A Co-production by Tapestry Opera and Against the Grain Theatre
Performance Overview
Run Time: Approx. 2 hours and 30 minutes (including intermission)
Language: Performed in English with English surtitles
Genre: Contemporary opera/rock opera
Content Advisory: Ableism including ableist slurs, abuse (familial/sibling) alcoholism, cannibalism, disordered eating, drug use (marijuana), fatphobia, gun violence, sexual harassment of a minor, starvation, strong language
About Dog Days
Dog Days is a contemporary opera that combines classical vocals with dark ambient noise and amplified electric guitars. Set during a fictional wartime blackout, the story follows a rural working-class family attempting to survive amidst military collapse and severe food shortages. The psychological drama explores human resilience, desperation, and moral breakdown when social structures disintegrate.
Critically acclaimed by The New York Times, this Canadian premiere marks a major collaboration between American composer David T. Little (Soldier Songs, JFK) and Canadian librettist Royce Vavrek (Angel’s Bone, Listen, Quiet).
Co-produced with Tapestry Opera.
Dog Days will be presented at the Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre (877 Yonge Street) on November 18 to 29.
November 18, 7:30
November 19, 7:30
November 21, 4:00
November 22, 2:00
November 25, 7:30
November 26, 7:30
November 28, 4:00
November 29, 2:00
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Tickets
Brief Synopsis
In the wake of an unspecified war on American soil, a family’s world shrinks to basic survival. 13-year-old Lisa forms a complex bond with a man in a dog suit. Her family faces a moral descent: as traditional society dissolves, they must decide what parts of their humanity they are willing to sacrifice to stay alive.
Where is Dog Days taking place in Toronto?
Dog Days is staged at the Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre, located at 877 Yonge Street (Suite 201), Toronto, ON M4W 3M2.
Is Dog Days suitable for children?
Due to dark themes, psychological tension, and realistic depictions of survival in war, Dog Days is recommended for audiences aged 16 and older.
A natural musical storyteller with “a knack for overturning musical conventions” (The New York Times), composer David T. Little is known for stage, concert, and screen works permeated with the power of the unexpected. Little probes the deep corners of human psychology, invoking political, historical, spiritual, and social themes as pathways for exploring the human condition. His broad catalog speaks to the mix of light and dark that we experience in life, unafraid to invoke the mythical, bewitching, disturbing, surreal, or comedic. He has drawn acclaim for operas including Dog Days, JFK, and the comedy Vinkensport, or The Finch Opera (all with libretto by Royce Vavrek), as well as his GRAMMY®-nominated opera Soldier Songs.
Little’s recent work Black Lodge was nominated for the 2024 GRAMMY® Award for Best Opera Recording and is the recipient of a Music Theater Now international prize. Black Lodge, a metal-infused opera with a libretto by poet Anne Waldman, was premiered by Beth Morrison Projects at Opera Philadelphia, with a soundtrack released by Cantaloupe Music. It received its European premiere at the O. Festival in Rotterdam this past May, received its West Coast Premiere in October, 2024 as part of an experiential Halloween event presented by CAP UCLA, and its New York premiere in January as part of the 2025 Prototype Festival. In November 2025, it will travel to Sweden for performance at Malmö Opera and Folkoperan.
In September, 2024, Little unveiled his opera What Belongs to You. Based on the celebrated novel by Garth Greenwell, developed for GRAMMY®-winning tenor Karim Sulayman and Alarm Will Sound, and directed by Mark Morris, and would go on to be awarded the 2025 Music Critics Association of North America Best New Opera Award. This arrived on the heels of another major work, the searching theatrical choral work, SIN-EATER, premiered in Philadelphia by The Crossing and Bergamot Quartet in the fall of 2023, conducted by Donald Nally. Based on the ancient practice of paying the poor to ritualistically “eat” the sins of the rich—allowing the privileged to move onto the next life cleansed of their guilty deeds—The Wall Street Journal praised the work’s “shattering impact.”
Little is at work on a commission from the Metropolitan Opera / Lincoln Center Theater New Works Program, as well as several other new stage, film, and concert projects.
Little has been commissioned by the world’s most prestigious institutions and performers, including recent projects for The Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater new works program, the Kennedy Center, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony, London Sinfonietta, The Crossing, Kronos Quartet, and Beth Morrison Projects. His music has been presented by Carnegie Hall, Venice Biennale, Holland Festival, LA Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Opéra de Montréal, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the LA Philharmonic. Little’s recorded catalog includes over 20 commercial releases, on such labels as New Amsterdam Records, Pentatone, Sono Luminus, Bright Shiny Things, and Cantaloupe Music.
Little is the founding artistic director and former drummer for the amplified chamber ensemble, Newspeak, which explores the relationship of music and politics, while confronting head-on the boundaries between the classical and rock traditions. They have released four commercial recordings, with a fifth on the way.
David T. Little received a 2023 Fellowship from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and is a recipient of the Copland House Residency Award. His music is published by Boosey & Hawkes.
Reprinted by kind permission of Boosey & Hawkes.
Royce Vavrek is a Canada-born, Brooklyn-based librettist and lyricist who has been called “the indie Hofmannsthal” (The New Yorker) a “Metastasio of the downtown opera scene” (The Washington Post), “an exemplary creator of operatic prose” (The New York Times), and “one of the most celebrated and sought after librettists in the world” (CBC Radio). His opera “Angel’s Bone” with composer Du Yun was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music.
