Wayne Strongman

One of Canada’s most distinguished music directors, Wayne Strongman is a champion of Canadian writers and composers. As Artistic Director of Tapestry New Opera Works, he has commissioned and premiered over 25 new works of opera/music theatre by Canadian writers and composers, including the award winning Nigredo Hotel by Nic Gotham and Ann-Marie MacDonald, No No Miya by Rudolph Komorous, Still the Night by Theresa Tova and Elsewhereless by Rodney Sharman and Atom Egoyan. In April 2001 he conducted the world premiere of Iron Road, a bilingual (Cantonese-English) opera by Chan Ka Nin and Mark Brownell, at Toronto’s Elgin Theatre. As Music Director of Tapestry’s Composer-Librettist Laboratory, Mr. Strongman has created a truly collaborative environment for an international roster of composers and writers, many of who have gone on to form successful creative teams. He is currently advising on five new operatic works including Filumena by John Murrell and John Estacio for Calgary Opera and the Banff Centre. Recent engagements include Musical Director for the Professional Opera Companies of Canada’s Showcase of Canadian Opera for the World Cultural Summit in Ottawa, remounted for the OPERA America Conference in Toronto in April 2002. For the English National Opera Studio he was music director of All-In Opera 2, an international collaboration between Tapestry, English National Opera and Antwerp’s Musiktheater Transparant. A noted choral specialist (he has been Adjunct Professor of Choral Studies at the University of Toronto), Mr. Strongman has also conducted numerous Canadian premieres for the CBC, notably Feldman’s Rothko Chapel, Somers’ Chura-Churum for New Music Concerts, the Gorecki Miserere at the Glenn Gould Studio and Christos Hatzis’ Kyrie for the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony’s Open Ears Festival. As Artistic Director of Rosedale Concerts, Mr. Strongman has quickly established the series as one of the most exciting and eclectic concert venues in Toronto. The diverse 2001-02 series includes actor/director Martha Henry, Erhu specialist George Gao and dancer/choreographer David Earle. Mr. Strongman volunteers as choral director for the Regent Park School of Music. In November, Mr. Strongman and the choir performed for the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards at the National Arts Centre, broadcast by the CBC on New Year’s Day, 2002.