New Opera Lyra (NOL) completes The Gothic Trilogy with the world premiere of Andrew Ager’s The Mummy on October 27th. This follows the premieres of Frankenstein in 2019 and Dracula last season.

Andrew is co-artistic director of NOL, where his newest operatic adaptation, The Great Gatsby, will premiere in April 2024.

The old Opera Lyra were founded in 1984 and performed at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, ceasing operations in 2015 due to financial difficulties.

New Opera Lyra is Ottawa’s newest Opera company, having begun in 2022 with an emphasis on Canadian talent. While there is a fair interest in new and contemporary works they also plan to do some of the classics. This is New Opera Lyra’s second full season with three fully staged productions. There’s no connection to the old company who used the National Arts Centre. Instead NOL use smaller venues than the NAC so far.

Creative team:
Andrew Ager & Suzanne Bassett- Co-Artistic Directors

I wanted to find out more about Andrew and his compositions.

Barczablog – Are you more like your father or your mother?

Andrew – Our house was filled with music day and night. My parents loved classical music. My sisters and I started music lessons at a very young age. I began composing around age fourteen.

Barczablog – What is the best or worst thing about what you do?

Andrew Ager – Composing is hard work. Performing is hard work. I do it from inner compulsion.

Barczablog – What ability or skill do you wish you had, that you don’t have?

Andrew Ager – I have a friend who is versatile beyond telling. I think he is cursed. I’m happy to do one thing.

Barczablog -When you’re just relaxing and not working, what is your favourite thing to do?

Andrew Ager- I watch Russian cop shows.

Barczablog – What’s your favorite opera?

Andrew Ager – Hard to pick one – but Wagner’s operas are the summit for me, as well as Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov”

Barczablog – Please tell us about life before New Opera Lyra

Andrew Ager – I was busy as a composer and pianist, much like now. I was putting on shows independently. The difference now is that the projects are much larger and more complicated.

Barczablog -The Mummy is not your first opera with New Opera Lyra. What’s your history with NOL?

Andrew Ager- We produced “Frankenstein” and “Scrooge’s Christmas” in 2019. Covid cancelled the 2020-2021 season. In October 2022 we premiered “Dracula” to sold-out houses. In addition, I have been arranging music to be used in upcoming seasons.

Barczablog – What kind of music did you compose for The Mummy?

Andrew Ager – It is lush and exotic, but also menacing and eerie. It doesn’t sound like the other operas. I try to paint a different picture every time. Frankenstein was harsh and dark. Dracula was lyrical and tragic. The Mummy is certainly romantically tonal – and it is melodious. The main characters have arias

Barczablog – Is the Gothic trilogy meant to be presented as a whole, comparable to Wagner’s Ring Cycle, and if so does NOL plan to do so someday?

Andrew Ager – good question. It would make a great weekend trilogy. We’d like to do that someday. The cost would be enormous.

Barczablog – What is The Mummy like?

Andrew Ager – It is one act with five scenes, from the desert tomb to the Egyptologist’s home. The audience will love the character of The Mummy. He is dignified and imposing, yet also tragic. He has been taken from Paradise. There is great suspense – and fate takes its course. The Mummy has a Love Duet with his Queen and a solo aria in which he sings of his life in the ancient world.

The press release describes it this way:
An ancient world, hubris, revenge, yearning for lost love, dreams of timeless ages – all this awaits you in the world-premiere of New Opera Lyra Composer- in-Residence Andrew Ager’s The Mummy. Spend Halloween weekend with this spooky tale, two nights only at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 82 Kent Street on Friday and Saturday, October 27th & 28th, 2023, at 7:30pm.

Barczablog – How do you reconcile wearing multiple hats, as an opera composer who is also the co-Artistic Director of NOL?

Andrew Ager – my position with NOL is a title. The work involved is everything from writing and arranging to playing and practicing for solo appearances. But it is all one thing.

Barczablog – Tell us about your cast for The Mummy.

Andrew Ager – The Mummy is Dylan Wright, a superb bass-baritone from Toronto. He was the understudy for Dracula last year. He brings great acting skills to his vocal performances.

The Pharaoh Queen is Carmen Harris, a soprano with experience in music theatre as well. She was Mina in Dracula, and was absolutely chilling.

The Egyptologist is tenor Iain Macpherson. He has a commanding voice and presence, but also an ability to project great tragedy in his performances.

The press release describes the cast this way:
Praised for “seducing the audience with his rich, sonorous voice” (Beat Magazine), Toronto-based Bass-Baritone, Dylan Wright makes his company debut in the title role of The Mummy. A graduate of the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, Wright’s interpretation promises to be a haunting one. Returning to the New Opera Lyra stage after the success of Dracula are company favourites Iain MacPherson (the Egyptologist), Doreen Taylor-Claxton (Margaret, his wife), Irina Medvedeva (Laura, their daughter) and Carmen Harris (Pharoah Queen). In-demand American opera director Mitchell Gillett makes his Canadian directorial debut with New Opera Lyra. NOL Resident Conductor Matthew Larkin returns to conduct. Fully staged, with a colourful instrumental ensemble, The Mummy will take you inside the tragic fate of those who awaken ancient honour and the mysterious forces of time.

Barczablog – What’s next for you with NOL

Andrew Ager – as mentioned, we’d love to do The Gothic Trilogy as a sort of festival. That would be very tricky financially, but you never know. We have planned, however, a return performance of Frankenstein in the 2024-25 season, as well as Rachmaninov’s love-tragedy “Aleko”. I received a City of Ottawa grant to arrange that for our resources.

Barczablog – Do you have a vision for NOL, as far as the development of opera in Ottawa,

Andrew Ager – To be honest, we have no idea about the future of opera in Ottawa. We can only present one season at a time and see where it goes. However, people love theatre and music. They really loved our previous productions.

Barczablog – Who does what on the leadership team?

Andrew Ager– that’s easy. I write music and Suzanne, my wife, does much of the paperwork. She is also our co-librettist and will be directing both “Scrooge’s Christmas” and “The Great Gatsby”. She also directed “Frankenstein”.

We have a great team of assistants. It would be impossible without them. We also have numerous volunteers, whose contributions are invaluable.

NEW OPERA LYRA, 2023-24 SEASON
” Classic Tales, New Operas” https://www.newoperalyra.ca/

WORLD PREMIERE The Mummy by Andrew Ager
Friday and Saturday October 27th & 28th, 2023 at 7:30pm
St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church
Direct link for tickets newoperalyra.eventbrite.com