With composer Missy Mazzoli he wrote “Song from the Uproar,” premiered by Beth Morrison Projects in 2012, and subsequently seen in multiple presentations around the country. Their second opera, an adaptation of Lars von Trier’s “Breaking the Waves,” premiered at Opera Philadelphia, co-commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, and directed by James Darrah to critical acclaim in September of 2016. The work won the 2017 Music Critics Association of North America award for Best New Opera and was nominated for Best World Premiere at the 2017 International Opera Awards. A new production premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival in the summer of 2019, produced by Scottish Opera and Opera Ventures, helmed by Tony Award-winning director Tom Morris and earned star Sydney Mancasola a coveted Herald Angel Award for her performance. Their next opera, an adaptation of Karen Russell’s short story “Proving Up,” was commissioned and presented by Washington National Opera, Opera Omaha and The Miller Theatre in 2018, was a finalist for the MCANA Best New Opera Award of that year. They are currently developing a grand opera for Opera Philadelphia and the Norwegian National Opera based on an original story by two-time Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Jordan Tannahill, as well as an adaptation of George Saunders’ Booker Prize-winning novel “Lincoln in the Bardo” for The Metropolitan Opera.
Teaming up with Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson, Royce wrote the story and text for two dance projects, “Crypto,” choreographed by Guillaume Côté for Côté Dance and “Evidence of It All,” choreographed by Drew Jacoby for SFDanceworks, featuring narration by the Academy Award-nominated actress Rosamund Pike. They are currently developing two grand operas: an adaptation of Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” to premiere at the Royal Swedish Opera in 2023, and “Fanny and Alexander,” working alongside creative partner Ingmar Bergman, Jr. to musicalize his late father’s classic film for La Monnaie de Munt in 2024, in a production to be directed by Ivo van Hove. Both operas are to feature renowned mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter, for whom Mikael and Royce wrote the song cycle “So We Will Vanish,” premiered by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra in 2021 to critical acclaim.
His collaboration with composer David T. Little led Heidi Waleson of the Wall Street Journal to proclaim them “one of the most exciting composer-librettist teams working in opera today.” In April of 2016 they premiered their first grand opera, “JFK,” at Fort Worth Opera, a co-commission with American Lyric Theater and Opéra de Montréal that was called “ravishing” (Opera News), earning a ten-star review in Opera Now Magazine. This followed the success of their first opera, “Dog Days,” which received its world premiere in September of 2012 at Peak Performances @ Montclair, in a production co-produced by Beth Morrison Projects and directed by American maverick Robert Woodruff. The work was celebrated as the Classical Music Event of the year by Time Out New York and a standout opera of recent decades by The New York Times. They are currently developing an original work for the Metropolitan Opera through the Met/LCT commissioning program.
Royce has also worked extensively with composer Paola Prestini, first on the song cycle "Yoani," inspired by the blog posts of Yoani Sanchez, and then on "The Hubble Cantata," a virtual reality oratorio produced by VisionIntoArt/National Sawdust in association with Beth Morrison Projects. They recently presented the workshop premiere of “Silent Light,” an opera based on the Cannes Jury Prize-winning film by Carlos Reygadas at the Banff Centre for Creativity, a collaboration with the director Thaddeus Strassberger, and are currently working on a new opera inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea.” They are also developing "Film Stills," a project for mezzo-soprano Eve Gigliotti that dramatizes four of Cindy Sherman's iconic photographs through musical monologues composed by Paola, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly and Ellen Reid, and directed by R.B. Schlather. Royce and Paola's collaboration can be further heard on the AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope recording, where their song "Union," as sung by Isabel Leonard, is featured.
In 2014 Royce premiered “27,” his first collaboration with composer Ricky Ian Gordon, at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. Created for renowned mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, the work brought to life Gertrude Stein’s famous salon at 27 rue de Fleurus in Paris. Mark Ray Rinaldi of the Denver Post wrote that the opera “tells a great American story, about Gertrude Stein, as well as opera in the 21st century.” The opera was subsequently presented by Pittsburgh Opera, MasterVoices at New York City Center, Michigan Opera Theater, Opéra de Montréal and Opera Las Vegas. In 2017 their adaptation of Gail Rock’s Christmas classic “The House Without a Christmas Tree” for Houston Grand Opera was premiered to critical acclaim.
Other recent and upcoming projects include “Strip Mall” with Matt Marks for the Los Angeles Philharmonic; “Epistle Mass” with Julian Wachner for Trinity Wall Street, “Midwestern Gothic” with Josh Schmidt for Signature Theatre, Virginia; “Naamah’s Ark” with Marisa Michelson for MasterVoices; “O Columbia” with Gregory Spears for HGOco; “Knoxville: Summer of 2015” with Ellen Reid for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and National Sawdust; “The Wild Beast of the Bungalow” with Rachel Peters for Oberlin Conservatory; “Jacqueline” with Luna Pearl Woolf for Tapestry New Opera; “Adoration” (based on the film by Atom Egoyan) with Mary Kouyoumdjian for Beth Morrison Projects; “The Cremation of Sam McGee” with Matthew Ricketts, supported by a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts; and “Agnes” with Daníel Bjarnason for the Icelandic Opera.
Royce is co-Artistic Director of The Coterie, an opera-theater company founded with Tony-nominee Lauren Worsham. He holds a BFA in Filmmaking and Creative Writing from Concordia University’s Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema in Montreal and an MFA from the Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at New York University. He is an alum of American Lyric Theater’s Composer Librettist Development Program.
