Freya Milliken

This powerful new song cycle by composer Michael Donovan and poet John Sobol receives its world premiere, featuring bass-baritone Marcus Nance, pianist Carl Philippe Gionet, and a cast of local vocalists. ritten for nine voices and piano, this all-ages work gives voice to the natural world through a series of poems imagined as written by the animals themselves, set within a northern landscape shaped by beauty, fragility, and change. At its centre is the Ghost of the Woolly Mammoth, who encounters a Polar Bear, Arctic Tern, Bowhead Whale, Krill, Wolf, Moose, Lemming, and Arctic Blue Butterfly. Hailed by The New York Times as “thrillingly powerful,” Nance is a compelling and versatile performer with acclaimed work across opera, musical theatre, and new music. Gionet is active as a pianist, collaborative artist, and vocal coach in Canada and Europe.

Marcus Nance, bass-baritone: Ghost of the Woolly Mammoth Jon-Paul Décosse, bass-baritone: Polar Bear KJ Jackman, soprano: Arctic Tern Paula Rockwell, mezzo-soprano: Bowhead Whale Amelia Wheeler, mezzo-soprano: Krill Patrick Maubert, baritone: Wolf Ariel Tiomkin, soprano: Lemming Freya Milliken, alto: Moose Jennifer Farrell, soprano: Arctic Blue Butterfly Carl Philippe Gionet, pianist

Anne-Marie Donovan, stage director Dylan Hay, live sound, recording

John Sobol, poet Michael Donovan, composer​, co-producer