Music

Some of My Stories:

The Operas of Monica Pearce

Essential Opera presents its debut album “Some of My Stories: The Operas of Monica Pearce,” a collection of five one-act chamber operas created over more than a decade of close artistic collaboration with the Canadian composer and librettist, Monica Pearce.

These works bring individual lives and voices to the operatic stage. Each opera captures a moment of reflection or change: the life’s work of Maritime folklorist Helen Creighton in Aunt Helen; a bride suspended between expectation and choice in Cake; the quiet turning of a life in April; the social tensions and wit of Etiquette; and the warmth and uncertainty of a young queer couple’s journey in December.

Album Credits

Monica Pearce, composer and librettist
John Terauds, librettist

Featuring performances by:

Erin Bardua, soprano, assistant conductor
Maureen Batt, soprano, conductor
Danielle Buonaiuto, soprano
Lucy Hayes Davis, mezzo-soprano
Jon-Paul Décosse, bass-baritone
Patrick Simms, tenor
Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano 

Alexandra Bates, viola
Hilary Brown, cello
Jack Chen, flute
Simon Docking, piano 
Jennifer Jones, violin
Brad Reid, clarinet
Anne Simons, violin
Tara Scott, conductor, music director, piano
Eileen Walsh, clarinet

December

Commissioned by Essential Opera with support from SOCAN, December follows Julia and Natasha as they prepare to visit Julia’s parents together for the first time as a couple at Christmas. Between airport security, last-minute packing, and the quiet tension of family introductions, the opera is a celebration of queer joy, featuring queer artists. It captures the anticipation, vulnerability, and humour that accompany love in its early stages.

Maureen Batts, soprano – Top Priority Air Spokesperson, Top Priority Air Customer Service, Security Officer, Erin Bardua, soprano – Julia, Danielle Buonaiuto, soprano – Natasha
Jennifer Jones – violin, Anne Simons – violin, Alexandra Bates – viola, Hilary Brown – cello

Etiquette: A Glimpse of 1920s Icons

Etiquette: A Glimpse of 1920s Icons by composer Monica Pearce presents a unique musical portrayal of three influential women from the 1920s: author Dorothy Parker, socialite Emily Post, and politician Nancy Astor. Taking inspiration from Parker’s witty and biting review of Post’s book “Etiquette”, published in 1927, this opera provides a snapshot of these figures and their era. Commissioned by Essential Opera, this world-premiere recording showcases traditional themes in a new light, in line with the age-old tradition of revisiting the past to illuminate the present.

Maureen Batt, soprano as Dorothy Parker; Erin Bardua, soprano as Emily Post; Lucy Hayes Davis, mezzo-soprano as Nancy Astor; Tara Scott on piano; and Brad Reid on clarinet.

Four Ladino Folk Songs

Durme, Durme: Four Ladino Folk Songs is a song cycle by Canadian composer Elisha Denburg. It was commissioned for Crossing Borders with support from the Ontario Arts Council. Its digital broadcast premièred in December 2021 on the Crossing Borders: Shifting the Lens program. This song cycle is a personal exploration of a unique aspect of Elisha’s Jewish and musical heritage: Judeo-Spanish poetry and song. It uses the poems’ traditional melodies as springboards to a newly rendered work, in the Jewish tradition of “renewing days as of old.”

Featuring Tara Scott on piano.

Nominated for Classical Recording of the Year in 2023 by Music Nova Scotia.

Lighthouse

“Lighthouse” is for anyone who has experienced the loss of someone close. It is, above all else, a love story… The music was composed by Grej (Gregory Harrison) in collaboration with Maureen. The concept is a marriage between classical and electronic genres that utilizes voice, piano, harmonium, synthesizer, and field recordings.

WINNER 2022 ECMA Classical Recording of the Year

WINNER 2023 Classical Composer of the Year (Grej)

Aunt Helen

“Aunt Helen” is a one-act opera for soprano, with music and lyrics written by Monica Pearce inspired by Dr. Helen Creighton.  Dr. Helen Creighton was truly a pioneer in collecting folk songs, and her contribution to the documentation of Maritime folk songs is unparalleled. She lived a life of adventure, from helping survivors from the Halifax Explosion, to driving an ambulance to help with health education, to collecting innumerable folk songs, and many more untold.

Featuring Simon Docking on piano.

Nominated for Classical Album of the Year in 2021 by Music Nova Scotia, and for Classical Composer of the Year (Monica Pearce) by ECMAs in 2022.

Mirror, Mirror

“Mirror, Mirror” is a mini-opera based on the Grimm fairy tale Snow White by Anna Pidgorna. This story uses the Snow White/Evil Stepmother template to look at how women and their relationships with one another are affected by external pressure to be forever young and beautiful. This is Essential Opera’s debut commercial release. This version is for two sopranos and electronics. Click on photo to watch short opera film and click on “Learn more” to stream audio.

Featuring sopranos Maureen Batt and Erin Bardua.

Listen on Leaf Music

Breathing in the Shadows

“Breathing in the Shadows” is the debut album from Iranian-Canadian composer, Saman Shahi. The album includes three song cycles, two of which are based on poetry by women from across the globe. “Breathing in the Shadows” core themes deal with prejudice, oppression, and inner dissatisfaction, resonating with many different communities that historically have lived through the experiences of these struggles. The music carries an important message of unity and hope.

Featuring Tara Scott on piano.

JUNO-nominated for Classical Composition of the Year (Saman Shahi) 2022.

Lady of the Lake

The debut album of soprano Maureen Batt features a rare recording of Schubert’s “Op. 52 Lady of the Lake” song cycle and a newly commissioned work on the same epic Walter Scott poem by Nova Scotia’s Fiona Ryan. Both cycles feature Jon-Paul Décosse, bass-baritone.  Batt and Décosse are joined by collaborative pianist Simon Docking.  Schubert’s Op. 52 cycle also includes performances from the Halifax Camerata Singers and a male vocal quartet: Justin Simard, Leander Mendoza, James Levesque, Rob O’Quinn.

Nominated for Classical Recording of the Year by Music Nova Scotia (2017), and nominated for Classical Composition of the Year (Fiona Ryan) and Classical Recording of the Year by the East Coast Music Association (2018).