Tapestry Opera’s 2017-2018 season has taken an unexpected, yet welcome, turn.
The company has just received a donated Bösendorfer piano, but aside from the new addition to their company, Tapestry is also preparing for a busy season.
The 2017-18 season started on a high note
On the heels of the sold-out run of Bandits in the Valley, Tapestry Opera announces its 38th season of original works that continue to break the rules. Tapestry brings operas to the Toronto stage that examine social custom, power and politics, and the trappings of prestige.
Tapestry’s 2017/18 Season will re-introduce Tapestry Briefs to new and returning audiences after a three-year hiatus. From November 30th to December 3rd, Winter Shorts offers bite-sized operas in many flavours and showcases notable works from Tapestry’s Composer-Librettist Laboratory (LIBLAB), a program that brings creators together to create the next great masterwork. Composers include Afarin Mansouri, Iman Habibi, Kit Soden and Norbert Palej in tandem with librettists Bobby Theodore, Marcia Johnson, Phoebe Tsang and Jessica Murphy-Moo. Winter Shorts will be staged at the Dancemakers Studio in the Distillery District.
Another exciting production that breaks all the rules is Tap:Ex Forbidden, a work that brings together Persian classical music, hip-hop and contemporary opera, radically expanding the boundaries of the form. Created by composer Afarin Mansouri and librettist/rapper Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, Forbidden explores the dark issues of repression countered with humorous and witty commentary on human nature’s temptations to explore the forbidden, playing at the Ernest Balmer Studio.
Highlighting the season is Tapestry’s world premiere co-production of The Overcoat: A Musical Tailoring, with partners Canadian Stage and Vancouver Opera. In a historic first, The Overcoat will premiere in both Toronto (Bluma Appel Theatre) and Vancouver (Vancouver Playhouse) in the same season — the first Canadian world premiere opera to do so. Running March 30 to April 14, iconic writer and stage director Morris Panych has re-envisioned Gogol’s timeless short story in partnership with veteran Canadian composer James Rolfe, creating an opera spectacle with an overwhelming immediacy and physicality.
Paying it forward
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- The donated Bösendorfer piano being lifted by crane through the third-storey window of its new home, in Tapestry Opera’s Ernest Balmer studio. Photo: Courtesy Tapestry Opera
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- Tapestry Opera’s new Bösendorfer piano. Photo: Courtesy Tapestry Opera
In addition to the planned season, Tapestry will put on a disaster relief concert to inaugurate their new Bösendorfer piano. The concert will benefit disaster relief efforts around the world, specifically those underway in Puerto Rico, Dominica, Mexico and India. All proceeds will be donated to the Medecins san Frontieres and Global Medic, who are working to rescue, support and rebuild the lives of millions affected by recent extreme weather events.
Toronto’s brightest young opera stars will unite in a performance of favourite arias and scenes, including selections from musical theatre. Featuring soprano Simone Osborne, mezzo-soprano Erica Iris Huang, tenors Asitha Tennekoon and Keith Klassen, baritone Alexander Hajek and others, the two-hour concert will take place at 7 p.m., with tickets priced at $30.
A late-night concert of piano greats presented by Yamaha Canada will follow at 10 p.m., featuring jazz legend Robi Botos and classical concert virtuoso Younggun Kim. This concert will mark the first opportunity to hear two of Toronto’s most gifted pianists grace the Imperial Bösendorfer. Tickets are $30.
Tickets for both concerts and for regular season productions are available at tapestryopera.com.
Angela Bell is Opera Canada’s Digital Media Specialist. She has held digital and PR roles with various businesses including the Walt Disney Company, Sullivan Entertainment and Toronto International Film Festival.
