First off, it has been a very long time since I have updated the old blog. Almost a year since I returned from Sarasota. It has been a wonderfully busy year, high-lighted by the birth off our second daughter, Maeve Sophia, back in October.
Now that I'm back, though, I'll be updating more frequently to let you know about all the exciting project coming up. Right now, though, I'll mention the wonderful workshop we had for my latest opera for young people "The Brementown Musicians". Brementown was commissioned by Opera Lyra Ottawa and is being produced there in the Fall. OLO hasn't done much new work, but I have to say that their commitment to the workshop process has been first rate.
I spent 5 days in Ottawa from March 17-20 workshop the score of the opera which lead up to a public reading on the final day. There's something wonderful about the way this opera is coming together. It isn't always this easy. I guess the fact that the libretto was written in 8 hours sitting in a Tim Horton's in Gander Newfoundland (No, not eight hours straight, that would be a hellofalotof timbits...spread out over four days) but suffice to say it just rolled out of me.
The other neat thing about it, is that Bremen is a sister or shall I say "brother" piece to my other opera "The Brothers Grimm" as all the wicked owners of the animals are characters from Grimm. The two operas could be done in one evening as the casting is also the same.
Some pics above of my time in Ottawa. The performers at the reading were...
Mark Gough, donkey Valérie Arboit and Marion Newman, dog Christina Tannous, cat Michale Carty, rooster Christopher Mallory, the villains and Judy Ginsberg on the piano.