Hailing from Winnipeg, Elena is a versatile soprano residing in Toronto, Ontario. Growing up in a musical family, Elena has loved being on stage since childhood, whether it be in orchestra, dance, musicals, or solo day at school. She holds a Bachelor of Music (Vocal Performance) from the University of Manitoba, where she studied with Tracy Dahl, and an Artist Diploma Voice at the Glenn Gould School (Royal Conservatory of Music), where she studied with Adrianne Pieczonka and Peter Tiefenbach.
In 2023/2024, Elena was a proud member of the Rebanks Family Fellowship, enjoying numerous performance opportunities around the GTA. In 2025/2026, she is excited to partner with Opera On The Avalon in St. John's, Newfoundland, as part of their Emerging Artist Program.
Deemed "someone to watch" (Ludwig Van Toronto), Elena is a brave and committed performer who enjoys a wide variety of styles. As a frequent competitor in the classical scene, Elena's competition highlights include receiving the Grand Prize at the Corcoran Concerto Competition at the Glenn Gould School, being awarded the Kurt Weill Foundation Prize in the Lotte Lenya Competition, placing first in the North Dakota/Manitoba District in the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, and claiming first place in the CFMTA National Vocal Competition.
Recent credits include a company debut at the Canadian Opera Company in Christopher Alden's Rigoletto, role debuts as Blanche de la Force in The Royal Conservatory of Music's Les Dialogues des Carmélites and Janine in The Handmaid's Tale (Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity), as well as the roles of Sibella in A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (Drayton Entertainment) and Rapunzel in Into the Woods (Koerner Hall). Elena frequently performs at the Victoria Playhouse Petrolia in Petrolia, Ontario and recently made her Mirvish debut in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812.
She was honoured to perform the North American première of Bernard Foccroulle’s The Journal of Hélène Berr, make her Maison Symphonique debut (Montréal) with Maestro Francis Choinière and l'Orchestre FILMharmonique in Disney's Frozen in Concert, and perform as a guest artist with the Royal Conservatory of Music’s ARC Ensemble. Additionally, she recently joined City Opera Vancouver for the Canadian premiere of Beecher’s Sophia’s Forest, in the titular role. As part of her partnership with Opera on the Avalon, Elena is excited to record a personally commissioned piece by Canadian composer Ian Cusson, as well as cover the role of Euridice in Pacific Opera Victoria's production of Orphée et Euridice. Coming up, Elena is excited to cover the role of Despina at the Canadian Opera Company, make her company debut with Tapestry Opera, and make her debuts with the Winnipeg, Regina and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestras.
Tenor Keith Klassen has emerged to become one of Canada’s busiest vocal artists. Since graduating with honours from the Opera Division at the University of Toronto in 2002, he has performed over one hundred roles from the standard and new operatic repertoire. He has been engaged across Canada, as well as in Scotland, Ireland, Germany, the United States, the Czech Republic, and the Bahamas. He has received rave reviews, praised as a “tour de force, a commanding presence with superb vocal skills” (The Ontario Arts Review), for being “a skilled tenor, vocally spirited and robust, who works his emotional range with depth and authenticity” (For The Record), and as “one of the country’s most versatile artists, whose leading-man swagger, comic panache and solid-brass vocals steal the show whenever he appears” (The Toronto Star). NOW Magazine went so far as to rate Keith as one of Toronto’s top ten theatre artists.
Keith has also continued to create auteur short films, often with an operatic slant, including: ‘Silly Distance’ – a singer considers what we should do with new ideas when they enter our brains, whilst running a marathon; ‘Big World’ – two caterpillars express what they hope will happen to their failed relationship; ‘Odd’ – a man tricks another man, and secretes him under a tree; and ‘Choose Our Own Operatic Adventure’ – a piece where live audiences make outcome determinative decisions for the main character. Works in production include ‘A Silent Opera’ – a man tries to find success by singing opera in a voiceless scape; ‘Make Belief Blower’ – a mockumentary of the creation of the most beautiful duet ever written, for soprano and leaf blower; and ‘Best Men’ – featuring one of Canada’s favourite baritones, Alex Dobson, playing a man, waiting for a wedding reception, who can’t get enough of his own alliterations.
Dubbed “the divine Ms Watkins” by the New York Times, soprano Amelia Watkins has performed with leading orchestras and opera companies in the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe. Since her European debut at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, she has appeared with the Los Angeles Opera, New York City Opera, the Estates Theatre/National Theatre Prague, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, Weill Hall, Lincoln Centre, the Tanglewood Music Festival, the Verbier Festival, The National Arts Centre, Prototype Festival, and in concert in Hong Kong. Her operatic roles include Pamina Die Zauberflöte, Valencienne Merry Widow, Norina Don Pasquale, Despina Così fan Tutte, Zerlina Don Giovanni, Musetta La Bohème, Mme. Herz The Impresario, Gretel Hansel & Gretel, Frasquita Carmen, Dafne Apollo e Dafne, Elle La Voix Humaine, and extensive scenes of Handel heroines Armida and Cleopatra performed with baroque orchestra. Oratorio performance highlights include Handel's Messiah, Bach’s Magnificat, the Requiem of Mozart, Fauré and Rutter performed at Carnegie Hall, and of Manfred Trojahn performed at the Gewandhaus, Mozart's Exultate, Jubilate and Coronation Mass, and Mahler's Symphony #2, performed at The National Arts Center in Ottawa. In fall 2026 she presents a recital with pianist Mila Henry in NYC (Harvard Club), sings the role of Mother in the Canadian premiere of Dog Days (Little/Vavrek) with Tapestry Opera in Toronto, and will host and sing in an Opera Pub with Against The Grain opera, also in Toronto.
