Identity: A Song Cycle

The Toronto world premiere of the song cycle IDENTITY was described by soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee as ‘a truly astonishing happening; a feast for the eyes and ears.’ In early June 2020, during the Black Lives Matter movement, Torontonian baritone Elliot Madore opened up on social media about his struggles with unabashedly expressing his identity as a biracial person. Director Joel Ivany and Madore came together to find a way to present to the Canadian arts community the universal themes behind Madore’s moving Instagram post. To give voice to these complex questions of multicultural identity, they turned to JUNO Award-winning composer Dinuk Wijeratne – whose genre-defying fusion of global musical traditions has established him as Canada’s leading voice in cross-cultural composition. Wijeratne’s globally-infused score seamlessly blends Western classical music with an array of musical traditions, including those from South Asia and the Middle East, as well as modern Pop and Jazz idioms – creating a musical language as multifaceted as the identities it explores. With poetry by acclaimed African Nova Scotian artist Shauntay Grant, whose powerful verses navigate the intricacies of ‘self’, the work features performances by GRAMMY Award-winning baritone Elliot Madore, bassist Tyler Emond, percussionist Nick Halley, and Wijeratne himself on piano. IDENTITY pioneers a new soundscape for multicultural storytelling—exploring how we choose to define ourselves. We acknowledge the support of Arts Nova Scotia and Atlantic Lottery. Season Sponsor: Nice Moves / Red Door Realty.

Artists: Elliot Madore, baritone; Nick Halley, percussion; Tyler Emond, double bass; Dinuk Wijeratne, piano

Tickets $30-$42