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Opera Night – (The Creation of) The Cremation of Sam McGee
December 8, 2022 @ 8:00 pm - 10:00 pm
Free
Come warm up and enjoy an informal evening of opera!
This group is utilizing the KIAC Ballroom as a studio space between Dec 4 – 11 to develop a new opera inspired by The Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert Service. Contact events@kiac.ca if you’d like to connect with them during their stay! On the evening of Dec 8, they will present some of the work they’ve been doing in the Ballroom.
The Cremation of Sam McGee is chamber opera-in-development by composer Matthew Ricketts and librettist Royce Vavrek adapted from and further inspired by the poem by Robert W. Service. The opera not only dramatizes this canonical work of poetry, but investigates other moments of fraternity and industry in Canada’s northwest. For this Dawson City workshop, a small cast of four men play multiple roles in a number of stories not unlike those told around a campfire: Peter Monaghan (bass-baritone), Micah Schroeder (baritone), Elias Theocharidis (tenor) and Sean Haid (countertenor). In one narrative strand, two men are working at a mine site in the mid-1990s, whose downtime in the bush is spent regaling each other with drunken recitations of poetry learned in one’s childhood. Another story follows a hitchhiker in 1970s Whitehorse who seeks to return home to his home in Tennessee, and whose strange language suggests a man with a ghostly past. In a more contemporary strand, two manual labourers find themselves in a Dawson City bar on Christmas Day. Intermixed with these are scenes more directly inspired by Robert Service’s poem.
Learn More About…
Artist In Residence Activities & Outreach
Artist in Residence activities include artist talks, studio tours, interactive events, and more.
Founded in 2001, in a partnership with Parks Canada, the KIAC Artist in Residence Program has welcomed over 300 talented artists, musicians and filmmakers to Dawson City from all regions of Canada and around the world. Our alumni include Sobey Art Award nominees, Western Canada Music Award winners, and prize-winning filmmakers from film festivals across the globe.
Check out the current Artists in Residence
Film Events
Film activities include film screenings, film selections, and more.
KIAC is proud to host an exciting roster of film screenings and film-related events throughout the year, such as the 48 Hour Film Challenge and Dawson City International Short Film Festival, numerous workshops, and other opportunities.
Exhibitions
Exhibition activities include gallery viewing hours, exhibition openings, artist talks, calls for submissions, and more.
ODD Gallery
The ODD Gallery, located in the Dënäkär Zho / KIAC building, presents a wide array of outreach programming including artist talks, openings, lectures, screenings, youth programs and other special events. Gallery programming fosters professionalism and appreciation of regional visual arts practice, and provides the community with exposure and access to a diverse range of contemporary visual arts practices and theories in a remote, northern setting.
Check out the current exhibition
Kids & Youth Programs
Kids & youth activities include: music lessons, art classes, dance classes, book readings, toddler classes, after-school programs.
Year-Round Programming
Kids and Youth (toddler to teen) programming ranges from music lessons (vocals, piano) to dance class (ballet, hip hop, and more), to hands-on workshops (pottery, screen-printing, animation and more) and is offered regularly throughout the year. KIAC strives to subsidize Kids & Youth programs as much as possible via grants and funding. Programming ranges from free Drop-Ins to registered weekly programs.
Youth Art Enrichment
Youth Art Enrichment is an annual four-day art program for Yukon youth hosted by the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture in Dawson City. Artistically-inclined youth ages 14 – 18 travel from across the Yukon to take part in intensive workshops led by professional artists. Students choose one of three mediums to study for the duration of the program, learning new skills, techniques, and ways to creatively make artwork for the world to see. The mediums change every year: we have offered printmaking, animation, painting, carving, stained glass, illustration, improv, and much more over the last two decades.
Learn more about Youth Art Enrichment
Performing Arts
Performing arts activities include: concerts, theatre and dance performances, open mics, radio broadcasts, special events, and more.
KIAC presents a year-round professional performing arts series in the beautiful second floor Ballroom that actively engages our community and provides inspiring performance opportunities for international, national, and regional artists in many disciplines. Our diverse programming includes jazz, classical, folk & roots, experimental, dance, theatre, and more.
Workshops
Workshops include: weekly drop-ins, registered programs, weekend workshops, and more.
KIAC presents a year-round schedule of educational opportunities ranging from drop in programs (pottery, screenprinting, seniors painting, concert band), to registered workshops (dance, music, film, visual art, craft, textiles, etc), to professional development opportunities for artists (grant writing, artwork documentation, etc).
Learn more about registration, upcoming courses, and outreach activities.