Embracing musical styles from Bach to Berio and beyond, Amelia specializes in the works of living and experimental composers, and has premiered over 40 new works, performing at Joe’s Pub, Le Poisson Rouge, Roulette, National Sawdust, and Issue Project Room, among other venues. Amelia has performed and premiered 5 roles and multiple concert works for Beth Morrison Projects, working with the company since its early years. She is a frequent vocalist in Darmstadt’s In C. Amelia’s voice was represented in a 496 channel wavefield synthesis speaker array at EMPAC in Troy, NY, by experimental composer Zach Layton, the first use of this technology. She has been featured as a contributing vocalist in the MOMA installation “Meta'/Physical Therapy” by renowned media artist Shana Moulton, and in an installation by artist Jeanine Oleson at the New Museum. Amelia is the vocalist for the dance work, Hammer, choreography, direction, sets, and lighting design by Alexander Ekman, music by Mikael Karlsson, currently on world tour.
Amelia has been featured in recording on the Grammy-nominated album Vocabularies with Bobby McFerrin, Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s highly acclaimed opera Song From The Uproar, Albany Record’s New Growth, and the studio recording of Michael Gordon and Deborah Artman’s Acquanetta. Her film and television work includes 'Breastmilk:The Movie'(Ricki Lake, executive producer), Bravo TV (Canada) "Comédies Musicales", and various commercial and indie film scores. A versatile singer, Amelia enjoys backing up rock and pop bands in the NYC circuit.
A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Ms. Watkins is the recipient of multiple substantial grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, The Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for Young Canadian Opera Singers, and has been recognized in other regional, national and international competitions. She has been a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival, a Young Artist at Berkshire Opera, a featured academy artist at the Verbier Festival, participant in the Cleveland Art Song Festival, the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop with Thomas Quasthoff, and a resident performer with the Metropolitan Opera Guild outreach program. Amelia is a citizen of Canada, Ireland (European Union), and the United States.
Embracing musical styles from Bach to Berio and beyond, Amelia specializes in the works of living and experimental composers, and has premiered over 40 new works, performing at Joe’s Pub, Le Poisson Rouge, Roulette, National Sawdust, and Issue Project Room, among other venues. Amelia has performed and premiered 5 roles and multiple concert works for Beth Morrison Projects, working with the company since its early years. She is a frequent vocalist in Darmstadt’s In C. Amelia’s voice was represented in a 496 channel wavefield synthesis speaker array at EMPAC in Troy, NY, by experimental composer Zach Layton, the first use of this technology. She has been featured as a contributing vocalist in the MOMA installation “Meta'/Physical Therapy” by renowned media artist Shana Moulton, and in an installation by artist Jeanine Oleson at the New Museum. Amelia is the vocalist for the dance work, Hammer, choreography, direction, sets, and lighting design by Alexander Ekman, music by Mikael Karlsson, currently on world tour.
Amelia has been featured in recording on the Grammy-nominated album Vocabularies with Bobby McFerrin, Missy Mazzoli and Royce Vavrek’s highly acclaimed opera Song From The Uproar, Albany Record’s New Growth, and the studio recording of Michael Gordon and Deborah Artman’s Acquanetta. Her film and television work includes 'Breastmilk:The Movie'(Ricki Lake, executive producer), Bravo TV (Canada) "Comédies Musicales", and various commercial and indie film scores. A versatile singer, Amelia enjoys backing up rock and pop bands in the NYC circuit.
A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Ms. Watkins is the recipient of multiple substantial grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, The Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation for Young Canadian Opera Singers, and has been recognized in other regional, national and international competitions. She has been a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Festival, a Young Artist at Berkshire Opera, a featured academy artist at the Verbier Festival, participant in the Cleveland Art Song Festival, the Carnegie Hall Professional Training Workshop with Thomas Quasthoff, and a resident performer with the Metropolitan Opera Guild outreach program. Amelia is a citizen of Canada, Ireland (European Union), and the United States.
William Yong is currently the artistic director and founder of **Zata Omm (**Zen And The Actualization Of Modern Movement) and W Zento Production based in Toronto. William has spent last nineteen years breaking new ground collaborating with artists, scientists and engineers in bold and innovative ways. In particular Zata Omm has become a site for research under his tenure, focussing on the integration of dance, technology and broader culture in order to re-imagine performances for our technological age. W Zento Production is a film and video production house found its way to be in response to the demand for the vibrant short films industries. A major dance critic hails his work “…It shows Yong going where no Canadian choreographer before him has gone before…so much originality…". He has created many choreographic works for the company including several full-length productions including Steer. Critics hailed Steer as "…spell-binding, disturbing, fascinating, provocative, and profound theatre. (Lighting and Sound America Magazine). “Otherworldly, impossibly beautiful. These are unknown compounds creating a new universe." (Blue Ceiling Dance).
William Yong's first passion was music. When he was young, he was a member of the Hong Kong Children's Choir and toured numerous festivals and concerts. Then he went on to become the lead-singer and songwriter of a music band Fundamental and a recording artist/group with BMG Asia Pacific Records and Current Records. Fundamental received two prestigious awards: Carlsberg Pop Music Festival band competition 1st runner up and a bronze prize of Hong Kong Commercial Radio's Best New Artist Award.
