THE SWORD IN THE SCHOOLYARD (2016)
Children's Opera in One Act
6 boys/4 girls large children;s chorus, chamber ensemble
(strings, fl/ob/clar., percussion, piano)
Commissioned by VIVA! Youth Singers of Toronto
and Roger D. Moore
Premiered Daniel Spectrum, Toronto ON
June 3, 2016
The Sword in the Schoolyard is a blending of the contemporary schoolyard of a young student and his imaginings of King Arthur’s medieval England. His sense of despair upon the deployment of his beloved sister to a foreign war, forces him to attempt to comprehend the meaning of leadership, violence, duty, loyalty and equality through the legend of the mythic king. It is not a complete transformation, in that many modern elements deliberately remain. It is not a real portrayal of medieval times, but rather Arthur’s imaginings of them.
