Soundstreams to Premiere Brian Current's AIRLINE ICARUS, 6/3-8

Soundstreams concludes its 2013/14 concert series with the world premiere of the opera Airline Icarus, with music by award-winning composer Brian Current and libretto by acclaimed playwright and novelist Anton Piatigorsky, at Ada Slaight Hall in Daniels Spectrum from June 3 to 8. Featuring exquisite poetry and gorgeous music, Airline Icarus is a darkly compelling and sometimes comedic look at the unsettling mix of hubris and technology inherent to contemporary air travel.

Inspired by the story of a 1983 Korean commercial flight that was shot down over the Soviet Union, as well as the myth of Icarus, who flew with waxen wings only to plummet to his death after soaring too close to the sun, Airline Icarus takes place aboard a plane bound for Cleveland. We are invited into the minds of passengers and crew, revealing their relationships and innermost thoughts, as well as the spiritual joy and angst of flying.

Brilliantly staged by innovative British director Tim Albery (The Children's Crusade, Prima Donna), and designed by The Globe and Mail's Artist of the Year, Teresa Przybylski, Airline Icarus promises to leave audiences pondering our society's need to reach higher and higher in an endless cycle that can sometimes lead to disastrous consequences.

Current remarks, "I can't tell you how thrilled I am that the fully staged Maniac Star production of Airline Icarus, directed by Tim Albery, will be presented as the final Soundstreams event of this season. Huge thanks go to Lawrence Cherney, who has been following the development of the piece since the early workshops in Vancouver, and to all those at Soundstreams for making this production possible."

The composer himself conducts, with a cast that includes soprano Vania Chan, mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó, tenor Graham Thomson, and baritones Alexander Dobson and Geoffrey Sirett.

For those interested in learning about developing and presenting new music theatre, Soundstreams' free Salon 21 at the Gardiner Museum on May 9 at 7:00 pm will feature creative teams from Soundstreams and Tapestry New Opera Works in discussion and performance exploring the challenges and rewards of this process.