He received his dance and drama training at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts while he was a singer. After graduation, he was twice the recipient of the HK Jockey Club Dance Fund scholarships. He gave up his singing career and chose to further his dance study in the U.K. at the London Contemporary Dance School. He was sent alone for placement to study with Netherlands Dance Theatre 1 in the last year of MA study, followed by a scholarship to be a member of the LCDS-4D performance group where he worked with several distinguished British choreographers including Richard Alston, Laurie Booth, Nigel Charnock, and Henri Oguike. He completed his Master's Degree in dance with distinction validated by and graduated at University of Kent in Canterbury. Past companies he worked for as a dancer include: Wayne McGregor's Random Dance and Matthew Bourne's Adventures In Motion Pictures in the U.K.; Toronto Dance Theatre, CORPUS, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Côté Danse, Lina Cruz/Fila 13, Blue Ceiling Dance, Chimera Project in Canada and many other independent choreographers in both countries.
William's professional dance and theatre career spans more than thirty years since starting with Random Dance in 1994. He has performed in 75 cities within 15 countries. He presented his first choreography for paying audiences in a production in Freiburg, Germany in 1993 and now he has created over 150 dance, theatre and film works world-wide.
William's choreographic works have been presented by major dance presenters such as Toronto's DanceWorks, Harbourfront Centre's World Stage & NextStep and Tiger Princess Dance, and Montreal's Tangente Laboratoire Mouvements Contemporains and Montréal Arts Interculturels (MAI). His works have been shown at festivals and major event such as ÉCLATS-Vitrine Festival Canasian and Festival Accès Asie in Montreal, CorresponDANSE in Quebec City, Guelph Contemporary Dance Festival, Toronto's World Stage, Luminato Festival, Fall For Dance North, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Winter City Festival, dance:made in canada/fait au canada, CanAsian Dance Festival, Dance Ontario Weekend, Dusk Dances, Old & Young and Reckless Together, fFIDA, etc.
From 2010 to 2013, he directed the Zata Omm Dance and Technology Research Laboratory funded by the George Cedric Metcalf Foundation. These research aimed to explore the artistic climate and seeks profound relationships between the latest technology and movement as a strategic analysis initiative. William conducted seven unique research residencies with technological artists such as Ying Gao (Interactive garment designer) and Asethetec (Interactive technology studio). Because of William's unique creative vision and ability to produce large-scale technologically intensive works, he was invited to be the guest speaker at Staging Sustainability International Conference, DigiFest's Future 15 Talk, Canadian Dance Assembly's ‘Technological Innovation’ workshop, Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, Dancers’ Transition Resource Centre's ‘On The Move’ conferences, Dance Umbrella of Ontario, Theatre School of Ryerson University, Lululemon Athletica's Career Talk and Toronto District School Board Seminar.
William has been commissioned to choreograph for other dance companies such as National Ballet of Canada (Season 2023-2024), Echo Chamber Toronto, Little Pear Garden Company, CORPUS, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Toronto Dance Theatre (Four at the Winch), Pivotal Motion Dance Theatre and National Ballet of Canada's gala fundraiser ‘Mad Hot Ballet: Lost in Venice'. In the past, William was appointed as the 2024 International Dance Day Ontario Ambassador invited by Dance Ontario and Dance Umbrella of Ontario. He has worked as a performance coach for Olympian Ice-dancing figure skater Paul Poirier and renowned composer/pianist Njo Kong Kie, as a mentor for Robert Abubo at CanAsian Festival, Samyuktha Sharath (Infinite Arts Projects), Gadfly, Jasmyn Fyffe Dance, as a technological consultant for Loretta Faveri, as an artistic consultant to Malar Janagan, and as a rehearsal director for Chimera Project, AKA Dance and Piotr Biernat. He was also the artistic advisory committee for Fall For Dance North International Presenters Program (IPP) in 2018. As an educator, he choreographed for educational institutes like Ryerson University, George Brown College, School of Toronto Dance Theatre, L'école de danse de Québec, Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts, Turning Point Dance Academy, Earl Haig Secondary School and Unionville High School. He also taught master choreographic workshops and gave master technique classes for World Stage, Fall For Dance North, Series 808, York University, McMaster University, National Ballet of Canada's In Studio, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Lester B. Pearson School for the Arts, Earl Haig Secondary School, GMD, 509 Collective, Theatre Rusticle Summer Intensive, Toronto Dance Theatre, Little Pear Garden Collective, Emerging Artists Intensive, Matthew Bourne's AMP and New Adventures.
William and Zata Omm have produced three dance short films: Sugar and Snails and To Fly or Fall both directed by Kathi Prosser, Eden Planted directed by Lisa Mann, all of which were shown in cities and festivals around the world. William also performed in ten other dance films created by others. William is also an actor appeared in TV and films such as The Expanse, Nikita, Being Erica, Kim's Convenience, Adventure's Inc, Beautiful People, Eve, Just Business, etc. William has choreographed for and performed in music videos for The Used's Rise Up Light, The Nexus and Over And Over Again, Mother Mother's Modern Love, Apocalytica's Cold Blood and Adaline's Part Of You.
William was profiled in three documentaries as a choreographer. One was an episode of the Bravo channel TV show Freedom, another one was documenting him as resident guest choreographer and the creation of Truce for Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, and the third one documenting the making of vox:lumen for World Stage 2015.
In live theatre work, he played the lead role of ‘The Wolf’ in Peter and The Wolf and played ‘The Hero’ in Dinner at Seven-Thirty for Theatre Rusticle's stage productions*.* He also performed in **Theatre Passe Muraille/lemonTree creations’ production** ***TOKA*** and **Against The Grain Theatre's *Kopernikus***. He was the director, scenic designer, music and movement director for three plays ***Comfort, The Monkey Queen*** and ***Carried by the River*** by Diana Tso for **Red Snow Collective**. He was the music and movement directors for their first production ***Red Snow***. He also assisting-directed and choreographed for lemonTree creations’ workshop versions of ***The Blood Cycle***. He recently choreographed for Canadian Stage's production ***How To fail As A Popstar*** directed by Brendan Healy.
