Some of My stories: Available Now!
It's here!
Leaf Music and Atlantic Canada’s Essential Opera announce the release of Some of My Stories: The Operas of Monica Pearce (LM279), available April 17. A collection of five one-act chamber operas by Canadian composer and librettist Monica Pearce, the album brings together works developed over more than a decade and reflects Essential Opera’s ongoing commitment to creating and championing new opera.
Some of My Stories brings individual lives and voices to the operatic stage. Each opera captures a moment of reflection or change: the life’s work of Maritime folklorist Helen Creighton in Aunt Helen; a bride caught between expectation and choice in Cake; the quiet turning point of a life in April; the social tensions and wit of Etiquette; and the warmth and uncertainty of a young queer couple’s journey in December.
Performed by Essential Opera’s co-artistic directors Maureen Batt (soprano) and Erin Bardua (soprano), the recording features guest artists Danielle Buonaiuto (soprano), Lucy Hayes Davis (mezzo-soprano), Krisztina Szabó (mezzo-soprano), Patrick Simms (tenor), and Jon-Paul Décosse (bass-baritone). Founded in 2010 and based in Atlantic Canada, Essential Opera commissions, performs, and champions works by living composers, with a focus on new creation and projects that address equity and belonging in opera.
ALBUM CREDITS
Monica Pearce, composer and librettist
John Terauds, librettist
Featuring performances by:
Erin Bardua, soprano, assistant conductor
Maureen Batt, soprano, conductor
Danielle Buonaiuto, soprano
Lucy Hayes Davis, mezzo-soprano
Jon-Paul Décosse, bass-baritone
Patrick Simms, tenor
Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano
Alexandra Bates, viola
Hilary Brown, cello
Jack Chen, flute
Simon Docking, piano
Jennifer Jones, violin
Brad Reid, clarinet
Anne Simons, violin
Tara Scott, conductor, music director, piano
Eileen Walsh, clarinet
Producers: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman
Recording engineers: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman, Jennifer Nulsen
Assistant recording engineers: Ally Cribb, Cassie Mann
Sound editors: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman, Haruka Nagata
Mixing engineers: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman, Haruka Nagata
Mastering engineers: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman, Nathan Cann
Immersive mastering engineer: Jeremy VanSlyke
Album artwork: Kirsten Stackhouse
Art director, graphic design, layout: Kristan Toczko
Copy editor, translation: Rachelle Taylor
Thank you, Carrie VanSlyke and Ai Lynn Ang for all your work on this project.
And a huge thank-you to Canada Council for the Arts, SOCAN Foundation, Arts Nova Scotia, and Music Nova Scotia for supporting our work.
Leaf Music and Atlantic Canada’s Essential Opera announce the release of Some of My Stories: The Operas of Monica Pearce (LM279), available April 17. A collection of five one-act chamber operas by Canadian composer and librettist Monica Pearce, the album brings together works developed over more than a decade and reflects Essential Opera’s ongoing commitment to creating and championing new opera.
Some of My Stories brings individual lives and voices to the operatic stage. Each opera captures a moment of reflection or change: the life’s work of Maritime folklorist Helen Creighton in Aunt Helen; a bride caught between expectation and choice in Cake; the quiet turning point of a life in April; the social tensions and wit of Etiquette; and the warmth and uncertainty of a young queer couple’s journey in December.
Performed by Essential Opera’s co-artistic directors Maureen Batt (soprano) and Erin Bardua (soprano), the recording features guest artists Danielle Buonaiuto (soprano), Lucy Hayes Davis (mezzo-soprano), Krisztina Szabó (mezzo-soprano), Patrick Simms (tenor), and Jon-Paul Décosse (bass-baritone). Founded in 2010 and based in Atlantic Canada, Essential Opera commissions, performs, and champions works by living composers, with a focus on new creation and projects that address equity and belonging in opera.
ALBUM CREDITS
Monica Pearce, composer and librettist
John Terauds, librettist
Featuring performances by:
Erin Bardua, soprano, assistant conductor
Maureen Batt, soprano, conductor
Danielle Buonaiuto, soprano
Lucy Hayes Davis, mezzo-soprano
Jon-Paul Décosse, bass-baritone
Patrick Simms, tenor
Krisztina Szabó, mezzo-soprano
Alexandra Bates, viola
Hilary Brown, cello
Jack Chen, flute
Simon Docking, piano
Jennifer Jones, violin
Brad Reid, clarinet
Anne Simons, violin
Tara Scott, conductor, music director, piano
Eileen Walsh, clarinet
Producers: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman
Recording engineers: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman, Jennifer Nulsen
Assistant recording engineers: Ally Cribb, Cassie Mann
Sound editors: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman, Haruka Nagata
Mixing engineers: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman, Haruka Nagata
Mastering engineers: Jeremy VanSlyke, Ben B. Creelman, Nathan Cann
Immersive mastering engineer: Jeremy VanSlyke
Album artwork: Kirsten Stackhouse
Art director, graphic design, layout: Kristan Toczko
Copy editor, translation: Rachelle Taylor
Thank you, Carrie VanSlyke and Ai Lynn Ang for all your work on this project.
