Bus Opera workshop

Rebecca Grey is a composer with a very individual view of the world and her art.  Who else would write operas about nightmares on an overnight bus trip or about a savvy racoon taking on a rapacious Toronto landlord?  Or, for that matter, cycle the Highway of Tears?  Her most substantial project to date is Bus Opera.  I first saw a workshop of an early version of it at the CMC a couple of years ago followed by a performance of extracts at one of New Music Concerts’ MAKEWAY concerts for early career creators at St. George by the Grange a few weeks later.  So I was very happy when I was offered the chance to attend a workshop performance of the (pretty much) complete work at Hugh’s Room on Tuesday night.

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Introspection

introspectiveI’ve been thinking a lot lately about what I write here and why I write and where I want to go.  Some of this is just that nagging “what is my purpose” thing that’s always hovering in the background, some of it is driven by writing more for Opera Canada and some of it by knowing that I was going to have to talk about it at the Massey College Opera Club.  The Massey event happened last night with Iain Scott moderating a session in which Robert Harris of the CBC and Globe and Mail and I were very politely grilled by the formidably intelligent audience.  It was a really interesting evening and one that’s led to some really long conversations with Katja this morning and maybe even some conclusions

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