Performances take place from April 27 th-29 th, and Lowry will join Kander in pre-concert talks about bringing The Giverto life through music. Simoneau’s honeyed tone creates a magical, breathtaking aura about this aria. Leopold Simoneau sings Je crois entendre encore. In 1959 he became the first recipient of the Calixa-Lavallée Award. Let’s face it, the story is SO operatic.” Although written 20 years ago, The Giver is still relevant with its important themes of individuality, diversity, and hope in society. Léopold Simoneau, CC CQ ( August 24, 2006) was a French-Canadian lyric tenor, one of the outstanding Mozarteans of his time. “Project Opera students are making the story of The Giver take shape in the rich, musical landscape crafted by Susan Kander in a way that reading it alone cannot. “Nothing can spark a life-long passion for musical creation like the experience of working with a composer on a production written that you yourself will perform,” elaborates music director Dale Kruse. Based on the award-winning Lois Lowry novel and featuring Kander’s own libretto, The Giver is part of Minnesota Opera’s “Project Opera”* which provides children and youth with hands-on experience in creating an opera, working with a living composer, and the opportunity to perform the opera in a fully-staged professional production. In April, The Giver receives an encore by the Minnesota Opera with its own new production directed by Octavio Cardenas and conducted by Dale Kruse. In January, Susan Kander’s opera The Giver successfully premiered at the Lyric Opera of Kansas City.

Lyric opera encore