Digital Audio Series
Key Change is the COC’s new podcast, co-hosted by classical singer and culture critic Robyn Grant-Moran, a member of the COC’s Circle of Artists, alongside stage director, dramaturg and COC Academy graduate Julie McIsaac. Our bi-weekly episodes explore the operagoing experience from a variety of perspectives, offering a fresh take on today's opera issues with special guests from the opera field and beyond.
Bonus Episode: In Conversation with Rebecca Caine
In this special bonus episode, Robyn and Julie are joined by soprano Rebecca Caine, a delightful storyteller and much-loved performer who has uniquely divided her career between opera and musical theatre. In this candid chat, Rebecca recounts colourful stories from the stage, thoughts on maturing within the performing arts industry, and shares what she is looking forward to most on the other side of the global pandemic.
Subscribe to Key Change, wherever you get your podcasts:
REBECCA CAINE
Rebecca Caine is a soprano opera singer and musical theatre performer who has uniquely divided her career between the two art forms. Born in Toronto and having studied at the Guildhall School of Music in London, career highlights include creating the role of Cosette in Les Miserables , as well as singing the role of Christine in Toronto’s original cast of Phantom of the Opera. Her operatic work with the Canadian Opera Company includes the title role in Lulu, Vixen in The Cunning Little Vixen, Pamina in The Magic Flute, Despina in Cosí fan tutte, and Micaëla in Carmen.
LINKS:
From the Maclean’s archives: the opening of Toronto’s The Phantom of the Opera - https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1989/10/2/the-phantom-strikes
Toronto Star feature on Rebecca Caine - https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2009/09/26/rebecca_caine_our_heroine_comes_home.html
The Guardian review of Abomination (new opera by Conor Mitchell; mentioned by Rebecca as a role that she is relishing having the opportunity to play): https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/16/abomination-a-dup-opera-lyric-belfast-conor-mitchell-review-leonardo-opera-v-and-a-london
Nicola Vaccai and the Metodo pratico de canto (Practical Vocal Method)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Vaccai
Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Yhyp-_hX2s
Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IsSpAOD6K8
Rebecca Caine singing “In My Life” from Les Miserables (1985) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJaHaFzqSMw
FEATURED MUSIC:
Key Change theme music: R. Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier. Herbert von Karajan, conductor, with the Philharmonia Orchestra; Warner Classics, 1956
"Dorme l'incauta" from Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. Lea Desandre. William Christie, conductor, with the Orchestra of Les Arts Florissants. Harmonia Mundi, 2018.
"Wenn sich die Menschen" from Berg's Lulu. Patricia Wise. Jeffrey Tate, conductor, with the Orchestre National de France. EMI, 2008.
"Dance of the Knights" from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. André Previn, conductor, with the London Symphony Orchestra. EMI, 1973.
"Lose Yourself" written and performed by Eminem from the 8 Mile soundtrack. Shady Records, 2002.
"I saw him once" from Claude-Michel Schönberg's Les Misérables. Rebecca Caine in the Original London Cast Recording. First Night Records, 1985.
MEET OUR CO-HOSTS
ROBYN GRANT-MORAN
Robyn Grant-Moran (Métis) is a classical singer, writer, and a jack of many trades who, in 2018 met the requirements to call herself a Bachelor of the Fine Arts at York University. That same year, Robyn participated in the Performance Criticism Training Program with Generator Toronto where she learned that theatre criticism can be used to push for more inclusive spaces and champion voices less heard and often misunderstood; so of course she fell in love. Since then, she’s been published in Alt.Theatre and Intermission Magazine, won the Nathan Cohen Award for Outstanding Emerging Critic, and joined the Canadian Opera Company’s Circle of Artists, to name a few. Robyn currently resides in Tkaronto (Toronto), weathering the pandemic with her wee rat dog in a box in the sky.
JULIE McISAAC
Canadian stage director Julie McIsaac was named the COC’s first Director/Dramaturg-in-Residence in 2019 and is now Lead Curator of Opera Everywhere, the company's reimagined 20/21 season. A versatile opera and theatre artist, her projects work towards reshaping and revitalizing the stories told on stage. During her residency with the COC, she served as Assistant Director on Joel Ivany's production of Hansel and Gretel (COC) and she is the Dramaturg and Director of the upcoming COC commission Fantasma, composed by COC Composer-in-Residence Ian Cusson with libretto by Colleen Murphy. Julie earned her Master’s degree in Theatre from the University of York (UK) and is also a graduate of Carleton University (Music) and the Canadian College of Performing Arts (Theatre Performance and Playwriting). www.juliemcisaac.com