And a huge thank-you to Canada Council for the Arts, SOCAN Foundation, Arts Nova Scotia, and Music Nova Scotia for supporting our work.
Ryan ScoTT: 21st Century Canadian Snare drum
time & effort for snare drum and electronics will be released on Ryan Scott's album "21st Century Canadian Snare Drum" with Dame Actuelle. I was at the premiere of Ryan's significant commissioning project, which involves 14 Canadian composers: Andrew Staniland, Bekah Simms, Michael Oesterle, Christina Volpini, Amy Brandon, Vincent Ho, Brian Current, Emilie Cecilia LeBel, Jason Doell, Hiroki Tsurumoto, Kati Agócs, Anna Höstman, and Nicole Lizée. The concert (September 2023) was incredible and I am so excited to see this album out in the world!
From DAME / Actuellecd.com: "Ryan Scott, championed by Gramophone as “a chameleon-like virtuoso,” presents 21st-Century Canadian Snare Drum, a double-disc release of solo snare drum pieces. The instrument is the centrepiece throughout the album—it’s about the art of the drumming itself, but most works include minimal auxiliary instrumentation, electroacoustics, vocalizations or some combination thereof, alongside a wide variety of techniques spanning traditional virtuosity to inquisitive-minded peculiarity. As such, the snare drum solo serves almost as a conceptual restriction to stimulate the imaginations of its exceptional and internationally-recognized cast of commissioned Canadian composers."
From DAME / Actuellecd.com: "Ryan Scott, championed by Gramophone as “a chameleon-like virtuoso,” presents 21st-Century Canadian Snare Drum, a double-disc release of solo snare drum pieces. The instrument is the centrepiece throughout the album—it’s about the art of the drumming itself, but most works include minimal auxiliary instrumentation, electroacoustics, vocalizations or some combination thereof, alongside a wide variety of techniques spanning traditional virtuosity to inquisitive-minded peculiarity. As such, the snare drum solo serves almost as a conceptual restriction to stimulate the imaginations of its exceptional and internationally-recognized cast of commissioned Canadian composers."
December release
Leaf Music and Essential Opera present December, a one-act opera by award-winning composer Monica Pearce, now available digitally. The EP features sopranos Maureen Batt, Erin Bardua, and Danielle Buonaiuto, conducted by Tara Scott with a string quartet comprising Jennifer Jones, Anne Simons, Alexandra Bates, and Hillary Brown.
Commissioned by Essential Opera with support from SOCAN, December follows Julia and Natasha as they prepare to visit Julia’s parents together for the first time as a couple at Christmas. Between airport security, last-minute packing, and the quiet tension of family introductions, the opera is a celebration of queer joy, featuring queer artists. It captures the anticipation, vulnerability, and humour that accompany love in its early stages.
Founded in 2010 by sopranos Maureen Batt and Erin Bardua, Essential Opera creates productions that explore what is most vital about opera today. From its debut performance of Le nozze di Figaro to world premieres of new Canadian works, Essential Opera has evolved in response to changing artistic and social landscapes. Its mission is to present opera in its most essential form, through classical repertoire, contemporary works, and digital and film adaptations, while engaging audiences through storytelling that reflects the world we live in. With a strong commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, Essential Opera champions underrepresented voices and actively commissions and re-performs new operas.
Soprano Danielle Buonaiuto maintains an active performance career across the United States and Canada, with a focus on contemporary music and the creation of new work. She has appeared at major festivals and companies including the Prototype Festival, the Canadian Opera Company, and Tapestry Opera, creating new roles in Eat the Document (Glover/Rourke), Pomegranate (Marshall/Hale), and RUR: A Torrent of Light (Lizée/Billon). Her album Marfa Songs was released on Starkland in 2020. A founding member of ChamberQUEER and Duo Calisto, Buonaiuto also performs with the Metropolitan Opera’s Extra Chorus and is pursuing a doctorate in musicology at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, where her research applies queer and feminist perspectives to opera and vocal music.
December was recorded at The Peggy Corkum Music Room (Halifax, NS) and Swan Studios (New York City). Essential Opera is set to release a full-length album, Some of My Stories: The Operas of Monica Pearce, on April 17, 2026.
Commissioned by Essential Opera with support from SOCAN, December follows Julia and Natasha as they prepare to visit Julia’s parents together for the first time as a couple at Christmas. Between airport security, last-minute packing, and the quiet tension of family introductions, the opera is a celebration of queer joy, featuring queer artists. It captures the anticipation, vulnerability, and humour that accompany love in its early stages.
Founded in 2010 by sopranos Maureen Batt and Erin Bardua, Essential Opera creates productions that explore what is most vital about opera today. From its debut performance of Le nozze di Figaro to world premieres of new Canadian works, Essential Opera has evolved in response to changing artistic and social landscapes. Its mission is to present opera in its most essential form, through classical repertoire, contemporary works, and digital and film adaptations, while engaging audiences through storytelling that reflects the world we live in. With a strong commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, Essential Opera champions underrepresented voices and actively commissions and re-performs new operas.
