The Canadian Opera Firm has named Cecilia Livingston as the brand new Composer-in-Residence for a two-year interval.
The COC’s residency is custom-made for every recipient, and can contain working with the corporate at varied ranges, together with mentorship.
“Opera is an artwork kind that continues to evolve and push boundaries like no different,” says COC Common Director Perryn Leech in a media launch. “I’m dedicated to discovering proficient new artists to be a part of that future and Cecilia’s means to discover a sound world that builds on what has gone earlier than, and excites and enriches the tales but to be instructed, stood out extremely strongly amongst our many candidates. Cecilia already has an exquisite understanding of the voice and, whereas this residency will present loads of alternative for honing that means, it should additionally shed essential mild on the practicalities and day-to-day realities of mounting an operatic work — all vital expertise for a composer of recent opera.”
As a part of the residency, Livingston will work on a mission from begin to completed manufacturing, with the COC offering assist at each step.
“It means the world to me to return dwelling to Canada and make an bold new work with our nationwide opera firm,” says Livingston. “I like the COC’s management in supporting Canadian artists on its worldwide stage, and I’m thrilled to collaborate with the premiere presenter of stay opera on this nation.”
Penelope by Cecilia Livingston with Michaela Kelly, soprano, Christine Teng, piano on the DMA Voice & MM Collaborative Piano Recital, College of Southern California, Newman Corridor (Recorded on March 27, 2022)
Cecilia Livingston
The British-Canadian composer’s work has usually centered on vocal works. Right here’s extra about her dynamic profession.
- A SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow in Music at King’s School London and holds a doctorate in Composition from the College of Toronto;
- Composer-in-residence at Glyndebourne from 2019-2022;
- Fellowships with The American Opera Mission in Brooklyn and Bang on a Can;
- On the school at Banff Centre’s Opera within the twenty first Century program;
- She gained the inaugural Mécénat Musica Prix 3 Femmes for her opera Singing Solely Softly;
- Nominated for 2 2020 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Theatre (together with Excellent New Opera);
- Her harp and vibraphone duo Backyard is on the 2020 JUNO Classical Album of the 12 months for Solo or Chamber;
- Her work has been carried out at Bang on a Can’s summer time competition, Toronto’s Nuit Blanche, the 21C Music Pageant on the RCM, the worldwide World Choir Video games;
- Her work has been carried out by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Kingston Symphony, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, and with Toronto’s Skinny Edge New Music Collective;
- Upcoming tasks together with working with Soundstreams, the Canadian Artwork Music Mission, and a recording mission with Canadian poet Anne Michaels and soprano Hera Hyesang Park for Deutsche Grammophon.
“I’m very excited to welcome and work with Cecilia,” says Johannes Debus, COC Music Director. “I like her inventive concepts and imaginative and prescient, in addition to her means to precise complicated issues by way of a musical language that’s equally accessible and understandable as it’s refined, clever, and evocative. I belief the COC can additional nurture her distinctive expertise in writing for the human voice, and I’m trying ahead to experiencing first-hand the inventive power she brings to the artwork kind.”
Livingston will even be working intently with the COC’s Ensemble Studio to realize a deeper perspective into massive scale opera in any respect ranges.
“To me, the theatre is a spot of empathy,” says Livingston. “Now, greater than ever, we’re hungry for the immediacy of stay efficiency. The singing voice is on the coronary heart of my work, and its electrical intimacy drives my occupied with construction, environment, and pacing–about how we pay attention, and the way music can unfold round a backbone of melody to create alternatives for audiences to expertise one thing profound.”
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Anya Wassenberg is a Senior Author and Digital Content material Editor at Ludwig Van. She is an skilled freelance author, blogger and writing teacher with OntarioLearn.
