Peter Moskos
Getting up at 2:30 a.m., putting on a toque and warm clothing and heading out in a canoe to the shores of a Canadian lake is not an opera singer’s usual routine. But that is what University of Ottawa student Shannon Cole did for two weeks in August, all to sing in Princess of the Stars by Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer.
Princess of the Stars is the prologue to Patria, Schafer’s twelve-part music-theatre cycle. Patria is too massive and too varied in themes and settings to be performed in one place and at one time. So Schafer’s own theatre company comes together every year at the Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve and other Canadian venues to perform parts of the cycle.
For Cole, the experience was unique and exhilarating. The piece starts in the early morning dark and climaxes with the dawn. The three main characters, the Wolf, the Three-Horned Enemy and the Sun, represented by giant puppets and props, appear in large canoes. Also afloat in canoes are winged dancers, the Dawn Birds. The singers and musicians are positioned around the lakeshore.
“I was a member of a quartet that took on a variety of roles,” says Cole. “The conductor, David Buley, stood on a point of land and directed us with coloured lights.” Learning the music was different too. “Schafer uses his own music notation. I had to learn his notation and listen to recordings of previous performances.”
And it all came together very fast. Rehearsals took up the first week; daily performances the second. “During that time, I was living, camping and working with outstanding professional musicians and artists. And it is so amazing to perform the work of a living Canadian composer. Schafer himself was there some of the time. He was wonderfully positive and upbeat.”
Where does a young singer go after an experience like Princess of the Stars? Shannon Cole is completing an MA in the University of Ottawa’s musicology program. She continues studying voice with Professor Elizabeth Turnbull of the Department of Music and plans to enter singing competitions and audition for operatic roles. As well, Cole teaches singing part-time. Next fall, she will turn to full-time teaching and see how she likes the profession. But whatever the path, singing will be a major part of her life.
Clearly, with the experience of Princess of the Stars behind her, Cole is up to any challenge – no matter how early she has to get up.
