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Rob Ford: the Opera to open 2012 U of T New Music Festival
January 5, 2012 - To celebrate the 15th successful year of the Student Composer Collective, the Faculty of Music will present Rob Ford, the Opera. The concept and libretto is by the Opera Division’s Resident Stage Director, Michael Patrick Albano with musical contributions by four of the Faculty’s gifted student composers: Massimo Guido, Anna Hostman, Adam Scime and Saman Shahi. The performance opens the 2012 U of T New Music Festival, which takes place through February 5.
STUDENT COMPOSER COLLECTIVE
In 1997, the Opera Division inaugurated a workshop at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Music to allow student composers to gain experience writing opera, following a process of composition, dramaturgy, orchestration and staged public performance. The concept proved so successful that the workshop was ultimately introduced as a formal course in composition at the graduate level.
ROB FORD: THE OPERA
The opera [approximately an hour in length] is a surrealist fantasy based loosely upon the personality of Toronto’s current and much discussed Mayor. In describing the piece, the librettist writes “I have long been puzzled that one of the most important dramatic movements of the twentieth century, The Theatre of the Absurd - skilfully pioneered by Apollinaire, Ionesco, and Samuel Beckett - has, curiously, not made substantial inroads into opera. Rob Ford, the Opera, corrects that omission and jaunts joyously into the no-holds-barred ring of the ridiculous”
In addition to the GamUT ensemble, Rob Ford, the Opera features singers from the Faculty of Music’s distinguished Opera Division, including Andrew Haji as Rob Ford and Rosanna Murphy as Margaret Atwood. The opera will be conducted by Raphael Luz and directed by Erik Thor.
Rob Ford, the Opera will take place on Sunday, January 22 at 2:30 pm in the Faculty of Music’s MacMillan Theatre, 80 Queen's Park [directly behind the planetarium]. Subway stop: Museum. Admission is free and tickets are not required.
Theatre doors open at 2 pm.
A full house is expected for this performance. Patrons are advised to arrive early to avoid disappointment.
Event webpage: www.music.utoronto.ca/events/calendar/NMF0122.htm
New Music Festival webpage: www.music.utoronto.ca/events/nfm
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