Local opera company, OperOttawa, honours Canadian women leaders throughout history with a new requiem by Composer-in-Residence, Jack Hui Litster. Performed by a chamber orchestra of 13 musicians and a women’s choir of 17 singers, OperOttawa presents the world premiere of “Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace” on March 10, at 2:30pm at the First Baptist Church, in a fitting tribute to Women’s History Month. We spoke with Litster to learn more.
“This requiem is a commission from OperOttawa,” explains Litster, “I’ve worked with them for four years now and have created two chamber operas. The requiem is different than what I’ve done for OperOttawa before and from what they normally do.”
Historically, a composer is commissioned to write a requiem to honour someone—a common practice of the Catholic Church for someone who passed away, performed at a funeral. Litster began writing his piece in the summer of 2022 and the first step was to understand who the requiem should honour.
“Different aspects of artistic approach influence each other,” says the composer, “I am combining storytelling inspiration in opera writing with Latin texts in a funeral mass from hundreds of years ago.”
Jack Hui Litster. Photo: Curtis Perry.
“We’ve all experienced loss and while it would be meaningful for me to dedicate this requiem to someone from my life, it wouldn’t resonate that much with audiences,” says Litster. “The church hasn’t been a leader in supporting women’s rights and leaders—they have other strengths—so I thought, what if I take this music with hundreds of years of history and put a new spin on it, purposefully shining a light on the contributions of Canadian women leaders through history?”
Millions of women have achieved incredible feats on Turtle Island, so the next question was, where do you start?
“How do you find these stories? A lot of them we didn’t learn in school or through statues,” says Litster. He chose 14 diverse women from the last 200 years who were leaders in different areas of Canadian society: politics, law, art, science, music, media, and more.
“This music is honouring you,” says Lister.
During the performance of the requiem, a reader from NAC Indigenous Theatre will read commemorations honouring:
- Allie Vibert Douglas: the first Canadian to earn a PhD in astrophysics,
- Viola Desmond: businesswoman and civil rights activist,
- Madeleine Parent: labour, Indigenous rights, and feminism activist,
- Keiko Margaret Lyons: the first female Vice-President at CBC,
- Rosemary Brown: the first Black woman elected to provincial legislature in Canada,
- Ethel Stark: the first female artistic director of a symphony orchestra in Canada,
- Portia White: the first Black Canadian concert singer to win international acclaim,
- Kathleen Livingstone: organized the first National Congress of Black Women of Canada,
- Kenojuak Ashevak: internationally acclaimed Indigenous artist in 20th century,
- Mary Ann Shadd: the first Black woman in North America to publish and edit her own newspaper (in 1853!),
- Hide Hyodo Shimizu: one of the first Japanese Canadians to receive a teaching certificate, and taught over 100 people in internment camps,
- Lotta Hitschmanova: journalist, humanitarian, founder of the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada,
- Violet King Henry: the first Black person to graduate from law school in Alberta,
- Shirley Greenberg: lawyer and philanthropist, set up Ottawa’s first all-female law practice, helped create Ottawa Women’s Centre and the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre.
The requiems are musical Latin texts that share good wishes for those who have passed on into the next life. Each requiem can be made up of its own special blend of a sequence of texts, which articulate ideas such as: “Let eternal light shine on them, O Lord, with thy saints throughout eternity, for thou art good” (translated from the text of Lux Aeterna). Over the past six centuries, requiems have been written by celebrated and gifted musicians, from Palestrina to Mozart, Verdi to Fauré, Duruflé to Rutter, and many more.
“The requiems of 1700s and 1800s are very dramatic, translating the intensity of emotion of loss, lamenting, and grief,” explains Litster, “I felt like coming out of COVID and an existential threat of climate change, we don’t need anymore intense ominous music—even though it is cool to write. I wanted my requiem to portray what it would feel like to live a full and happy life and arrive at the gates of heaven with a choir of angels welcoming you home—this is where the name comes from.”
In this 11th season of OperOttawa, the performances are by an all-female cast. “Women’s voices in the choir and orchestra can do amazing things with tones and emotions so everything fit together perfectly,” adds Litster.
Litster has written two operas in the past for OperOttawa, “The Day You Were Born” (2021) and “What is Love?” (2022). “Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace” is Litster’s largest musical creation yet, and in OperOttawa’s past 11 seasons, this will be one of their largest-ever productions. OperOttawa has received two grants from the City of Ottawa’s Cultural Funding to enable the creation of this project.
Founded in 2012 by Canadian baritone Norman E. Brown, OperOttawa produces operas and oratorios of the Baroque and early periods, staged versions of lesser-performed works, and supports and encourages young Ottawa-based composers. OperOttawa also endeavours to produce operas in their entirety with no cuts, giving singers an opportunity to fully learn major roles. OperOttawa’s 2023-24 season has also included all-female cast performances of “Suor Angelica” by Puccini in September 2023 and Mozart’s “Magic Flute” in November 2023. OperOttawa was incorporated as a not-for-profit entity in 2022.
Tickets range from $27.54 to $54.06 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
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