{"id":46753,"date":"2025-05-30T01:53:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T08:53:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=46753"},"modified":"2025-05-29T08:37:29","modified_gmt":"2025-05-29T15:37:29","slug":"opera-based-on-true-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/05\/30\/opera-based-on-true-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera based on true stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Arya Yazgan plays young Sophia in Sophia\u2019s Forest, a chamber opera by composer Lembit Beecher and librettist Hannah Moscovitch, which is at SFU\u2019s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts until June 1. \u00a0<\/span><\/i>(photo by Anya Chibis)<\/i><\/p>\n

<\/i>City Opera Vancouver (COV) presents the Canadian premiere of Sophia\u2019s Forest,<\/i> a chamber opera by composer Lembit Beecher and librettist Hannah Moscovitch, on stage until June 1 at Studio T at SFU\u2019s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.<\/p>\n

Directed by Julie McIsaac, under the baton of COV artistic director Gordon Gerrard, the one-act opera explores various themes through the story of a young girl, Sophia, who flees civil war and settles in a new country.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a time when it\u2019s easy to feel overwhelmed by global conflict, Sophia\u2019s Forest invites us to connect to the individual stories behind the headlines,\u201d said Gerrard. \u201cComposer Lembit Beecher and librettist Hannah Moscovitch have created a deeply resonant story \u2013 one that speaks to empathy, resilience and the enduring capacity for hope amidst even the darkest circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Sophia\u2019s Forest<\/i> is not based on a single true story, it draws inspiration from the lived experiences of many who have endured war, loss and displacement. Through the fractured lens of Sophia\u2019s memory, the chamber opera speaks to the human cost of conflict and the strength required to overcome adversity. Its intimate setting and small ensemble help to magnify the emotional intensity, offering audiences a space for reflection and deeper understanding.<\/p>\n

The production integrates live performance with projections by Wladimiro Woyno and an array of mechanical sound sculptures, created from bike wheels and wine glasses, that are controlled remotely in real time by the composer Beecher. These sounds and images \u2013 accompanied by a live string quartet \u2013 conjure memories and dreams from Sophia\u2019s past: the ring of a wine glass becomes a child\u2019s voice; the whirr of a bike wheel evokes fluttering wings.<\/p>\n

For its Canadian premiere, Sophia will be performed by soprano Elena Howard-Scott, Anna (Sophia\u2019s mother) by Adanya Dunn and Wes (Anna\u2019s partner) by Luka Kawabata. Young Sophia will be performed by Arya Yazgan and Emma (Sophia\u2019s sister) by Audrey Gao, both members of the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs. The chamber opera will include sound design by Richard Berg with costumes by Alaia Hamer.<\/p>\n

Sophia\u2019s Forest <\/i>is COV\u2019s first project in a multi-year initiative that aims to showcase and explore the stories and experiences of newcomers to Canada, including celebrating artists who contribute to Canada\u2019s cultural diversity. For tickets and information, visit cityoperavancouver.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2013 Courtesy City Opera Vancouver<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arya Yazgan plays young Sophia in Sophia\u2019s Forest, a chamber opera by composer Lembit Beecher and librettist Hannah Moscovitch, which is at SFU\u2019s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts until June 1. \u00a0(photo by Anya Chibis) City Opera Vancouver (COV) presents the Canadian premiere of Sophia\u2019s Forest, a chamber opera by composer Lembit Beecher and librettist […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[20062,24045,5231,24046,24047,5412],"class_list":["post-46753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-childhood","tag-city-opera-vancouver","tag-hannah-moscovitch","tag-lembit-beecher","tag-sophias-forest","tag-war"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46753\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}