Fraser Lyric Opera Society

What a hoot! We had our first sectional for our virtual chorus tonight. Rehearsal via Zoom! It was great to see everyone and sing with you all again. More sectionals to come.

Remember the amazing Aria, our director for La Bohème. She is going online this Thursday. Check out Aria on Opera McGill’s Facebook page.

Our friends at North Capital Chorus are performing next weekend. Go check them out!

We couldn’t have said jt better ourselves. Go out and experience this important story.

We have our tickets, see you all there. This is going to be a theatre experience you do not want to miss.

Pacific Opera Victoria: Missing review It’s rare that a new opera can achieve that delicate balance between being both timely and timelessthe former comment...ing on the world around us, while the latter offers material that will still be relevant for future audiences, regardless of when it is performed. POV's recent remount of the 2017 chamber opera Missing by librettist Marie Clements and composer Brian Current strikes both chords perfectly, and tragically. A timely tale of society’s continued indifference to the fates of over 3,000 murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls across Canada, there is also a timelessness in the fact that this show will still be relevant in the future . . . but whether it will stand as a document of these sad times or a reminder that little has changed remains to be seen. Either way, this powerful, moving and compelling production should be required viewing for any contemporary Canadian audience. Ava (soprano Caitlin Wood) is a young woman who has an accident while driving along the Highway of Tears between Prince George and Prince Rupert; when, in a surprisingly simple yet effective bit of stagecraft, she is hanging in the trees awaiting rescue (or death), she sees the body of a murdered Indigenous woman (soprano Joanna Diindiisikwe Simmons) lying nearby. Caught in this moment between life and death, their spirits intertwine in a way that propels the rest of the story: Ava becomes awakened to the invisible web of racism in her privileged university environment and is inspired by guest lecturer Dr Wilson (mezzo-soprano Marion Newman) to study the Gitskan language, then commit to a more traditional lifestyle. She reunites and marries her former lover, resulting in a child that helps put the wandering spirit of the unnamed Indigenous woman to rest. Peter Hinton’s relentless direction flits between dreamworld and reality, subtly reminding audiences of the differing Indigenous worldview, ably assisted by John Webber’s evocative lighting and Andy Moro’s gorgeous design work on both set and projections; the single-set stage shifted between forest, classroom, longhouse and bedroom with nary a scene change. The seven-piece orchestra conducted by Timothy Long offered a larger-than-that soundscape, even memorably playing their own bodies for one harrowing nightmare sequence. Tightly performed in 90 minutes with no intermission, Missing is ideally suited for opera, which so often focuses on high tragedy and death, and is often performed in other languages, making the English and Gitskan libretto with surtitles here neither foreign or difficult to follow. Brian Current’s music blends contemporary and Indigenous musical elements and Marie Clements’ libretto, while sparse, offers just enough to lyrically bridging the gap between intention and supposition, and cleverly plays with the multiple meanings behind the title. Credit too must be given to the number of Indigenous people in the cast and creative team, bringing a welcome sense of diversity to more than the onstage presence. While there is no doubt room to grow this productionmezzo-soprano Heather Molloy’s friend Jess seems underserved, as does tenor Jan Van Der Hooft’s lover Devonit stands as a complete package, and will work for both traditional audiences and those new to opera. While I didn’t have the chance to see Missing on its original mounting, I count myself fortunate to have seen it this time around. Only performed twice last week, this production is off on a short tour to Regina and, notably, Prince George, where I can only imagine it will carry additional emotional weight. Truly, this is a show not to be missed. JT