For William's theatre directorial debut Comfort in 2016, he was nominated for MyTheatre Awards’ ‘Outstanding Direction’ by My Entertainment World. This play he directed also earned two more nominations for ‘Outstanding Supporting Actor’ and ‘Outstanding Supporting Actress’ from the same award in addition to another nomination for a Dora Mavor Moore Awards ‘Outstanding Composition’.
William and his works received ten Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations. His latest Dora Awards nominations was for Zata Omm's Eden Planted including Outstanding Production, Outstanding Original Choreography and Outstanding Achievement in Design. William was also nominated for the Young Centre Performing Arts Multidisciplinary Dance Artists Award 2012 and a three-timed finalist of K.M. Hunter Artists Award in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
William was awarded as the winner of 2013 “I love dance/J'aime la danse” Award for Innovation presented by Canadian Dance Assembly. William Yong's solo Steer and a shared, double-billed production in a programming of ‘Dance: Made in Canada/Fait au Canada’ Festival won the top honour from NOW magazine as Number One in their top five dance shows in 2013 for the year in review by Kathleen Smith: '…rigorous, virtuosic solos looking in completely different directions…Stunning.' In addition, the ensemble, of which William was a member, in Against The Grain Theatre's opera production Kopernikus were the winner of the Dora Mavor Moore Award 2019 for ‘Outstanding Performance of an Ensemble’ in the Opera Division.
As a film director, William has directed over 37 films and is an award-winning cinematographer at Venice Shorts Film Awards and Cine Paris Film Festival for Best Cinematography for two short films he directed, filmed and edited. His short films were also the winners of ‘Award of Excellence’ at the One-Reeler Short Film Festival in Los Angeles; Best Short Short at Palm Springs Movie Awards; Best Experimental Short at Barcelona Indie Awards, Madrid Arthouse Film Festival and Nashville Independent Filmmakers Festival; and Best Experimental Film at San Jose Independent Film Festival.
William's commitment to pushing boundaries led to historic recognition: the first Asian choreographer commissioned for the National Ballet of Canada‘s season 2023 to 2024. His ballet UtopiVerse was premiered in March 2024 at the main stage of the prestigious Toronto Four Seasons Centre for Performing Arts.
His major forthcoming projects include directing his third theatre play Carried By The River for Red Snow Collective.
Praised by The Globe and Mail for “...his silky, emotional presence on stage – both vocally and dramatically...”, Sri Lankan tenor Asitha Tennekoon has established himself as one of Canada’s most versatile singing artists. In 2017 he received a Dora Award for his acclaimed portrayal of Paul in Tapestry Opera/Scottish Opera’s Rocking Horse Winner. Asitha is sought after for performances spanning from Baroque to experimental repertoire.
This season, Asitha is the tenor soloist in Messiah (Grand Philharmonic Choir, Chorus Niagara) and continues to expand his reputation as an impressive interpreter of Bach’s Evangelists, with guest performances with Amadeus Choir (Christmas Oratorio) and Regina Symphony (St. John Passion), as well as Cantatas with Toronto Bach Festival in 2026.
Asitha recently shared the stage with pianist Steven Philcox in “Belonging”, a solo recital for Women’s Musical Club of Toronto featuring works by Cusson, Vaughan Williams, Loren and Muhly, and looks forward to singing Britten’s St. Nicolas Cantata with Pax Christi Chorale.
Asitha has performed principal roles with Pacific Opera Victoria, Canadian Opera Company, Edmonton Opera, Opera de Montréal and Opera Lafayette. Recent highlights include Bill (Flight) with Vancouver Opera, Peter Quint (Turn of the Screw) with Opera 5, and Devon in Missing: In Concert with Toronto Summer Music Festival.
In 2026, Asitha returns to Pacific Opera Victoria as Spoletto in Tosca.
Yanik Gosselin, hailed for “his masterful diction and his well-supported upper register [which] made for an evening of tenorial delights” (OperaCanada), is a tenor from the Lake Temiskaming area of northeastern Ontario, now living in Toronto. More than a singer, he is a passionate storyteller, sensitive musician, and dedicated collaborator. His repertoire, spanning early baroque opera, contemporary premieres, and even rock, speaks to his versatility. An expressive recitalist, Yanik moves audiences through his interpretations of art song and chamber music, continually seeking innovative ways to tell stories through music and multidisciplinary work.
In the 2025-2026 season, Yanik performed Blondel in Grétry’s Richard Cœur-de-lion with Opera in Concert, earning praise as an “exemplar of the French lyric tradition” (La Scena Musicale). Season highlights include Edoardo Milfort in La cambiale di matrimonio (Glenn Gould School), and Tonio in La fille du régiment (Grande Prairie Opera); guest appearances with the Choeur du Moulin, the Avanti Singers, and the Stratford Concert Choir; opera pub performances with Against the Grain Theatre and Opera Revue; and writing and performing a solo cabaret, BRAVA: A Cabaret of Devotions, at the 2026 Toronto Fringe Festival.
Recent highlights include Le Prince Charmant in Cendrillon (Grande Prairie Opera), Raimbault in Meyerbeer’s Robert le diable (Opera in Concert), and his first performance as the Evangelist in excerpts from Bach’sSt. Matthew Passion at the Banff Centre, where he also participated in workshops of new music by composer Karim Al-Zand. Other notable roles include Marco in The Gondoliers(Toronto Operetta Theatre), Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, and Philips in The Perfect Screw (latter two with theGlenn Gould School). Earlier roles include Ernesto (Don Pasquale, Under the Spire), Acis (Acis and Galatea, Opera McGill), and Ruggiero (La liberazione di Ruggiero, Opera McGill).
