Hansel and Gretel March 19 at the Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts

Much of my practice time in the last while has been taken up with learning and rehearsing the murderous piano reduction of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, orchestrally a cross between Mahler and Wagner with nary a moment to regroup in a solid 90 minutes of music. I'll be playing the H&G reduction for Opera Jeunesse this Wednesday--the production will feature Jillian Yemen as Hansel, Meghan Fleet as Gretel, Ramona Carmelly as the Mother/Witch, Phil Kalmanovitch as the Father, Tessa Laengert as the Sandman, and Kelly Semkiw as the Dew Fairy. This Opera Jeunesse production is presented in collaboration with Balletomane and the Oakville Children's Choir. Madeline Young will be directing and I'm the musical director as well as the pianist (orchestra!) for the show.

You can catch Hansel and Gretel this Wednesday, March 19 at 7:30pm at the Studio Theatre at Oakville's Centre for the Performing Arts. Tickets are $30/25.

Look for an interview with Opera Jeunesse founder and artistic director Madeline Young in the next few days...