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Events

ATYS

American composer Jonathan Dawe, known for his hybrid approach blending baroque and contemporary musical language, joins forces with stage director Stéphanie Jasmin, whose work bridges literary, theatrical, and visual expression. Together, they reimagine Lully and Quinault’s opera as a contemporary political drama, transposed to the United States in the 1980s. A coproduction of Ballet Opéra Pantomime (BOP), Opéra de Montréal, Les Boréades de Montréal, and UBU compagnie de création, this lyrical work weaves together dance, video, and baroque reverie to illuminate an enduring clash between love and power, and the tension between private desire and public image. In the early 1980s, in the upper echelons of American politics, Governor Atys conceals his impossible love for Sangaride, the young man betrothed to Senator Celenia. Cybele, who rules the country, hopes to get closer to Atys, with whom she is infatuated, by appointing him vice president. But when she discovers the secret passion that unites the two men, the president unleashes all her powers, even the most occult, to bring about their downfall and drive them to madness and death.

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MICROMEGAS

In celebration of the ten-year anniversary of Mikrotöne: The Small is Beautiful Festival, Micromégas draws its story from Voltaire’s 1752 novella, Le micromégas, one of the earliest of science-fiction stories. In this fanciful tale, Micromégas, an extraterrestrial of gigantic size and tremendous learning and wit departs from his home, a distant colossal planet that orbits the star Sirius, seeking discoveries and knowledge. In this work, the Extraterrestrials sing in Esperanto. 

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Some Call it Home

“This combination of spectacular music, extraordinary video, and compelling performances is unique. It promises to be an unforgettable evening that is intense, thoughtful, beautiful, and uplifting.” The University’s Music Director, Robert Taub, has commissioned two internationally recognised composers to write the musical score: Jonathan Dawe (NYC) and Jane O’Leary, a direct descendant of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren. An ensemble comprised of musicians from the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Grammy-nominated baritone Randall Scarlata, and Grammy Award winner English soprano Deborah York will bring this scintillating musical drama to life.

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Mirror in My Mind

Rubi Tuesday, Soprano; Xochitle Hernandez, Mezzo-Soprano; Christian Stendel, Piano; Dancers from California State University; Choreography by Paula Thomson; Directed by Maurice Godin.

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Nero and The Fall of Lehman Brothers/Montreal

June 14/15/16/17 2018 Set a few days before the crash of one of the most important investment banks on Wall Street, Jonathan Dawe’s Nero and The Fall of Lehman Brothers draws on baroque opera rhetoric to tell this key chapter of the last great financial crisis. Attiring the protagonists of these events with the antique masks of Nero, Seneca, Agrippina, and Poppea, Dawe creates a terrifically chaotic universe through which the tragedy of transaction and the game of high-finance power are revealed.

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NERO and THE FALL OF LEHMAN BROTHERS

Cast NERO: Paul LaRosa POPPEA: Zulimar López-Hernández SENECA: Timothy McDevitt AGRIPPINA: Ariana Chris TRADERS: David Davani, Andrew Dwan, Brian Jeffers and Derek Lee Ragin as MERCURY Dancers Laura Careless, Angela Cascone, Chanel Dasilva Laura Careless, choreographer Music Ensemble ENSEMBLE ÉCHAPPÉ Jocelin Pan and Nina Young, Directors Benjamin Grow, Conductor Stage Direction by Alastair Boag Photo credit: Ronald Andrew Schvarztman

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