Orchestre classique de Montréal Will Present Forums on Gender Identity

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This page is also available in / Cette page est également disponible en: Francais (French)

Montreal, Monday, October 26, 2020 – In line with its production of the opera As One (November 20 & 21, 2020) and in honour of Trans Awareness Week, the OCM is proud to present two forums on gender identity. Saturday November 14th at 3pm, a forum in English, and on Sunday, November 15th at 3pm, a forum in French. The broadcasts with two different panels for each discussion will be free and online on OCM’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/orchestre.ca. The videos will also be archived on the OCM website orchestre.ca for future viewing.

Beyond just the wonderful music in the opera As One, the subject matter has its allure: the discovery of one’s gender identity. It is an important and complex issue. The diversity of genders is only starting to be known, understood and accepted by mainstream culture and the media.

The spokesperson for this project, Tranna Wintour, a trans woman and media personality herself, will host of these discussions. She says “I am thrilled to be the spokesperson for this production. Hats off to the OCM for finding and presenting an opera based on a trans person’s life. I look forward to discussing and dispelling what gender identity is all about in the online forums“.

For the English forum, the distinguished panel will feature: Kimberly Reed, a trans woman and co-librettist of the opera As One; Élise Cornellier Bernier, a trans woman and volunteer from GRIS Montréal; Eda Holmes, a cisgender woman and Artistic & General Director of Centaur Theatre; and Lucia Lucas, an American trans woman and opera singer who will perform two opera arias during the forum.

For the French forum, the distinguished panel will include: Fannie Lajoie, a trans woman and volunteer at GRIS Montréal; Marie Isabelle Gendron, a trans woman and administrator at the Fondation Émergence; Geneviève Leclair, a cisgender woman and conductor; Julie Lemieux, a trans woman and Board member of the Aide aux Trans du Québec; and Liz Bouk, an American trans man and opera singer (mezzo-soprano) who will perform two arias.

The OCM is sincerely grateful for the support and collaboration of GRIS Montréal, the Fondation Émergence, and l’Aide aux Trans du Québec for helping us gather such fine participants for this forum. The TD Bank Group, who continues to support and celebrate diversity, is the proud digital sponsor of the online broadcasts of this production.

DATES TO REMEMBER

Forums broadcast of Faceboook: https://www.facebook.com/orchestre.ca