Our Ensemble Studio is on tour across Ontario this month performing Hansel and Gretel and The Brothers Grimm. But did you know that The Brothers Grimm is celebrating its 500th performance next month during GrimmFest?

The popular children's opera was created by Dean Burry, a composer born and raised in Newfoundland. Holding a master's degree in composition, Burry started his career at the Canadian Opera Company as a Ticket Services representative. He quickly found his way to the Education department where he started the COC’s popular After School Opera Program in 1997 – a program he still runs today. In 1999, Burry was commissioned to create The Brothers Grimm and it debuted two years later. The opera was a hit and has been performed across Canada, the US and had its European debut last spring.

What first interested you in The Brothers Grimm?

In 1997 I was working in the box office when the education co-ordinator did a staff chat on Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, which was programmed for the following season. The opera chat was interesting, but what I found most fascinating was that while everyone knew the Grimm's fairy tales almost no one knew who the Grimm Brothers were.