Soprano Danielle Buonaiuto maintains an active performance career across the United States and Canada, with a focus on contemporary music and the creation of new work. She has appeared at major festivals and companies including the Prototype Festival, the Canadian Opera Company, and Tapestry Opera, creating new roles in Eat the Document (Glover/Rourke), Pomegranate (Marshall/Hale), and RUR: A Torrent of Light (Lizée/Billon). Her album Marfa Songs was released on Starkland in 2020. A founding member of ChamberQUEER and Duo Calisto, Buonaiuto also performs with the Metropolitan Opera’s Extra Chorus and is pursuing a doctorate in musicology at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, where her research applies queer and feminist perspectives to opera and vocal music.
December was recorded at The Peggy Corkum Music Room (Halifax, NS) and Swan Studios (New York City). Essential Opera is set to release a full-length album, Some of My Stories: The Operas of Monica Pearce, on April 17, 2026.
Etiquette
Monica pearce's debut album Textile Fantasies
Maureen Batt's album of Aunt Helen / Leaf Music
Aunt Helen is a one-act opera for soprano, with music and lyrics written by Monica Pearce inspired by Dr. Helen Creighton. Dr. Helen Creighton was truly a pioneer in collecting folk songs, and her contribution to the documentation of Maritime folk songs is unparalleled. She lived a life of adventure, from helping survivors from the Halifax Explosion, to driving an ambulance to help with health education, to collecting innumerable folk songs, and many more untold. Featuring Simon Docking on piano.
Nominated by Music Nova Scotia for Classical Album of the Year.
Monica Pearce work featured: Aunt Helen
Nominated by Music Nova Scotia for Classical Album of the Year.
Monica Pearce work featured: Aunt Helen
Angela Schwarzkopf's detach
"With her 2020 JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year: Solo or Chamber, Angela Schwarzkopf became the first harpist to receive the award in 25 years, joining fellow Canadian harp icons Erica Goodman and Judy Loman."
PERFORMERS:
Angela Schwarzkopf – Harp
Michelle Colton – Vibraphone
Étienne Levesque – Vibraphone
TRACKS:
attach/detach – Monica Pearce
Garden – Cecilia Livingston (with Michelle Colton, Vibraphone)
A Portrait of Tschamiu – Patrick Arteaga
Contemplation – Mark Nerenberg
Sonatina for Vibraphone & Harp – Elisha Denburg
(with Étienne Levesque, Vibraphone)
Castles in the Sand – Kevin Lau
Monica Pearce works featured: attach and detach for solo harp
PERFORMERS:
Angela Schwarzkopf – Harp
Michelle Colton – Vibraphone
Étienne Levesque – Vibraphone
TRACKS:
attach/detach – Monica Pearce
Garden – Cecilia Livingston (with Michelle Colton, Vibraphone)
A Portrait of Tschamiu – Patrick Arteaga
Contemplation – Mark Nerenberg
Sonatina for Vibraphone & Harp – Elisha Denburg
(with Étienne Levesque, Vibraphone)
Castles in the Sand – Kevin Lau
Monica Pearce works featured: attach and detach for solo harp
junctqin Keyboard Collective's reThink
Toronto’s junctQín keyboard collective—comprised of Stephanie Chua, Elaine Lau and Joseph Ferretti—commemorates a decade of intrepid exploration with their long-awaited debut album. Offering a spirited and diverse collection of multi-limbed pieces spanning Maurice Ravel’s 1918 curio Frontispice to works by contemporary music’s leading up-and-comers, reTHINK captures everything from phantom textures summoned from the piano’s inner sanctum to Casio-caressing postmodernism. It’s a buoyant and decidedly celebratory album that sits at the sweet spot between virtuosity and focussed listening, and whose whimsy always remains anchored in profound musical insight.
Monica Pearce work featured: Chess Suite for two toy pianos
Monica Pearce work featured: Chess Suite for two toy pianos
Riot Ensemble's Chest of toys
Chest of Toys (recorded at Real World Studios, for Coviello Classics)
Music for various chamber ensembles by Thomas Kotcheff, Monica Pearce, Michael Cryne, Utku Asuroglu, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Franco Donatoni, Jack Sheen, and music selected from our 2016 Call for Scores: Lee Westood, Yukiko Watanabe and Heather Stebbins.
Monica Pearce work featured: Kandinsky for soprano and toy piano
Music for various chamber ensembles by Thomas Kotcheff, Monica Pearce, Michael Cryne, Utku Asuroglu, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Franco Donatoni, Jack Sheen, and music selected from our 2016 Call for Scores: Lee Westood, Yukiko Watanabe and Heather Stebbins.
Monica Pearce work featured: Kandinsky for soprano and toy piano
Toy piano composers debut album
The Toy Piano Composers (TPC) is a Toronto-based collective of composers that presents imaginative new music to curious audiences in a playful concert environment. Since 2008, TPC has produced twenty-six concerts, and premiered over 120 new works of opera, chamber music, and orchestral music. This debut album highlights some of the most memorable chamber music that TPC has presented over the years, showcasing a generation of young composers from across Canada who are creating music over a vast range of styles. These seven pieces provide a musical snapshot of a vibrant community of composers and musicians that has grown out of Toronto in the last decade.
