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Quebec
Hit Musical Waitress
The Broadway hit musical Waitress, adapted for the stage by composer and singer Sara Bareilles and librettist Jessie Nelson, is coming to Quebec—in French! The show tells the story of Jenna, a waitress, and her romantic and culinary misadventures as she aims to find herself. Starring Marie-Eve Janvier in the role of Jenna, the Tony Award-nominated musical will run through the summer, with performances in Montreal’s Espace St-Denis (June 22-28), and Quebec City’s Salle Albert Rousseau (Aug. 10-31). www.waitresslacomediemusicale.com
Orchestre classique de Montreal
The Orchestre classique de Montreal wraps up its 84th season with a commemoration of the fifth anniversary of the passing of operatic bass Joseph Rouleau, the company’s former board chair. The orchestra will be joined by soprano Aline Kutan, mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel, tenor Éric Laporte, bass-baritone Philippe Sly, and conductor Jacques Lacombe. Soprano Elisabeth St-Gelais and pianist Louise Pelletier will provide pre-concert entertainment. On the program are works by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Delibes and Offenbach (June 18).
www.orchestre.ca
Bourgie Hall
There is a lot going on this June at Bourgie, as the hall comes to the end of its 2023-24 season. First off, pianist Matt Herskowitz, clarinetist David Krakauer, violinists Nathan Meltzer and Daniel Dastoor, violists Lambert Chen and Sebastian Gonzalez Mora, Éric Chappell on double bass, and cellist Denis Brott will present an evening of klezmer and jazz-inspired music (June 20). The Ehnes Quartet will then close the season with two nights of Beethoven: the first, highlighting his quartets from Opus 59, inspired by Russian folk songs (June 21), and the second, shining the spotlight on the viola, with guest artist Milena Pajaro-van de Stadt (June 22). www.mbam.qc.ca
Chants Libres
Chants Libres is presenting six opera creations in progress this summer, in the eighth edition of Oper’Actuel. This year, the event will feature House On Fire (André Ristic, music, and Cecil Castellucci, libretto), Waking the Witch (Ashi Day, music and libretto), Hort/Garden (Elena Tarrats and Mario G. Cortizo, music), Barbara (Luis Ernesto Peña Laguna, music, and Pierre Berlioux, libretto), Songs of the Drowning (Roozbeh Tabandeh, music, and Sandeep Bhagwati, libretto), and Lost in Plain Sight (Takuto Fukuda, music, and Patrick Leroux, libretto). The performances (Aug. 24 and 25) will be preceded by a week of activities, meetings, discussion, and exploration of the compositional and creative process. www.chantslibres.org
Ontario
National Arts Centre Orchestra
The NAC Orchestra will be joined by conductor Joana Carneiro and pianist Yeol Eum Son (who is making her NAC debut) for a performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2, and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite (1945). Also on the program is Andreia Pinto Correia’s Ciprés, which is a musical depiction of natural scenes inspired by the poetry of Federico García Lorca (June 12, 13). Conductor Alexander Shelley will take to the podium to close out the orchestra’s season, joined by the Ottawa Choral Society for Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (June 19, 20). The program will also include Cree composer Andrew Balfour’s ᓂᔭ niya (I Am), which was commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra as a companion piece to Beethoven’s Ninth, and Anna Clyne’s Glasslands, which will feature British saxophone player Jess Gillam as soloist. www.nac-cna.ca
Amadeus Choir
The Amadeus Choir of Greater Toronto will close their 50th anniversary season with a special outdoor, immersive event. Free and open to the public, Songwalks: Braiding Voices will feature award-winning Inuk creator, mentor, and classical singer Deantha Edmunds, as well as composer and pianist Pouya Hamidi.
The Amadeus Choir and Edmunds will join together to combine Inuit throat-singing with early music by Hildegard von Bingen and contemporary Indigenous music. Audience members will be invited to walk through nature, in both Taylor Creek Park (June 8) and the Toronto Botanical Garden (June 10), taking in the soundscape freely as they move. www.amadeuschoir.com
Canadian Opera Company’s Aportia Chryptych
Nova Scotian contralto Portia White’s story will be front and centre this June at the Canadian Opera Company (COC) when they present Aportia Chryptych. Sung in English, Creole, and Joual, the opera seeks to reclaim White’s story which, until now, has been absent from Canadian musical histories. Composers Sean Mayes and HAUI will see their work in its world première at the Canadian Opera Company Theatre with Neema Bickersteth in the role of Portia Body, Adrienne Danrich as Portia Spirit, SATE as Portia Soul, and Henos Girma as Jimmy. HAUI directs this new production (June 14-16). www.coc.ca
Opera5
Toronto audiences have plenty of opportunities to enjoy opera this June. Independent company Opera5 returns to live performances for the first time since 2018 with their new production of Benjamin Britten’s The Turn of the Screw. Taking place at Theatre Passe Muraille, director Amanda Smith and conductor Evan Mitchell will lead counter-tenor Ryan McDonald (Miles), Asitha Tennekoon (Prologue/Peter Quint), Krisztina Szabó (Mrs. Grose), Thera Barclay (Flora), Elizabeth Polese (Governess), and Rachel Krehm (Miss Jessel) (June 12-15). As part of a special collaboration with the Schulich School of Music’s Opera McGill, Opera5 will run a special cover performance starring Mala Weissberg, Patricia Yates, MacKenzie Sechi, Paige Robinson, Kate Fogg, and Bri Jones (June 13). www.opera5.ca
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