ARRIVING AT THE FIRE
February 8 - 28, 2021
THE PROJECT
Arriving at the Fire is a compositional experiment pairing the inspiration of Canadian composer Kelly-Marie Murphy and librettist Paula Wing.
Murphy is a well-established voice in the orchestra, choral and chamber music world. Wing is a playwright fixture of the Canadian theatre scene. Together, they are tackling the operatic format to find out for themselves if their gifts translate into compelling operatic storytelling.
With the working title of Arriving at the Fire, this is an excerpt developed for consideration of a full-length opera based on the story of a charismatic new-age spiritual guru who leads his disciples down a dangerous path.
THE TEAM
KELLY-MARIE MURPHY - COMPOSER
Kelly-Marie Murphy was born on a NATO base in Sardegna, Italy, and grew up on Canadian Armed Forces bases all across Canada. She began her studies in composition at the University of Calgary with William Jordan and Allan Bell, and later received a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Leeds, England, where she studied with Philip Wilby. After living and working for many years in the Washington D.C. area where she was designated "an alien of extraordinary ability" by the US Immigration and Naturalization Service, she is now based in Ottawa.
PAULA WING - LIBRETTIST
Paula Wing is a playwright, translator, and now opera librettist whose works have been produced across Canada and internationally. In 2020, she wrote Special Delivery for Convergence Theatre, and her adaptation of Lena Coakley’s Wicked Nix was workshopped by Young Peoples Theatre. Currently, Paula is writing Vox Lumina, a play about Hildegard of Bingen; The Cabin for Thousand Islands Playhouse, and a new translation/adaptation (with Ravi Jain) of We Can’t Pay We Won’t Pay by Dario Fo for Soulpepper Theatre. She is an in-demand dramaturge, teacher, and facilitator, as well as a Sessional Professor at the University of Windsor.
JEAN-CLAUDE PICARD - CONDUCTOR
Canadian conductor Jean-Claude Picard is widely regarded as a communicative and engaging musician by fellow artists, critics, and audiences alike. 2020-21 marks his second season in two chief conductor positions, as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières in Québec and Chief Conductor of the Scottish Ballet.
Jean-Claude started his conducting career with positions as assistant and associate conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Recent and upcoming highlights include return visits to the Toronto, Québec, and Victoria Symphonies as well as debuts with the Montréal Symphony, City of Birmingham Symphony, the Luxembourg and Geneva Chamber Orchestras, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and at the Edinburgh International Festival with Scottish Ballet.
ELIZABETH STEPKOWSKI TARHAN - DIRECTOR
Elizabeth Stepkowski Tarhan (she/her) born in Calgary/Mohkinstsis, is a director, award winning actor, and singer. Calgary Opera; Candide 1990, Filumena 2002, Rigoletto 2019. Elizabeth has directed for The Shakespeare Company, Seadreamer, Destiny Theatre, the Soulocentric Festival, Storybook Theatre and Stage West. She has also directed new work at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the most recent of which was an exploration of her vision to add Flamenco song and dance to a new Canadian translation of The House of Bernarda Alba by the late John Murrell, OC, AOE. Elizabeth has appeared on stages across much of Canada as well as in the US, Mexico and Scotland.
MARK MORASH - ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR
Mark Morash is a conductor and pianist originally from Halifax, Canada and is currently Calgary Opera’s Interim Music Director. Most recently, he was Director of Musical Studies for the Opera Center of San Francisco Opera. There, he conducted for the Merola Opera Program, the Adler Fellow Showcase and Western Opera Theater. He also led performances of A Streetcar Named Desire, La Serva Padrona and Trouble in Tahiti for Opera Santa Barbara, Rigoletto for Opera Colorado, and Don Giovanni and The Turn of the Screw for the Lincoln Theater in Yountville, CA. San Francisco Opera Center performances have included Gianni Schicchi, Argento’s Postcard from Morocco, The Barber of Seville, The Rape of Lucretia, Albert Herring, Così fan tutte, Die Fledermaus, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Pasatieri’s The Seagull. Recent performances include conducting debuts with Canada’s Manitoba Chamber Orchestra as well as with Hawaii Opera Theater leading Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire.
