Students from the Glenn Gould School’s vocal program presented Serbian/Canadian composer, Ana Sokolovic’s chamber opera Svadba this past month in Mazzoleni Hall. The production, directed by Jennifer Tarver and conducted by Peter Tiefenbach, featured six outstanding young singers who not only sang a capella for the majority of the opera, but also played percussion instruments on stage.
“Svadba was a thrilling ‘welcome back’ to live opera at GGS, highlighting the power of the female voice in all its glory - expressing joy, loss, playfulness and hope” says Adrianne Pieczonka, Vocal Chair and Head of the GGS Vocal Department. “Our cast of six GGS voice students rose nobly to the challenges of Sokolovic's eclectic and complex composition and the result was an outpouring of pulsing energy and joy. Svadba was definitely a highlight of our fall term at GGS.”
The action of the opera revolves around Milica, a Serbian peasant, on the night before her wedding.
“A wedding is an important turning point in every woman’s life, usually steeped in tradition and always signifying change and juncture,” says Sokolovic. “Milica’s rite of passage is universal, an archetype of human experience. Svadba offers a chance to delve deep into the quality and richness of a short but decisive moment in time.”
In case, you weren’t one of the fortunate audience members to experience this production in-person, an archival video is being made exclusively available to Sounds Like GGS! readers until January 2.
Singers at the GGS are now working hard on their next production, the Koerner Hall component of the GGS’ Price Opera Program. Preparations for the Spring Opera, George Frideric Handel’s Rinaldo, have already begun, with performances taking place on March 16 & 18, 2022.