City Opera of Vancouver - Fallujah

Fallujah

On 21 February 2011, it was announced that City Opera Vancouver had received the largest opera commission grant in Canadian history. The Annenberg Foundation of Los Angeles, in collaboration with its Explore.org organization, awarded City Opera $250,000 US to create a chamber opera based on an original story about the war in Iraq. That story was inspired by the life and work of USMC Sergeant Christian Ellis. The new opera, using the working title Fallujah, was created over a period of two years, with its workshops held in Vancouver. The fourth and final workshop set was given before an invited audience at the Frederic Wood Theatre on 13 May 2012. It is scored for nine singers and eleven players. The librettist is Heather Raffo, of New York City, and the composer Tobin Stokes of Vancouver. On 2 July 2012, the work was officially launched via a long-form feature published by The Associated Press, picked up from New York to London, Athens to Cairo, Tokyo to Los Angeles. At the same time, the Annenberg Foundation's explore.org affiliate began the online release of a series of filmed excerpts from the opera. On 9 July, it was announced that the Foundation had granted City Opera Vancouver an additional $100,000 toward the making of these film materials.