NEIL CRAIGHEAD - BASS-BARITONE | JOHN CURTIS ROY
Neil Craighead’s burgeoning career has taken him from Vancouver to Newfoundland, featured in operas by Somers, Verdi and Puccini. Most recently, he was heard in Messiah with the Vancouver Bach Choir, as Minskman in Dove’s Flight for Pacific Opera Victoria, and his company debut with Calgary Opera as Colline in La Bohème. Though plans for the current season have been curtailed, he looks forward to such works as Messiah and Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis as well as a return to the opera stage. Past highlights include Der Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte (Opéra de Québec), Colline in La bohême (Vancouver Opera), Scarpia in Tosca (Opera on the Avalon), and appearances with Canadian Opera Company, Vancouver Opera, Tapestry and Against the Grain Theatre.
LILLIAN BROOKS* - MEZZO-SOPRANO | SUZANNE
Lillian Brooks, praised for her “legato, lyric sound” (Ludwig von Toronto), and “easy handling of coloratura” (Schmopera), has appeared in many operatic roles and as an oratorio soloist throughout Ontario. Her past operatic roles include Amahl’s Mother in Christmas at the Opera (Calgary Opera, 2019), Bradamante in Alcina, Third Lady in Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Flora in La Traviata, and Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. Ms. Brooks has sung as a soloist in many prestigious venues in Ontario, including Koerner Hall, Roy Thomson Hall, and the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts.
JEREMY DUBÉ* - BARITONE | MIGUEL
Canadian-Australian baritone Jeremy Dubé completed a Bachelor of Music (Performance) and Master of Music Studies (Opera Performance) at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. His operatic roles include Figaro and Count Almaviva in Opera Australia's NSW Schools Tour production of The Barber of Seville; Leporello in Don Giovanni, Les Gendarme in Les mamelles de Tirésias and Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, Mercurio in La Calisto, Hymen and Winter in The Fairy Queen (Sydney Conservatorium of Music); Elder Ott in Susannah (Opera New England).
KALLIE CLAYTON* - SOPRANO | KINLEY
Soprano Kallie Clayton hails from Red Deer, Alberta and is currently based in Vancouver, BC. She received a Master of Music in Opera from UBC and her undergraduate degree in voice from the University of Alberta. While at UBC she performed the title role of Massenet’s Manon, Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), and Mimí (La Bohème). Other role highlights include Noémie (Cendrillon), Cupidon (Orphée aux Enfers), Linfea (La Calisto), and Fifth Handmaiden (Elektra). Kallie has been featured as a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and has been heard in concert with the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra, Burnaby Lyric Opera, and Opera Kelowna as well as Toronto’s MYOpera and Against the Grain Theatre. Most recently, Kallie made her role debut as Adina in Burnaby Lyric Opera’s production of L’elisir d’amore.
JEFFREY STRAND* - TENOR | GARRETT
Jeffrey Strand recently performed Don José in Carmen with Mercury Opera, covered Tamino in Die Zauberflöte at Sarasota Opera, Manrico in Il trovatore at Central City Opera, Don José in Carmen at the Brott Opera, and Lennie in Of Mice and Men at Tulsa Opera. He sang Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte as a Young Artist at the National Arts Centre and performs with Phoenix Opera. On the concert stage he appeared as the Tenor Soloist in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and Mass in C, Puccini's Messa di Gloria, Vaughan Williams' Hodie, Handel's Messiah, as Uriel in Haydn's Die Schöpfung, and the Evangelist in Bach's St. John Passion, with the Phoenix Opera Orchestra, Westchester Oratorio Society, Chandler Symphony, Canyon Symphony Orchestra, and others.
CHORUS
Alanna Fraize* - Mezzo-soprano
Eden Tremayne* - Soprano
Scott Rumble* - Tenor
Dominic Veilleux* – Bass-baritone
*Members of the 2020-21 Calgary Opera Emerging Artist Development Program
RÉPÉTITEURS
Mel Kirby
Jack Olszewski
PRODUCTION TEAM
Shelby-Jai Flick – Stage Manager
Marc Lavallée – Technical Assistant
James Bundy – Audio Engineering