Opera: Indians on Vacation

Welcome!  It is my absolute pleasure to welcome you all back to another season of Opera at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. This summer sees a new collaboration and emergence of a new program called “Interplay”.  We are focusing on chamber music, chamber opera and experimenting.  

To be open to change, to be receptive to challenges is what this program is about. We have welcomed participants from all over the world to come and experience creation at Banff Centre.  

We offered positions to instrumentalists, singers, pianists, stage directors, arts writers, composers and librettists.  The reason is to foster collaboration and how we each need to rely on one another in how it relates to performance practice. 

We supported these participants by providing a world class faculty to work with them on all the skills needed to not only survive but thrive in the world of arts in 2024.  

I believe strongly in the need to connect with our communities. We had over-capacity audiences at both our Opera Pub series at the Royal Canadian Legion #26 Colonel Moore Branch in Banff and held community concerts at Banff Centre in varying formations.  

Our programming/training this summer focused on creation and working with living composers.  

You’ll also see a new opera called Indians on Vacation.  Music by Ian Cusson and text by Royce Vavrek.  This work features our Artist-in-Residence Marion Newman and is Canada’s newest opera.  Creation is the way forward and a skill that is becoming more important than ever before.  

Opera at Banff Centre will continue to thrust forward, while acknowledging and building on the foundations of the past.   

Finally, I would like to thank the team here at Banff Centre for providing the support needed for us to achieve the success we are all striving for. They allow us to dream bigger and accomplish more.   

Sincerely, 

Joel Ivany 
Artistic Director, Opera 

Indians on Vacation 

Music by Ian Cusson 

Libretto by Royce Vavrek 

Based on the novel by Thomas King

Commissioned by Against the Grain and Edmonton Opera

This house program highlights the faculty and performers for Indians on Vacation. For a full list of Faculty and Participants in this years' INTERPLAY program, please click here.

Blackbird Mavrias and his wife Mimi set off for Prague from Guelph, driven by a mix of reasons including Bird's recent health scare and Mimi's quest to follow her ancestor's trail. However, Bird's inner struggles, embodied by his "demons," add complexity to the journey. Their encounters in Prague, including with the enigmatic Oz, weave through Bird's reflections on identity, family history, and his unfinished journalistic assignment on Indigenous struggles. 
 
As their trip unfolds, with visits to landmarks like the Kafka Museum and Prague Castle, tensions arise, culminating in a thwarted excursion to Budapest amid a refugee crisis. Bird's internal turmoil intensifies, mirrored by Mimi's sudden illness, a bout of food poisoning. Yet, through conversations with Oz and moments of confrontation with their realities, particularly Bird's struggle with purpose, they find a certain solace in each other's presence.  This culminates with a poignant moment on Charles Bridge where Mimi's words hold Bird accountable for his persistent grumpiness, and force Bird to enjoy a moment of peace amidst his demons' silence as they dance on the bridge.

Banff Centre is grateful to the following supporters for making this program possible: David Spencer Emerging Vocalists Endowment, the Yolande Freeze Master Artists in Music Fund, the Music in PyeongChang and Banff Centre Partnership as well as the Government of Alberta, the Government of Canada, and the Canada Council for the Arts.