FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3 MARCH 2018
Their Convergence Series continues with FAWN’s new techno opera, Belladonna, where the sounds of modular electronic music and opera collide to tell a story about accepting and understanding one’s queerness.
TORONTO – FAWN Chamber Creative is gaining momentum as they continue their cross-genre Convergence Series with a new techno-opera, Belladonna. This exciting new work was created in collaboration with queer librettist Gareth Mattey (UK), who specializes in writing queer narratives for opera. FAWN presents their new creation on March 22 at Kensington Hall, an underground venue in the heart of Kensington Market.
The basis of the story for Belladonna evolved out of a semi-staged concert the FAWN Team created for their 2017/18 launch event last January, which has since been used by Mattey as inspiration for the opera. “We often talk about the need for more diversity in the stories of opera, which we would love to include topics of sexual and gender identity. With several of our team members belonging to the LGBTQ community, working with Gareth’s queer narratives is an exciting and natural fit for us.”, says FAWN Founding Artistic Director Amanda Smith. When asked why projects like Belladonna are important to them, they said, “I’m incredibly keen to queer classical music and music drama further, to inject stories that are unashamedly queer and try to examine that same queerness through new means of musical and dramatic expression.”
Belladonna begins reminiscent of a classic tale, following two shepherds, named Cloth and Lake and their journeys to tend to their flocks. The two shepherds experience differing impulses of curiosity and inevitability, leading them to eat the berry of a belladonna plant, which is highly poisonous with strong hallucinogenic properties. The experience thrusts them into a strange and revealing hallucinatory journey, which Mattey describes as being “…about queerness and how we access it and understand it, even in environments that may feel and seem inhospitable.”
Belladonna is FAWN’s second project within their Convergence Series, which is layered with unique artists and innovative soundscapes. The series was initiated by Smith, who describes the Convergence series as “a platform for the FAWN Team to collaborate with artists from non-classical genres.” In describing the creative process that led to the series, she notes, “I am personally interested in underground electronic music, which is a huge scene that’s full of creatively minded people. There are a lot of connections between the new classical music and electronic music communities. I always hear so many intersections between electronic and classical music, likely because it was done in classical music first. The Convergence Series is, in part, an acknowledgement of the mutual influences musical genres have on each other.”
Belladonna brings together modular synth artist Acote, contemporary dancer Mary-Dora Bloch-Hansen, guest mezzo-soprano Camille Rogers and members of the FAWN Team, including the vocal stylings of Jonathan MacArthur, pianist Darren Creech and composer/double-bassist Adam Scime. Stage direction, musical dramaturgy and set design will be provided by Amanda Smith, with lighting design by Noah Feaver, makeup design by Erica Sun, and a new libretto and dramaturgy by Gareth Mattey.
Regular admission is $35, and $25 for arts workers and those under 30. All guests must be 19+.
Learn more on the Facebook event page.
About FAWN:
FAWN Chamber Creative is a Toronto-based collective dedicated to expanding the audience and repertoire for Canadian classical music, with an emphasis on exploring new opera and multidisciplinary musical works.
Visit fawnchambercreative.com/about to learn more about the company.
About the Convergence Series:
FAWN has a particular interest in exploring art music with non-classical music artists. Cross-genre performances are another way they reach out to other communities and introduce new audiences to the exciting potential of today’s classical music.
FAWN’s first Convergence Series performance took place in 2013 at MOJO Lounge, an underground nightclub that has since closed. The night featured a cross-genre performance, integrating experimental electronic music by David Psutka (Egyptrixx/Hiawatha) with free classical improvisation, set alongside responsive projections by Brady Bothwell.
Listing Information:
Belladonna – a queer techno opera
March 22 8:30pm
Doors open at 8 pm
Kensington Hall
56 Kensington Ave
Admission at the door: $25 arts workers & under 30 / $35 regular
Admission online: $20 artsworkers & under 30 / $30 regular
https://www.bemusednetwork.com/events/detail/492
Learn more on their website:
https://www.fawnchambercreative.com/events/upcoming/
Amanda Smith, Founding Artistic Director & Resident Stage Director
Phone 647.401.5004 email: amanda@fawnchambercreative.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 3 MARCH 2018
Their Convergence Series continues with FAWN’s new techno opera, Belladonna, where the sounds of modular electronic music and opera collide to tell a story about accepting and understanding one’s queerness.