Yanik has appeared as tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Honegger’s Le Roi David, and Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle. He has curated and performed several solo recitals, including I give him songs…, which explores themes of love, loss and legacy, and features Wind and Wood, a new song cycle composed for him by John Gordon Armstrong on poetry by Seymour Mayne.
He has participated in residencies with the Banff Centre, Manitoba Opera, Tapestry Opera, the Association for Opera in Canada, OPERA America, and the National Arts Centre, experiences that have shaped him into a multi-hyphenated artist devoted to the growth of the Canadian opera sector. Yanik has also worked as a project coordinator for non-profit arts organizations and is passionate about community engagement through the arts.
Since 2025, Yanik sits on the Board of Directors of the Canadian Art Song Project. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Ottawa and a Master of Music from McGill University.
Praised for her “wonderfully rich, warm sound” (Opera Canada), mezzo-soprano Alex Hetherington was recently named one of CBC Radio’s “30 Hot Classical Musicians Under 30.” In the 2025/26 season, Ms. Hetherington, a Canadian Opera Company (COC) Ensemble Studio graduate, returns to the COC as Stéphano in Amy Lane’s Roméo et Juliette and makes a role debut as Dorabella in Vancouver Opera’s Così fan tutte. In concert, she joins the National Ballet of Canada in their newly commissioned ballet, Procession, reunites with the National Arts Centre Orchestra for a recording project with Maestro Alexander Shelley, and makes much-anticipated debuts with Boston Baroque in Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and with Les Violons du Roy in Mozart’s Requiem.
A highly skilled concert musician, Ms. Hetherington made her National Arts Centre Orchestra debut in 2022 as the alto soloist in Mozart's Requiem under the baton of Bernard Labadie. This marked the beginning of a series of collaborations with the orchestra, including notable performances of Ana Sokolović’s Golden Slumbers Kiss Your Eyes and the premiere of Cecilia Livingston’s orchestral arrangements of lieder selections by Clara Schumann, led by Alexander Shelley. Other highlights include Ian Cusson’s Songs from the House of Death with the Victoria Symphony under Christian Kluxen, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Ottawa Chamberfest and the Mandle Philharmonic, Duruflé’s Requiem with the Amadeus Choir, and her first Messiah with Chorus Niagara. An accomplished recitalist, she has also curated programs for the Toronto Summer Music Festival and the Norcop Art Song Recital at the University of Toronto.
Alex’s recent operatic engagements include Siebel in a new production of Gounod's Faust at the Canadian Opera Company directed by Amy Lane, and her Vancouver Opera debut as the Stewardess in Jonathan Dove’s Flight. During her time as an ensemble member with the Canadian Opera Company, she performed Mercédès in Carmen, Lapák in The Cunning Little Vixen, Second Handmaiden in Cherubini’s Medea, and the Slave in Salome, while also covering Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, and Suli in the world premiere of Kye Marshall and Amanda Hale’s Pomegranate. Skilled in the realm of new music, Alex premiered the role of [Riley] in Nicole Lizée’ and Nicholas Billon’s R.U.R. A Torrent of Light at Tapestry Opera, for which she won a 2022 Dora Mavor Moore Award. Further operatic credits include Offred in Paul Rouder's The Handmaid's Tale (Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity), Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Carmen in La tragédie de Carmen (UofT Opera), and Nicklausse in Les Contes d’Hoffmann (Toronto City Opera).
Alex holds a Bachelor’s in Voice Performance and a Master's in Opera Performance from the University of Toronto, where she was recognized with the Jim and Charlotte Norcop Award in Art Song and named the winner of the UTSO Concerto Competition.
Michael Hidetoshi Mori is the General Director and Artistic Director of Tapestry Opera and a freelance opera director based in Toronto, Canada. Michael has won Canada’s highest award for outstanding direction in opera twice, has received accolades as a recording artist and film director, and developed and directed Nicole Lizée and Nicolas Billon’s R.U.R., a Torrent of Light which won the Music Critics’ Association of North America 2023 Best New Opera (marking the first time for a Canadian work.) He recently became the youngest recipient of Opera Canada’s Ruby Award for his co-creation of the Women in Musical Leadership program with co-awardee Jaime Martino. Michael is also the past chair of the Association for Opera in Canada and a board member of Opera America.
Select Tapestry projects that Michael has piloted include working with The Ontario College of Art and Design to create cue-able, collaboratively developed wearable tech for the robot-opera R.U.R. a torrent of light; Persian Classical musicians and a Farsi rapper for the opera Forbidden; 10+ Indigenous artists and elders for the collaborative creation of Shanawdithit, giving voice back to the last living Beothuk (the first full Indigenous genocide in North America); and creating the Opera Writers Room during the pandemic to create S.O.S. aka Sketch Opera Shorts with a team of writers, composers, singers, and pianists exchanging roles fluidly. Michael has led Tapestry Opera since 2014, helping commission and premiere over 15 major Canadian works.
Gregory Oh gained his notoriety as a “new music revolutionary” but his wandering of the genres has seen him appear in places from the legendary techno club Berghain to the Beijing Modern Music Festival, and the Ubumuntu Festival in Kigali to Lincoln Centre in New York City.
As a pianist, he was praised in the National Post for his “mesmerizing performance…intelligence and soul; imagination and insight. He revealed a visceral sense of tempo, excellent voicing, a wonderful pianistic palette, and a warm honest sound,” and lauded in the Toronto Star for “a superhuman interpretation of André Ristic’s keyboard-smashing avalanche of notes.” Gregory “is clearly on his way, through performances, commissioning and programming, to making a lasting contribution to new music in this country.” (National Post/CAN).
