Opera Atelier Unveils 2026/27 Season, A SEASON OF HEROES

Opera Atelier founding Co-Artistic Directors Marshall Pynkoski and Jeannette Lajeunesse Zingg have announced the company’s 2026/27 Season, titled A Season of Heroes. Both productions will be presented at Koerner Hall in Toronto.

The season will open October 22–25, 2026 with the Canadian premiere of The Descent of Orpheus by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. Based on Ovid’s myth, the opera follows Orpheus as he descends into the underworld in an effort to bring Eurydice back to life. In Charpentier’s interpretation, the work opens with Eurydice’s death, departing from traditional Baroque conventions and tracing Orpheus’s transformation from shepherd to hero.

American tenor Daniel McGrew will make his Opera Atelier debut in the title role, originally sung by Charpentier. Soprano Mireille Asselin will portray Eurydice, joined by bass baritone David Witczak as Pluto and mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel as Persephone. The production will feature choreography by Lajeunesse Zingg, performed by the Artists of Atelier Ballet, and musical collaboration with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Tafelmusik Chamber Choir. Opera Atelier Assistant Music Director Dr. Christopher Bagan will make his Koerner Hall conducting debut. Scenic design will be by Gerard Gauci as part of the Jerry and Joan Lozinski Opera Atelier Reimagined Project.

The season will conclude April 15–18, 2027 with a return of Opera Atelier’s 2023 production of The Resurrection by George Frideric Handel. Conducted by David Fallis, the production will feature choreography by Lajeunesse Zingg and a multi-level set designed by Gauci.

The cast will include soprano Carla Huhtanen as the Archangel, soprano Meghan Lindsay as Mary Magdalene, mezzo-soprano Mireille Lebel as Mary Cleophas, tenor Antonin Rondepierre as St. John the Evangelist, and bass baritone David Witczak as Lucifer. In a departure from Handel’s original scoring for castrato, the Archangel will be performed by Huhtanen. The production will incorporate the full corps of the Artists of Atelier Ballet.