Back in Kingston

I'm back in Kingston, getting ready for tonight's opening performance of "Molly Brant", a newly developed chamber opera for two vocal soloists and chamber ensemble. This piece was performed last year in a different arrangement, and there has been much new music added. As well, while I am performing the same role as last year, this work is new to Laura Enslin, the soprano who is performing the role of Molly.

Molly Brant was a compelling character, born in the eighteenth century, in the Mohawk Valley, in what is now New York State. Molly was the sister of Joseph Brant, also known as Tyandenaga, and she met and became the wife of William Johnson (my character), the Irish-born immigrant who was charged with administration of the American colonies by the King of England. William had come to the colonies seeking opportunity, and in Molly, he found a strong partner who remained with him for the rest of his life, bearing him eight children.

This chamber opera explores the evolution of Molly and William's relationship, and the eventual assumption of authority by Molly following Johnson's death, through the American Revolution and the migration of the Mohawk Loyalists north to Canada, and the long negotiations with the British to obtain land and concessions for the Molly's people.

Initially it appeared to be a special challenge to play a historical character, one whose descendants may actually be in the audience! In fact, the process of finding and developing the character was as usual. We open tonight, and play three performances until closing on Friday the 29th of June.

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I'm assembling a list of agents and opera houses who responded positively to my inquiries during my visit to Paris and Brussels in February. Colleagues have suggested that I contact these people now, while there is a gap in the opera season, and people are preparing for their summer holidays. As well, other colleagues have advised that I have my audition request packages ready to mail to potential houses and agents immediately upon my arrival, with European postmarks.

This suggestion is confirmed by something that I noticed during my visit; most agents and directors indicated that I should contact them once I was living in Europe.

Now that my arrival date is confirmed, and our Brussels address is established, I have a clear reason to call those houses back, and some news to give them. Nonetheless, with all the preparations required to get our house ready for our tenants, and arrange travel documents, insurance, etc., it has been a challenge to find the time to get these calls made. Other time pressures include the wrapping up of my responsibilities with my day job and Maggie's, visiting with friends and family, and of course, preparing for the concerts and opera performances that I've had over the last few months.

Speaking of performances, I've been asked to fly back to Canada for a performance on November 8th of the Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem at the Weston Recital Hall in Toronto, with the Toronto Philharmonia, conducted by Kerry Stratton. I'm very pleased with the number of new musical opportunities I've had with new musical collaborators in the last eight months:

• my first Conte Almaviva in Marriage of Figaro with conductor Jeff Butler and Opera York
• my first Vaughan Williams Sea Symphony and Elgar Coronation Ode with conductor Jurgen Petrenko and the Toronto Classical Singers
• Schubert's Die Schone Mullerin with collaborative pianist Dina Namer

Each of these has presented challenges for me that have stretched me greatly as a singer and actor, and I look forward to putting these lessons into practice as I sing auditions over the next few months.

Die Schone Mullerin: getting ready for Sunday

This sunday we are presenting a very special performance of Schubert's Die Schöne Müllerin in memory of my late Grandfather, Adelbert "Del" Zadow (pictured here with his wife and my grandmother, Rita Zadow). The concert will be held at his longtime church in Kingston, Ontario, St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran, and will benefit the church's music fund in his memory.

Regarding the Schubert, I've sung the work several times before, but that was seven years ago, very early in my training, and I haven't worked with this particular pianist before, so it has been a complete rediscovery of the work. I'm struck by how well structured and evocative Wilhelm Müller's poetry is, and upon further exploration, how much Schubert altered it to suit his own dramatic ends. There are subtleties in this music that I (and Dina Namer, my co-performer) could explore forever...

As a composer who strove unsuccessfully all his life to produce operas, Schubert crafted what is arguably the most perfect example of a romantic song cycle on his first try. It's like nothing I've ever sung before, and I realize now that I do try to approach it in some ways as a chamber opera for one singer and one pianist...

This will be my last Canadian classical performance for a while; there is a jazz concert on July 6th in Elgin, and potentially another one the same weekend closer to Kingston, but then all is preparation for the move. As well, there is a possibility that I will be returning to Canada briefly in November, but that has yet to be confirmed.

Regarding the move, I discovered that while my employer does allow me to maintain my life and spousal life insurance policies, the travel and accident insurance provided will not be extended while I am living abroad. Interestingly, OHIP does allow each person to claim a one-time "extended absence" benefit for up to one year while living abroad, but I suspect that we will need to purchase additional private health and accident insurance.