Canadian Opera Company presents

In Winter

The COC Orchestra under Music Director Johannes Debus, the COC Chorus, and artists of the COC Ensemble Studio come together for a concert that explores and celebrates winter.

Welcome a new season with Vivaldi’s instantly recognizable and exhilarating “Winter” section of “The Four Seasons,” classic songbook selections like “Deck the Halls,” and, for the centrepiece of the program, an exciting new commission by composer Ian Cusson, who sets text by Métis writer Katherena Vermette, for solo, chorus, and orchestra in a meditative composition entitled “In Winter.”

Artists
Johannes Debus, conductor

German-born conductor Johannes Debus was appointed Music Director of the COC in 2009, having already established himself in many of the great opera houses and festivals of Europe. He made his COC debut in 2008 conducting War and Peace, and has captivated Toronto and international critics alike in the years since his appointment to the COC. Recently with the COC, he has conducted The Nightingale and Other Short Fables and The Abduction from the Seraglio.

When he is not conducting at the COC, Mr. Debus is very active with international engagements that include appearances with the BBC Proms, the orchestras of Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland, Aspen, the National Arts Centre, Houston, and Toronto, at the Spoleto, Bregenz and Tanglewood festivals, and at opera companies such as San Francisco, Berlin Staatsoper, Komische Oper Berlin, Opera Frankfurt, and Bayerische Staatsoper, among many others. In 2016, he made his Metropolitan Opera debut conducting Salome, and returned in 2017 to conduct The Tales of Hoffmann.

Melody Courage, soprano
Jamie Groote, soprano*
Midori Marsh, soprano*
Anna-Sophie Neher, soprano*
Charlotte Siegel, soprano*
Matthew Cairns, tenor*
Jonah Spungin, baritone*
Vartan Gabrielian, bass-baritone*
Alex Halliday, bass-baritone*
Sandra Horst, Price Family Chorus Master
With the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra and Chorus
*Artists of the COC Ensemble Studio

Program
“O Magnum Mysterium”
Morten Lauridsen

“Deck the Halls”
Traditional Welsh (arr. John Rutter)

“The Roadside Fire”
Songs of Travel
Ralph Vaughan Williams

“Winter”
The Four Seasons
Antonio Vivaldi

“In Winter”
Ian Cusson
World Premiere

Decet for Winds, Op. 14, Second Movement
George Enescu

“Vilja, O Vilja”
The Merry Widow
Franz Lehár

“I’ll be Home for Christmas”
Walter Kent

“The Twelve Days of Christmas”
Traditional (arr. Douglas Gamley)

“The Three Kings”
Peter Cornelius

“O Holy Night”
Adolphe Adam

Saturday, December 18, 2021 at 7:30pm ET
To enjoy this free streaming event, visit: www.coc.ca

Canadian Opera Company
Based in Toronto, the Canadian Opera Company is the largest producer of opera in Canada and one of the largest in North America. The company enjoys an international reputation for artistic excellence and creative innovation. The company presents six fully-staged productions at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts annually.

The COC’s repertoire spans the history of opera from the baroque to the 21st century and includes several commissioned works and Canadian premieres. Professional opera artists from all over the world are engaged for COC productions, including a significant number of Canadian singers, directors, conductors and designers.  The company performs with its own professional Chorus and Orchestra.  The company also fosters emerging Canadian talent through its Ensemble Studio, Orchestra Academy and Company-in-Residence programs.

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