on mid-pandemic opera. Next...
Our advice series continues! In this instalment of "Dear composer", Canadian soprano and friend of new music, Jacqueline Woodley, gets into the nitty-gritty of workshops, storytelling, and that pesky passaggio: "I very much enjoy the connection between singer and...
This is the continuation of a new series of Q&As with the artists of Canada's opera scene. After our "Quarantine Questions" from the spring/summer of 2020, we're checking in once again with these artists as they share new perspectives on mid-pandemic opera. Next...
When you really think about it, the communication between an opera composer and an opera singer is a bit odd: each artist has spent years honing their very specialized craft, and they come together when it's time to do something extra-specialized – create a new opera....