Svadba – A Contemporary Opera by The Glenn Gould School

Published on October 25, 2021

The GGS Chamber Opera Features an All-Female Cast

The eve before her wedding, bride-to-be Milica and her five friends enjoy a night of celebration, sisterhood, prenuptial rituals, and raucous girl talk, peppered with rivalry and solidarity, in Svadba (Wedding), a contemporary opera by Ana Sokolović. Sung in Serbian, this tour de force a cappella work for six female voices, will be performed by students of The Glenn Gould School’s Price Opera Program on November 5 and 6, 2021.

With the recent return to live performances at The Royal Conservatory, excitement is high, and students are eager to enjoy the immediate feedback and energy from a live audience says Adrianne Pieczonka, Vocal Chair and Head of the Vocal Department at The Glenn Gould School (GGS). “Both opera choices this year – Svadba by Ana Sokolović and Rinaldo by Handel – are bold and challenging but our gifted young voice students are really embracing these opportunities.”

Pieczonka and Peter Tiefenbach (conductor and GGS faculty member) are great admirers of composer Ana Sokolović describing her works as thrilling, innovative, unique, and challenging. And director Jennifer Tarver, who has directed many operas for GGS in the past, brings a very organic and direct vision to this vibrant production which aligns with Pieczonka’s creative view for this opera.

“This year we have more female voice students than male students in our Artist Diploma Program so choosing Svadba, which has a cast of six female voices, made perfect sense,” explained Pieczonka. “We were also unsure whether we would be able to use an orchestra for the chamber opera and luckily Svadba has no orchestra – the cast play their own instruments – a wonderful solution!”

The cast features four ADP voice students: soprano Katelyn Bird, mezzo Chelsea Pringle Duchemin, soprano Elena Howard Scott, mezzo Maria Milenic, vocal scholar soprano Melissa Danis, and 2021-22 Rebanks Fellow mezzo Camila Montefusco.

“The cast is outstanding,” enthuses Pieczonka noting the hard work the opera demands of its singers – from whispering to combining opera singing with Balkan folk singing, the performers have to use every single possible vocal technique. “The music is rhythmically very complex and complicated. Peter Tiefenbach has guided them expertly throughout the rehearsals and the result is magical.”

Svadba, winner of a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Opera, will be performed live in Mazzoleni Concert Hall on November 5 and November 6.