Media Releases

For Immediate Release October 31, 2012
Media Contact Jelena Bojic, Director of Community Relations
jelena.bojic@edmontonopera.com
780.392.7837

Brand-new opera part of ATB Canadian Series

Not only does this season mark the first-ever ATB Canadian Series for the Edmonton Opera, but the series will start with a world premiere.

The Canadian contemporary opera Shelter, co-produced by the Edmonton Opera and Tapestry New Opera in Toronto, will be performed for the first time in mid-November, at La Cité Francophone as part of the University of Alberta’s Festival of Ideas.

“We want to expose our audiences to work by contemporary Canadian artists, to showcase opera of today, highlighting it as a living art form,” said Sandra Gajic, Edmonton Opera CEO. “ATB is showcasing leadership in corporate investment by supporting this initiative, and helping us to produce and present new Canadian work.”

A fable that flirts with the dangerous beauty of science, Shelter is the result of years of research and workshopping by composer Juliet Palmer and librettist Julie Salverson. With references to the Manhattan Project, the cast involves a protective father, a mother who chases storms, a character based on real-life physicist Lise Meitner and a child who glows in the dark. It is the Pilot who alters the tale completely.

Shelter is the first part of the ATB Canadian Series, and will be followed by Svadba – Wedding in February. While this is the first time Shelter has ever been performed, Svadba is currently touring Europe and was awarded a Dora Award for Outstanding New Musical/Opera last June.

To complement Shelter, there will be a movie screening of Peter Blow’s Village of Widows on Nov. 13 at 7 p.m., location to be announced.

Media are invited to the dress rehearsal on Nov. 13 at 3 p.m., at La Cité Francophone. There will also be a student dress rehearsal on Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m., following a panel discussion with librettist Julie Salverson, Peter van Wyck (author of Highway of the Atom) and Tom Radford (writer and director of Tickling the Dragon Tails — The Story of Louis Slotin), also at La Cité Francophone.

To arrange interviews with artists or panelists, please contact Jelena Bojic, director of community relations, at 780-392-7837 or jelena.bojic@edmontonopera.com. Please RSVP your outlet’s attendance to the dress rehearsal to communication@edmontonopera.com.