(Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music and Atlantic Canada’s Essential Opera announce the release of Some of My Stories: The Operas of Monica Pearce (LM279), available April 17. A collection of five one-act chamber operas by Canadian composer and librettist Monica Pearce, the album brings together works developed over more than a decade and reflects Essential Opera’s ongoing commitment to creating and championing new opera.
Some of My Stories brings 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 caught between expectation and choice in Cake; the quiet turning point 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.
Performed by Essential Opera’s co-artistic directors Maureen Batt (soprano) and Erin Bardua (soprano), the recording features guest artists Danielle Buonaiuto (soprano), Lucy Hayes Davis (mezzo-soprano), Krisztina Szabó (mezzo-soprano), Patrick Simms (tenor), and Jon-Paul Décosse (bass-baritone). Founded in 2010 and based in Atlantic Canada, Essential Opera commissions, performs, and champions works by living composers, with a focus on new creation and projects that address equity and belonging in opera.
Monica Pearce is a Canadian composer specializing in opera and chamber music. Her work has been commissioned and performed by organizations including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the International Contemporary Ensemble, and New Music Detroit, among others. Her operas have been presented across Canada and the United States, and releases from this project have received nominations from Music Nova Scotia and the East Coast Music Awards.
Leaf Music is an independent classical recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Nashville, Tennessee. The label produces and distributes recordings by artists and composers from across North America, with worldwide distribution through Naxos of America. In addition to its recording activities, Leaf Music provides professional audio and video production, post-production, and integrated marketing and distribution services.
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MEDIA CONTACT:
For more information/photos or to arrange interviews, please contact Ai Lynn Ang, ailynn@leaf.music