He holds graduate degrees from the University of Toronto, where he completed his studies with Marietta Orlov as the top graduating pianist, and the University of Michigan, where he worked with Martin Katz.
A rising music director and conductor, he recently received the 2022 Dora Mavor Award for Outstanding Music Direction for his work on the premiere of RUR: A Torrent of Light by Nicole Lizée and Nicolas Billon. Other credits include The Cave by John Millard and Tomson Highway, Bearing with director Michael Greyeyes (Signal Theatre/Luminato), Ride the Wind with AACM founding member Roscoe Mitchell and the Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra, The Raven (University of Toronto), Melancholiac: The Music of Scott Walker (Bad New Days/Summerworks), Cold Spring (2011) at New York’s EMPAC and Native Earth’s Giiwedin (2010).
Known for his imaginative programming ideas, he has programmed at The Music Gallery, the Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound and most recently at the Harbourfront Centre. He has taught at Memorial University of Newfoundland, and currently teaches at the University of Toronto and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.
Holly Meyer-Dymny (they/she) is an award-winning Canadian theatre designer, artist, painter, mentor, educator, activist, and a board member of the Associated Designers of Canada IA local 659. She currently lives and works out of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Holly creates Set and Lighting Designs for theatre, dance, opera, and musical theatre; and after completing a Theatre Ontario Professional Theatre Training Program her practice has expanded her work to include Projection Design. Her process focuses on conversation, collaboration, holistic design, and equitable, accessible, greener practices.
They have lived coast-to-coast and works with companies across the country on some of Canada’s smallest and largest stages. They spent two seasons as the set design assistant at the Stratford Festival, designed set and projections for Phantom of the Opera starring some of Canada’s top talent, and created a set design for a chamber-opera that packed down into carry-on luggage to be transported on Via Rail to Ottawa.
She won the Hart House Patrons Pick Award for her Set Designs two years in a row and created the Set Design for the DORA nominated Outstanding Production of FAWN Chamber Creative’s Opera Pandora. Her designs have been called gorgeous, whimsical, and a visual feast by audiences and reviewers.
Holly loves to share her knowledge and expertise with students and has designed, taught, and and mentored at Dalhousie University, Toronto Metropolitan University, Laurier University, and Sheridan College. She is a huge nerd who loves to share her passion for drafting, painting, props, digital techniques, greener more accessible practices, and her experience creating a resilient livelihood as an artist. Working with students is an honour and she truly believes that learning and teaching is always a two-way exchange.
Over the past few years Holly has participated in numerous panels, round-tables, and work groups to develop better practices for theatre and art creation. They are a champion of creating a unique, resilient, and sustainable life and art practice. All of our paths are different and no life or art practice is the same.
When she isn’t designing for the stage you can find her creating children’s book illustrations, baking, gardening, reading a good fantasy novel, or somewhere in the woods with Penny the dog.
Rachel Forbes is an award-winning set and costume designer creating for theatre, dance and film. Her work has been seen across the country on stages including at the Shaw Festival, Buddies in Bad Times, Obsidian Theatre, Neptune Theatre, Young People’s Theatre, Centaur Theatre and many more. She has designed, mentored and taught at Ryerson University. Rachel is currently serving on the board of directors of the Associated Designers of Canada. Rachel received a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her costume design for The Brothers Size (Soulpepper Theatre, 2019) and a Robert Merritt Award for her set design for The Bridge (2B/Neptune Theatre, 2019).
Rachel is particularly interested in the development of new works and interdisciplinary explorations. She has been experimenting with designer-led theatre projects and is keen to integrate design into the text creation process. Rachel is invested in exploring the artistic expressions of the African diaspora in North America and beyond. Much of her work has focused on creating worlds for these stories on stage.
Jacob Beecher is a theatre professional based in Toronto. He is a graduate of the Theatre Arts – Technical Production program at Humber Polytechnic. Jacob has worked in various capacities with a number of theatre companies in Toronto.
Selected credits include: Production Manager: Pastoral (Shakespeare in the Ruff); Thought Network Symposium (Generator); Stage Manager: White Man’s Indian, Annie Mae’s Movement, Whistling Pine, Salt-Water Moon, War Shirt – 2024 Workshop, Whistling Pine – 2024 Workshop (Centre for Indigenous Theatre), The Power of the Land – Sultans of String & Don Ross (Luminato Festival), The History of the World – 2026 Workshop (HOT-W Collective), Witness for the Persecution – 2025 Workshop (Cabaret Company), Apprentice Stage Manager: Queen Maeve, CHILD-ish (Tarragon Theatre); Assistant Stage Manager: The Red Moon, Sixty Below, The Bridge, Girl Who Loved Her Horses (Centre for Indigenous Theatre); Production Support: The Tempest: A Witch in Algiers (Shakespeare in the Ruff); Production Support/Captions Coordinator: Tiff’ny of Athens (Shakespeare in the Ruff)
Glenn Davidson has worked as a production manager and set and lighting designer in Toronto for over 40 years, with more than five hundred productions to his credit. Recent projects include: The History of the World (HOTW Productions) Radio Town (Blyth Festival), Le Malentendu, Les Filles de Roi, Feu M. Feydeaux (Theatre Francais de Toronto) and Saltwater Moon (Centre for Indigenous Theatre) His work has garnered 3 Dora Mavor Moore awards, a Harold award, and the Pauline McGibbon award.
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