Peter Sellars is Coming to The Royal Conservatory of Music

"If evidence were needed that imaginative staging can provide us with access to difficult works of art, then it was offered in abundance by the Los Angeles Master Chorale in an extraordinary performance of Orlando di Lasso's a cappella masterpiece, Lagrime di San Pietro ..." (Simon Williams, Opera News)

Famed theatre director Peter Sellars, renowned for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays, will be in Toronto for three days at the end of January and early February for his interpretation of Lagrime di San Pietro (The Tears of St. Peter), a groundbreaking production of Renaissance master Orlando di Lasso's final work, sung a cappella by the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

While in town, he will conduct a master class for the students of The Glenn Gould School on Friday, January 31, 2020 at 2pm in Temerty Theatre, for which he will be joined by Grant Gershon, the Kiki & David Gindler Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The master class is free and open to the public.

In addition, Mr. Sellars and Mr. Gershon will participate in Pre-concert Talks an hour prior to each performance of Lagrime di San Pietro in Koerner Hall - at 7pm on Saturday, February 1 and 1pm on Sunday, February 2.

About Peter Sellars

Peter Sellars has gained international renown for his groundbreaking and transformative interpretations of artistic masterpieces and for collaborative projects with an extraordinary range of creative artists. He has staged operas at the Canadian Opera Company, Dutch National Opera, English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opéra National de Paris, and the Salzburg Festival, among others.

He has collaborated on the creation of many works with composer John Adams and, inspired by the compositions of Kaija Saariaho, he has guided the creation of productions of her work that have expanded the repertoire of modern opera.

Sellars has led several major arts festivals, including the 1990 and 1993 Los Angeles Festivals and the 2002 Adelaide Arts Festival. In 2006, he was artistic director of New Crowned Hope, a month-long festival in Vienna for which he invited artists from diverse cultural backgrounds to create new work in the fields of music, theater, dance, film, the visual arts, and architecture for the celebration of Mozart's 250th birth anniversary. He served as the music director of the 2016 Ojai Music Festival.

He is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA, a resident curator of the Telluride Film Festival, and was a Mentor for the Rolex Arts Initiative. Sellars is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, the Erasmus Prize for contributions to European culture, the Gish Prize, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2014, he was awarded the prestigious Polar Music Prize and named Artist of the Year by Musical America.

About the production

From the creative mind of acclaimed director Peter Sellars comes his most personal work to date, Lagrime di San Pietro. Di Lasso knew that Lagrime was to be the last piece he would ever compose, so he filled every measure with an emotionally charged texture that channeled all of his pain and remorse into a towering work of beauty. Sellars transforms this 75-minute sweeping Renaissance masterpiece - committed to memory and dramatically staged and lit - into an overwhelmingly emotional performance. As the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Lagrime is a major accomplishment for the Master Chorale, which sang and acted brilliantly. It's also a major accomplishment for music history." The Conservatory presents the work on February 1 and February 2, as part of the Power Corporation of Canada Vocal Concerts.

Lagrime di San Pietro with Los Angeles Master Chorale, staged by Peter Sellars

(Power Corporation of Canada Vocal Concerts)

Saturday, February 1, 2020 at 8pm; Pre-concert talk with Peter Sellars at 7pm

Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 2pm; Pre-concert talk with Peter Sellars at 1pm

Koerner Hall

$50-$105

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