Amplified Opera Gets Louder With AMPLIFY 1.0!

AO returns to live performance with concert series AMPLIFY 1.0 to be performed within Jeffrey Gibson’s installation I AM YOUR RELATIVE at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto March 17-20, 2022.

Following the impact of Amplified Opera’s inaugural AMPLIFY Beta in 2019, the arts organization and Disruptor-in-Residence at the Canadian Opera Company returns to live performance this March with AMPLIFY 1.0, a concert series highlighting diverse stories and perspectives within classical music. AMPLIFY 1.0 will feature three separate programmes curated to represent the chosen artist’s personal and professional experiences on a specific theme. AO holds space for these artists to express themselves and to share their experiences in a way that feels authentic and on their own terms. Through AMPLIFY 1.0, Amplified Opera hopes to invite conversation and challenge the status quo. 

AMPLIFY 1.0 offers a double bill of concerts each evening / afternoon performed within Jeffrey Gibson’s installation I AM YOUR RELATIVE at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA). The series marks a new partnership for Amplified Opera with MOCA Toronto, and will be the first live performance produced by the company since 2019. 

Accessible Large Font Black and White Program

Full Colour Digital Program

March 17, 2022

Double-bill #1: MisogyME X Wreckonciliation

7:30 pm @ MOCA Toronto, 158 Sterling Rd

March 19, 2022

Double-bill #2: Spotlight X MisogyME

7:30 pm @ MOCA Toronto, 158 Sterling Rd

March 20, 2022

Double-bill #3: Spotlight X Wreckonciliation

1:00 pm @ MOCA Toronto, 158 Sterling Rd

About the Artists

MisogyME

Jonathan Christopher

Jonathan Christopher is an actor and singer currently on the North American tour of the musical Hamilton and frequently performs in operas, musicals, and concerts around the world.

Topher Mokrzewski

Topher Mokrzewskis is a pianist, conductor, director for opera and conductor divisions of Dean Artists Management, and was the founding music director of Against the Grain Theatre.

Dr. Michael Mohammed 

Michael Mohammed is an theatre and opera artist and educator whose interests lie at the intersection of expression and identity. 

Wreckonciliation

Marion Newman 

Kwagiulth and Stó:lō mezzo-Soprano Marion Newman - Nege’ga is still singing while taking on the numerous other roles offered by her amazing colleagues within the operatic sphere.

Jonathon Adams 

Jonathon Adams is a Two-Spirit, nêhiyaw michif (Cree-Métis) baritone who fuses traditional modes of storytelling with classical music in their performance of baroque repertoire and newly commissioned works. 

Yvette Nolan 

Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) is a playwright, director and dramaturg who has worked across Turtle Island in theatre, dance, and opera. 

Spotlight: Out on a Limb

Megan Miceli

Megan Miceli is a singer and musical director, as well as a proud arts educator and creator whose performances have taken her across North America and Europe. Megan is passionate about accessibility and uses her voice to champion inclusivity within the performing arts community.

Jennifer Pos 

Jennifer Pos is a pianist and trumpet player who has worked with Toronto based bands including Strike Scream Run, Garrett Jamieson & Spratticus, and Strike Scream Run. 

Bridget Ramzy 

Bridget Ramzy is an opera director and music scholar who has worked with companies like Amplified Opera and Opéra Queens to create engaging works for Canadian audiences.

About Jeffrey Gibson’s “I AM YOUR RELATIVE” at MOCA

Jeffrey Gibson is an interdisciplinary artist based in Hudson, New York. His artworks make reference to various aesthetic and material histories rooted in the Indigenous cultures of the Americas and in modern and contemporary subcultures. He is known for creating visually rich paintings and sculptures that mix materials, saturated colours, patterns, images, and text to celebrate and amplify the voices of individuals and communities both past and present.

For the exhibition I AM YOUR RELATIVE, co-commissioned by the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA) and the Toronto Biennial of Art (TBA), Gibson has created a vibrant installation that is open to change over time. A series of brightly coloured stages can be moved and reconfigured for spontaneous gatherings and organized performances within the Museum. Posters, textiles, and stickers designed by Gibson adorn surfaces throughout the space. These words and images, drawn from artworks and texts he has created in the past decade, celebrate Indigenous individuals, forms, aesthetics, and materials. Also housed within the installation is a temporary library of locally acquired and donated children's books. This visual archive, which prioritizes Indigenous, Black, Brown, and queer voices, speaks to strategies of storytelling and place-making and to what histories are remembered and how.

Specially commissioned speakers and performers, as well as members of the public, are invited to make use of the space while the exhibition is on view. For more information please visit moca.ca 

About MisogyME

A deconstruction of toxic masculinity and exploration of ideas on what it means to be a man in our contemporary world. Pianist and conductor Topher Mokrzewski (he/him) is joined by Bermudian-American baritone Jonathan Christopher (he/him) and Canadian-American stage director Dr. Michael Mohammed (he/him) to unpack the role men play in healing our societies, and when they need to step back.

About Wreckonciliation

AO co-founder, mezzo-soprano and host of CBC’s Saturday Afternoon at the Opera Marion Newman (she/her) is joined by baritone Jonathon Adams (they/them) and stage director and playwright Yvette Nolan (she/her) to stake an Indigenous claim on Western Classical music as part of Indigenous culture due to the process of forced-assimilation and erasure of Indigenous practices.

About Spotlight: Out on a Limb

Canadian Emerging Artists soprano Megan Micelli (she/her), pianist Jennifer Pos (she/her), and director Bridget Ramzy (she/her) explore the struggles and triumphs of disabled persons as they navigate the tumultuous journey between embracing your unique identity and representing a classical ideal within the opera world. The team of emerging artists will be mentored by Aria Umezawa (she/her) and Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/them).

Venue & Accessibility Information

All performances will be on the ground floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA) at 158 Sterling Rd, Toronto ON, Canada. The venue is wheelchair accessible.

Closets subway stations:

• Dundas West Station (wheelchair accessible)

• Lansdowne Station

Closest Streetcar stops:

• Dundas St W at Sterling Rd

• Lines 505 and 506

For any other accessibility requests, please email info@amplifiedopera.com.

About MOCA Toronto

The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto (MOCA) presents rotating exhibitions that prioritize twenty-first-century artistic production, primarily through commissioning of new work and providing a community space for enrichment, discourse, collaboration, and creativity. Artists, partnerships, experimentation, and reciprocal initiatives are at the center of the Museum’s mission as a locally rooted and internationally connected organization. Focused on core values promoting equity, inclusion, access, courage, and responsibility, the Museum sparks critical conversations that challenge the current cultural moment. MOCA fosters active participation and engagement in order to serve as a welcoming cultural hub in the hyper-diverse city of Toronto.

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge and thank the following organizations for their support, donations, and sponsorships in making AMPLIFY 1.0 come to life!

• The Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto Canada (MOCA) for being our venue sponsor

• Remenyi House of Music for their piano sponsorship

• The Canadian Opera Company for their continued support and guidance as the company’s Disruptor-in-Residence

• The Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts