Some of My Stories: The Operas of Monica Pearce

Essential Opera presents 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.

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.

Performed by Essential Opera’s co-artistic directors Maureen Batt and Erin Bardua, with guest artists including Danielle Buonaiuto (soprano), Lucy Hayes Davis (mezzo-soprano), Krisztina Szabó (mezzo-soprano), Patrick Simms (tenor), and Jon-Paul Décosse (bass-baritone), this recording reflects a long-standing creative partnership and the company’s belief that opera is a living art form shaped through new creation.