{"id":96903,"date":"2023-06-22T14:22:50","date_gmt":"2023-06-22T18:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=96903"},"modified":"2023-06-22T14:22:50","modified_gmt":"2023-06-22T18:22:50","slug":"scoop-r-u-r-torrent-light-first-canadian-opera-awarded-mcana-best-new-opera-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2023\/06\/22\/scoop-r-u-r-torrent-light-first-canadian-opera-awarded-mcana-best-new-opera-title\/","title":{"rendered":"THE SCOOP | R.U.R. A Torrent of Light First Canadian Opera Awarded MCANA Best New Opera Title"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_96904\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-96904\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-96904\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/MCANA-Awards-NEWS.jpg\" alt=\"R.U.R. A Torrent of Light (Photo: Dahlia Katz)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-96904\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">R.U.R. A Torrent of Light (Photo: Dahlia Katz)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2022\/05\/17\/preview-opera-tech-explored-tapestry-opera-ocad-collaboration-r-u-r-torrent-light\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">R.U.R. A Torrent of Light<\/a> is the first Canadian work to win the 2023 Award for BEST NEW OPERA from the Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA). The distinction for the Tapestry Opera\/OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design) University co-production, announced today, was awarded to composer <strong>Nicole Liz\u00e9e<\/strong> and librettist <strong>Nicolas Billon<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Competition for the award was stiff, particularly so given that many productions had been delayed by the pandemic. The Awards Committee of MCANA includes LvT\u2019s own Arthur Kaptainis.<\/p>\n<p>The site-specific work premiered at the Great Hall at OCAD on May 28, 2022, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2022\/09\/20\/scoop-tapestry-opera-leads-dora-winners-2022-six-trophies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">dominated the Dora Awards<\/a> for that year to win in six of seven categories, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Outstanding Production;<\/li>\n<li>Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble: Maeve Palmer, Annie Ramos, Jennifer Routhier, Sofi Gudi\u00f1o,<\/li>\n<li>Katherine Semchuk, Emily Spearing and Brayden Cairns;<\/li>\n<li>Outstanding New Opera: Nicole Liz\u00e9e (composer) and Nicolas Billon (librettist);<\/li>\n<li>Outstanding Musical Direction: Gregory Oh;<\/li>\n<li>Outstanding Direction: Michael Hidetoshi Mori;<\/li>\n<li>Outstanding Achievement in Design: Debashis Sinha.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>More than 20 artists in various media collaborated on the creative team. The MCANA Committee also specifically noted, \u201cthe striking set by Cameron Anderson and costumes by Joanna Yu incorporated retro elements that made the setting seem both futuristic and universal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The award-winning R.U.R. A Torrent of Lights composer and librettist are being celebrated during the MCANA annual meeting today, June 22, at the University Club of Chicago.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Rm5qWjk-D8A?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h3>About the Opera<\/h3>\n<p>R.U.R. stands for Rossumovi Univerz\u00e1ln\u00ed Roboti or Rossum\u2019s Universal Robots, and is based on the sci-fi play by Czech writer Karel \u010capek. The play, which premiered in 1921, was quite influential in its day; it&#8217;s the literary work credited with adding the word robot to the English language.<\/p>\n<p>The Tapestry\/OCAD contemporary interpretation adds a feminist slant, and pushes the action to the near future-now, where AI is inextricably entwined with everyday life. The androids that a tech company has created, however, begin to turn on them in a growing uprising of independence as the two owners of the company grapple with what to do about it.<\/p>\n<p>OCAD University\u2019s Social Body Lab helped to develop wearable tech that enhances and amplifies the performances of the singers and dancers with lighting or speakers. Other innovations created for the production include a cello bow that produces bird calls. The score uses unconventional instruments such as a typewriter to produce a futuristic soundscape.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_96905\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-96905\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-96905\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/RURA-Award-winners-2023.jpg\" alt=\"L: Nicole Liz\u00e9e (Photo by Richmond Lam); R: Nicolas Billon (Photo by David Leyes)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"600\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-96905\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">L: Nicole Liz\u00e9e (Photo by Richmond Lam); R: Nicolas Billon (Photo by David Leyes)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Reactions<\/h3>\n<p>Both winners commented in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor R.U.R. A Torrent of Light to be recognized with this prestigious award from MCANA is truly an honour. When Nicolas and I began our collaboration those many years ago, I never in my wildest dreams thought it would be awarded North America\u2019s best new opera. Nic and I would like to extend our deepest thanks and gratitude to Michael Mori, Tapestry Opera, and the incredible performers and creative team we had the pleasure of working with.\u201d\u2014 composer <strong>Nicole Liz\u00e9e<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cR.U.R. A Torrent of Light has been a labour of love for Nicky and myself, and we are deeply honoured to have our opera recognized by MCANA with this award. We also want to acknowledge the production&#8217;s creative team for their wonderful and awe-inspiring work in bringing R.U.R. to life.\u201d \u2014 librettist <strong>Nicolas Billon<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Awards Committee had this to say about the music:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cR.U.R. A Torrent of Light is accomplished on many levels, but we were impressed particularly by the freshness and vitality of Nicole Liz\u00e9e\u2019s score. While rooted in the minimalist tradition, the music is inventive, expressive and expertly written for the voice. Nicolas Billon\u2019s libretto cleverly employs repetition to represent the efforts of machines to express themselves. A figure of particular interest is the android Alex. It is unusual for a non-human character to invite deep sympathy. The dilemma of Alex scans as authentically operatic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations to Nicole Liz\u00e9e, Nicolas Billon, and the entire production team.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em><b>#LUDWIGVAN<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n<p class=\"western\"><em>Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"western\"><em>Sign up for the Ludwig van Daily \u2014 classical music and opera in five minutes or less <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/ludwig-van.us9.list-manage.com\/subscribe?u=4f785cb3f9058f2393ccad035&amp;id=57cdb68eac\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><em>HERE<\/em><\/a>.<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>R.U.R. A Torrent of Light is the first Canadian work to win the 2023 Award for BEST NEW OPERA from the Music Critics Association of North America (MCANA).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":96904,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40430,39,43,63],"tags":[40274,40677,4559,40229,40108,5851],"yst_prominent_words":[38760,12931,17243,23002,27359,7650,6886],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/06\/MCANA-Awards-NEWS.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-pcX","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96906,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96903\/revisions\/96906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96903"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=96903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}