A musical mixture based on a romantic and tragic story. That is how Jim Leonard describes his first opera Maria Chapdelaine, which opens the 4th annual Vernon Proms Classical Music Festival on June 29.
The organist began writing the opera when he was living and working in Barrie, Ont., in 2003, and a friend in the Simcoe County music scene contacted him.
The friend, a seasoned opera singer, suggested Leonard write an English opera based on Louis H茅mon91裸聊视频檚 coming-of-age novel of the same name, set in 1920s rural Quebec.
91裸聊视频淗is confidence in me enabled me to go forward with it,91裸聊视频� Leonard said, adding that the opera in Barrie also commissioned him to write it.
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Due to budget constrictions, he only wrote the first two of four acts at the time.
91裸聊视频淚t was written in a fairly short time and it was all handwritten in pencil,91裸聊视频� he said, adding that it is still a 91裸聊视频渃ornucopia of styles.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淲hen I wrote it in Barrie I was the member of an ensemble at a community choir and I was a church organist and I taught school and I played in various groups. All those influences came into the style of the music.91裸聊视频�
By 2009, he finished the four acts in rough pencil form with only piano accompaniment.
Between 2009 and 2012, he added string orchestration and percussion.
The end result, with the help of music director Cvetozar Vutev, stage director and set designer Lana O91裸聊视频橞rian, producer Natalia Polchenko and concertmaster Susan Schaffer, is a fully-staged opera performance.
91裸聊视频淭here is no dialogue,91裸聊视频� Leonard said. 91裸聊视频淎nd there91裸聊视频檚 action, too.91裸聊视频�
The opera actually opens with a dance scene.
91裸聊视频淭hen there91裸聊视频檚 a rumble,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淎nd the next day they91裸聊视频檙e all in church and the priest, who was at the party, is giving them the what for, for their behaviour.
91裸聊视频淭hey91裸聊视频檙e saying listen to him he was there, that pious hypocrite. However, the priest gains ground as the opera progresses, because he has to preside over the requiem for91裸聊视频aria91裸聊视频檚 lover, and not the one her parents chose.91裸聊视频�
Ultimately it is 91裸聊视频渁 wonderful love story,91裸聊视频� he said.
91裸聊视频淎 lot of the music is romantic in style.91裸聊视频�
The chorus and musicians come from across the region, with some local favourites.
Leonard said the leads are all university-level singers who are 91裸聊视频減roving to be just excellent91裸聊视频� and there are also a few local people from Melina Schein91裸聊视频檚 Valley Vocal Arts.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a couple of young men and they found time to be in Spamalot, which is their production, and the opera,91裸聊视频� he said.
Tickets for the , which goes at 7 p.m. at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre, are $40 for an adult, $35 for a senior and $16.75 for a student. The Vernon Proms Classical Festival runs until Aug. 4 with 27 concerts workshops and free events in Vernon and Kelowna. Visit for the complete festival line-up, event details and venue information and tickets information.
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karissa.gall@blackpress.ca
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