*** Résumé en anglais seulement ***
Dark Star Requiem came to be after a commission from the Luminato Festival and Tapestry New Opera. The work premiered in 2010 at the Luminato festival in Koerner Hall, Toronto, Canada. The work is an operatic oratorio with music by composer Andrew Staniland and text by poet Jill Battson. It is scored for four singers, piano trio, percussion, and chorus. The topic of all of the poems in the work used is HIV/AIDS and how it affects the lives and worlds of those who live with the disease or love someone living with the disease. Performers on this recording include soprano Neema Bickersteth, mezzo soprano/alto Krisztina Szabo, baritone Peter McGillivray, and bass-baritone Marcus Nance. These vocalists are joined by The Elmer Iseler Singers, The Gryphon Trio, and percussionists Ryan Scott and Mark Duggan.