TORONTO – FAWN Chamber Creative is gaining momentum as they continue their cross-genre Convergence Series with a new techno-opera, Belladonna. This exciting new work was created in collaboration with queer librettist Gareth Mattey (UK), who specializes in writing queer narratives for opera. FAWN presents their new creation on March 22 at Kensington Hall, an underground venue in the heart of Kensington Market.
The basis of the story for Belladonna evolved out of a semi-staged concert the FAWN Team created for their 2017/18 launch event last January, which has since been used by Mattey as inspiration for the opera. “We often talk about the need for more diversity in the stories of opera, which we would love to include topics of sexual and gender identity. With several of our team members belonging to the LGBTQ community, working with Gareth’s queer narratives is an exciting and natural fit for us.”, says FAWN Founding Artistic Director Amanda Smith. When asked why projects like Belladonna are important to them, they said, “I’m incredibly keen to queer classical music and music drama further, to inject stories that are unashamedly queer and try to examine that same queerness through new means of musical and dramatic expression.”
Belladonna begins reminiscent of a classic tale, following two shepherds, named Cloth and Lake and their journeys to tend to their flocks. The two shepherds experience differing impulses of curiosity and inevitability, leading them to eat the berry of a belladonna plant, which is highly poisonous with strong hallucinogenic properties. The experience thrusts them into a strange and revealing hallucinatory journey, which Mattey describes as being “…about queerness and how we access it and understand it, even in environments that may feel and seem inhospitable.”
Belladonna is FAWN’s second project within their Convergence Series, which is layered with unique artists and innovative soundscapes. The series was initiated by Smith, who describes the Convergence series as “a platform for the FAWN Team to collaborate with artists from non-classical genres.” In describing the creative process that led to the series, she notes, “I am personally interested in underground electronic music, which is a huge scene that’s full of creatively minded people. There are a lot of connections between the new classical music and electronic music communities. I always hear so many intersections between electronic and classical music, likely because it was done in classical music first. The Convergence Series is, in part, an acknowledgement of the mutual influences musical genres have on each other.”
Belladonna brings together modular synth artist Acote, contemporary dancer Mary-Dora Bloch-Hansen, guest mezzo-soprano Camille Rogers and members of the FAWN Team, including the vocal stylings of Jonathan MacArthur, pianist Darren Creech and composer/double-bassist Adam Scime. Stage direction, musical dramaturgy and set design will be provided by Amanda Smith, with lighting design by Noah Feaver, makeup design by Erica Sun, and a new libretto and dramaturgy by Gareth Mattey.
Regular admission is $35, and $25 for arts workers and those under 30. All guests must be 19+.
Learn more on the Facebook event page.
About FAWN:
FAWN Chamber Creative is a Toronto-based collective dedicated to expanding the audience and repertoire for Canadian classical music, with an emphasis on exploring new opera and multidisciplinary musical works.
Visit fawnchambercreative.com/about to learn more about the company.
About the Convergence Series:
FAWN has a particular interest in exploring art music with non-classical music artists. Cross-genre performances are another way they reach out to other communities and introduce new audiences to the exciting potential of today’s classical music.
FAWN’s first Convergence Series performance took place in 2013 at MOJO Lounge, an underground nightclub that has since closed. The night featured a cross-genre performance, integrating experimental electronic music by David Psutka (Egyptrixx/Hiawatha) with free classical improvisation, set alongside responsive projections by Brady Bothwell.
Listing Information:
Belladonna – a queer techno opera
March 22 8:30pm
Doors open at 8 pm
Kensington Hall
56 Kensington Ave
Admission at the door: $25 arts workers & under 30 / $35 regular
Admission online: $20 artsworkers & under 30 / $30 regular
https://www.bemusednetwork.com/events/detail/492
Learn more on their website:
https://www.fawnchambercreative.com/events/upcoming/
Amanda Smith, Founding Artistic Director & Resident Stage Director
Phone 647.401.5004 email: amanda@fawnchambercreative.com