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Image featuring text and photographs. To the left: A man with long honey brown hair, wearing white robe, reads from a book as he stands in front of a classic painting of a male saint, tied to a pillar and shot with arrows. To the right of this, a woman, her dark hair tied back, wearing modern clothing, stands singing - a disco ball hanging in the foreground. To the right: Soundstreams. Garden of Vanished Pleasures. April 25-27, 2025. Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre, Canadian Stage. soundstreams.ca
Image featuring text and a photograph. A man with long honey brown hair, wearing white robe, reads from a book as he stands in front of a classic painting of a male saint, tied to a pillar and shot with arrows. Top left corner: Garden of Vanished Pleasures. Bottom left corner: April 25-27, 2025. Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre, Canadian Stage.
Photo: Daniel Cabena & Mireille Asselin/Soundstreams.

Love, loss & anger Love, loss & anger

in an opera inspired by the life of filmmaker & queer rights activist Derek Jarman.

Photo: Daniel Cabena/Soundstreams.

Home Events Performance Soundstreams presents: Garden of Vanished Pleasures

Soundstreams presents: Garden of Vanished Pleasures

Four performances only, from Fri, Apr. 25 – Sun, Apr. 27, 2025: Soundstreams presents the live world premiere of Garden of Vanished Pleasures, an emotional opera journey inspired by the life and work of English filmmaker and queer rights activist Derek Jarman.

A consummate opera making its world premiere in a live theatre

Conceived and devised by UK/Canadian director Tim Albery, Garden of Vanished Pleasures blends the works of two brilliant composers: Cecilia Livingston and Donna McKevitt. Livingston writes deeply felt songs of love and loss, and they chime perfectly with McKevitt’s heart-aching songs that use texts drawn from Jarman’s own journals. The journal texts cover a wide range of expressions, from longing and loss to anger over society’s inequities – universal themes that continue to resonate for our time.

The digital version of the opera in 2021 was a critical hit and a finalist for Opera America’s 2022 Award for Excellence in Digital Opera. Its illustrious cast includes sopranos Mireille Asselin and Danika Lorèn, and counter-tenor Daniel Cabena. Rounding out the cast is mezzo-soprano Hillary Tufford; with accompaniment by music director Hyejin Kwon on piano, Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh on viola and Amahl Arulanandam on cello.

“… Garden of Vanished Pleasures is a subtle burn, with muted colours and Albery’s signature stark aesthetic, but it unquestionably draws you in.”

– Schmopera

About Soundstreams

Founded in 1982, Soundstreams is a global leader in the presentation of innovative, carefully curated and immersive musical experiences. It is committed to showcasing the work of living Canadian and global composers/musicians, bringing to focus contemporary conversations to its communities. Since its inception, it’s introduced audiences to works from some of the finest and most groundbreaking composers of our age, from R. Murray Schafer to Nicole Lizée.

A man with long honey brown hair, wearing a white shift, stands in the darkness as he reaches out for a candelabra with three lit white candles, set beside a wooden chair.

(Photo credit: Daniel Cabena/Soundstreams. Photo credit for the image on the Events page: Daniel Cabena & Mireille Asselin/Soundstreams.)

 

Event details

Hosted by: Soundstreams

Type of event: opera performance

Conceived, devised & directed by: Tim Albery 

Music composed by: Cecilia Livingston and Donna McKevitt 

Music direction by: Hyejin Kwon

Performed by: Mireille Asselin (soprano), Danika Lorèn (soprano), Hillary Tufford (mezzo-soprano), Daniel Cabena (counter-tenor), Hyejin Kwon (piano), Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh (viola) & Amahl Arulanandam (cello)

Dates & times:

  • Friday, April 25 & Saturday, April 26 @ 7:30 PM ET
  • Saturday, April 26 & Sunday, April 27 @ 2:00 PM ET

Duration: 2 hours (intermission TBA)

Cost: Single tickets: C$46.05 – $78.82 (including fees & tax)

Location: Canadian Stage – Berkeley Street Theatre, 26 Berkeley Street, Toronto, ON, M5A 2W3

Booking link: Book your tickets here.

Contact details: Soundstreams, 20 St. Joseph St., Toronto, ON, M4Y 1J9, Canada; Canadian Stage box office: 416-368-3110, Box office email: boxoffice@canadianstage.com, soundstreams.ca

 

Accessibility: Info here.

Refund policy: All ticket sales are final and non-refundable. Tickets may be exchanged within the same production to a different performance date, provided the exchange is done no later than two hours before the performance for which the original tickets were purchased, subject to availability. The ticketholder must pay any difference in ticket price. Exchanges are subject to a $5.00 fee per ticket.