MCO 7 / SONGS OF RIVER & FIRE

7 / SONGS OF RIVER & FIRE
7.30pm, Thursday, April 30
Desautels Concert Hall, University of Manitoba
Melody Courage and Marion Newman, vocals
Anne Manson, conductor
Casey Koyczan, video artist

Themes of motherhood, loss, and joy emerge in a program that spans opera, Indigenous voices, and folk tradition, with song and spirit rising together like flame and tide. 

Métis soprano Melody Courage gained national attention as The Native Girl “...played with ethereal grace...” in the 2017 world premiere of Marie Clements' and Brian Current’s opera Missing, co-produced by City Opera Vancouver and Pacific Opera Victoria. Missing gives voice, in English and Gitxsan, to the story of Canada’s missing and murdered Indigenous women. 

Critically acclaimed and award-winning mezzo-soprano Marion Newman is Kwagiulth and Stó:lō First Nations with English, Irish and Scottish heritage. She is one of Canada’s most accomplished singers in repertoire ranging from Charpentier to Cusson and operatic roles, including Carmen and Rosina in The Barber of Seville.

Casey Koyczan is a Dene multidisciplinary artist from Yellowknife, NT, that uses various mediums to communicate how culture and technology can grow together in order for us to develop a better understanding of who we are, where we come from, and where we are going. He creates with whatever tools necessary to bring an idea to fruition, and works mostly with sculpture, installation, 3D/VR/AR/360, video, and audio to create music, soundscapes and film scores.

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Marion Newman
Kinanu

Ian Cusson
Dodo mon tout petit

Marie Clements/Brian Current
Language duet from Missing

Jacques Offenbach
Belle Nuit

Cassandra Miller
Perfect Offering (orchestra)

G.F. Handel
Piangerò la sorte mia

Camille Saint-Saëns
Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix

Johann Strauss II
Csárdás (Klänge der Heimat)

Gioachino Rossini
Una voce poco fa

Jerry Herman
Bosom Buddies

Program subject to change