Talking with composers: Alexina Louie

Interview

"Inspiration doesn't just suddenly strike. Most often, I sit at the piano and improvise until I find a musical idea that is worth keeping. I will sketch it out and work with it. Sometimes when I am stuck on a passage unable to come up with a musical solution, I think about it when I am not at the piano. Sometimes I work out possibilities in my head and get back to the piano to realize them. I have pages and pages of drafts, most of which I don't use, but working out the ideas gets me to a new place."

Talking with composers: Juliana Hall

Interview

"Despite its difficulties, there is nothing I can imagine I would rather be doing with my life than composing art songs...it is my world, and it is where I belong."

Talking with composers: Omar Daniel

Interview

"Writing music is like building a house. Some decisions are based on inspiration (what material is the floor? Oak, maple? What colour is the stain going to be?). Others are based on using simple tools to build: a hammer and nails. When I am uninspired, there is always hammer-and-nail work to do."

Spotlight on: Iain MacNeil

Interview

"I've learned that audiences and even audition panels will forgive vocal imperfection for a committed, sincere interpretation of a role or a piece. That said, I've learned that establishing a healthy singing technique that you can rely on day in and day out is priceless. Perhaps most importantly I've learned that a positive attitude helps to foster an effective and enjoyable work environment."

Life-like theatre at Luminato: the story of Charlotte Salomon

Interview

"Charlotte has a sense of time running out for her, both from learning about the history of suicides in her family, and sensing the destiny that we all know lay ahead. The uniqueness of her work is that it survives, though she did not, in its complete form, and is a testament to the power of art to triumph over adversity."

Talking with composers: Chris Thornborrow

Interview

"My instrumental music has been described as complex, clear, powerfully virtuosic, and playful. The operas I've written have ranged from side-splittingly funny to chilling, although one critic felt 'it did not work.' Some of the work I've done in film has been called elegiac, rumbly, and brashly percussive."

Spotlight on: Hyesang Park

Interview

"I have such a big responsibility about my singing. This is not about filling my pocket with money, not about having a big reputation, not even about my own joy and happiness. I feel I have to try to open another door."

Spotlight on: Jennifer Taverner

Interview

"Sure, you need to possess the chops, but it won't get you very far if you're not an engaging performer, skilled musician, and all-around good colleague. Be professional, be prepared, be respectful and pleasant to work with. Remember, there are eyes and ears on you at every rehearsal and performance, so treat it like an audition and be the best you can be in that moment."

Summer of love: Bampton Opera presents The School of Jealousy

Interview

"It's often blithely assumed that Mozart's great works sprang solely from his personal genius, fired by his collaboration with the quirky librettist Lorenzo da Ponte. But like many great artists, Mozart was something of a thieving magpie, and Da Ponte was more used to adapting and rewriting libretti than creating new works of his own."

Nasty women, great operas: Opera 5's Suffragette

Interview

"Seeing women at the forefront of so many of the indie opera companies here in Toronto is thrilling. Everyone is doing work that is pushing boundaries, poking at that glass ceiling, and making art that is interesting, exciting, and creative. To see the women responsible for that art, starting their own companies and beginning from nothing, it's truly inspiring."