VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert's 2014-2015 Season Features LA VIDA BREVE, STREET SCENE, and More

VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert enters a new decade and to mark this milestone, the company presents a season of operas that explore the modern age from a 20th Century perspective. De Falla's LA VIDA BREVE, Weill's STREET SCENE and Charpentier's LOUISE were all written after 1900 and deal with the conflicts that erupt when tradition and the modern world collide.

The season opens on Sunday, November 30, 2014 with Isabel Bayrakdarian starring in Manual de Falla's LA VIDA BREVE, an unblinking look at Spanish society and the breakdown of the social structure. Ms Bayrakdarian returns to the VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert stage following triumphs at the world's greatest opera houses including the Met, Covent Garden and Salzburg. "We're thrilled that Isabel can join us for de Falla's gripping Spanish opera", says General Director Guillermo Silva-Marin, "especially as she began her career on our stage as a member of the OIC Chorus...Welcome back Isabel!" Joining her will be Mexican-Canadian tenor Ernesto Ramirez as the duplicitous Paco, all led from the piano by music director José Hernández. Robert Cooper leads the VOICEBOX: Opera in Concert Chorus.

On February 1, 2015, the company presents the Canadian premiere of Kurt Weill's American opera, STREET SCENE, which opened in Philadelphia in 1946. Weill strove for a synthesis of form in this work and with its jazz licks, blues motifs, unabashed Broadway tunes and a giant nod to Puccini, the work is a musical melting pot that reflects America itself. Starring will be Allison Angelo, Colin Ainsworth and Jennifer Taverner with Robert Cooper conducting the cast, orchestra and chorus.

Rounding out the season is Charpentier's LOUISE with Leslie Ann Bradley in the title role. The single performance on March 29, 2015 also features Michele Bodganowicz and Dion Mazerolle. The work, which arguably has Paris as the central character, premiered in 1900, the very dawn of the modern era. Against the backdrop of the city of light, Charpentier paints a vivid portrait of young love struggling to break free of societal conventions.

Special events include a reception following the performance of LA VIDA BREVE on November 30, with honoured guest Don Pablo Ruiz Jarabo, Consul of Spain in attendance. On May 6 and 8, 2015, there will be a workshop of the new opera ISIS AND OSIRIS by Peter Anthony Togni, composer and Sharon Singer, librettist.

Opera in Concert is supported by the Jackman Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council and the member of OIC's Patrons Circle. Single tickets are available from the St. Lawrence Centre's Jane Mallett Theatre Box Office, 27 Front St. East, by phone - 416-366-7723 or 1-800-708-6754 - or online at www.stlc.com. The theatre is wheelchair accessible and close to public transit and municipal parking.

All performances are on Sunday afternoons at the St. Lawrence Centre at 2:30pm.

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