More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
When the opera "La Flambeau" premieres next week in Montreal, Black performers will be front and centre in an artistic medium where they have historically been under-represented.
The work by Haitian-Canadian composer and pianist David Bontemps explores topical themes such as women's rights and the need for social justice and compassion, while criticizing corruption, misogyny and the abuse of power.
Taras Kulish, the executive director of the Orchestre classique de Montreal, said he specifically chose the project because the chamber orchestra is on a mission to prove that the world of classical music consists of more than just "white male composers."
"We are very proud of this world premiere," Kulish said in an interview. "We really want artists from different backgrounds, whether it be from the LGBTQ community, or the Black community or Indigenous communities, to shine."
Bontemps, who was born in Port-au-Prince and moved to Montreal in 2002, composed the chamber opera in 2020 at the start of the pandemic.
"For me, it is the story that shines because the text has strong historical references to what the Haitian culture has retained of its African ancestry and its concept of being Creole," he said in an interview. "It's both historical and artistic, which is the link to (Black History Month)."
The opera tells the story of a dysfunctional couple, Monsieur and Madame. Monsieur is an intellectual with political ambitions, and Madame appears to have gone mad as she continues conversing with her deceased mother and uncle. The couple hires Mademoiselle, a young working-class woman from a small village, as their maid.
Monsieur becomes infatuated with Mademoiselle's beauty and betrays his own principles by abusing her psychologically and physically. Mademoiselle flees the home in search of help. Finally, in the middle of the night, Monsieur is visited by a stranger who condemns him to live as a zombie who must serve Mademoiselle and the community.
"I love the story because it touches on language in Haiti with French and Creole, class, education, justice and belief systems and also the idea that a society or a country without respect, love and harmony is in total chaos," Bontemps said.
"La Flambeau" features four prominent Black opera performers: Cameroonian-born soprano Suzanne Taffot, Canadian mezzo-soprano Catherine Daniel, Jamaican-Canadian tenor Paul Williamson and Canadian bass Korin ThomasΓÇæSmith.
"This project was really marvellous and perfect for us. And the music is interesting and powerful," Kulish said. "With these types of projects, we want to align ourselves with what is happening within the community, and we knew that February is Black History Month, so it was obvious that this needed to be presented then."
Williamson, who plays the part of Monsieur, has been an opera performer for the past 30 years. During a break from a recent rehearsal, he recounted that throughout his career, he has faced discrimination because of the colour of his skin.
"I had to deal with racism. Colleagues not knowing how to relate to me. I had to deal with people calling me all sorts of derogatory names," he said. "My hope is that projects like this will show people that it is more than just what somebody looks like and that we can be part of a blend of art. That you can be any race or colour and that you can still play the part because you have the skills to do it."
Taffot, who interprets the character of Mademoiselle, noted that operas today need to reflect their audience and the public.
"To have a company like Orchestre classique de Montreal that really wants to do its part is really important and really admirable," she said. "Representation in the arts, and specifically in opera, is essential, and not just during Black History Month but every day."
The opera is based on a play by Haitian poet and playwright Faubert Bolivar, whom Bontemps befriended when they attended law school together in Haiti.
"The themes of justice and respect for others are universal themes that we will never stop addressing," Bontemps said. "We can never stop reflecting on these themes. We have been speaking about justice since the beginning of time in many forms."
"La Flambeau" will make its debut Tuesday at Salle Pierre-Mercure in downtown Montreal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2023.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
As if a 4-0 Edmonton Oilers lead in Game 1 of their playoff series with the Los Angeles Kings wasn't good enough, what was announced at Rogers Place during the next TV timeout nearly blew the roof off the downtown arena.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”