OPERA CREATION FORUM
Opéra Magnolia & Opéra de Montréal
May 19-31, 2026
Founded in 2025, the Opera Creation Forum is a paid professional development opportunity for composers and writers at any stage of their professional career who want to gain intensive, hands-on training in the collaborative art of opera creation. A co-production of Opéra Magnolia (formerly Musique 3 Femmes) and Opéra de Montréal, the OCF is hosted by Opéra de Montréal and directed by opera composer/librettist and dramaturg, Luna Pearl Woolf. The 2026 edition of the OCF will take place from May 19-31, 2026, in Montreal, Quebec. The Forum provides four composers and four writers the opportunity to work with performers, directors, and opera creation mentors, focusing on the process and principles of collaboration, and working through exploratory assignments. Each creator will be partnered with each writer and performer in rotation, to create four new works for voice(s) and piano within the thirteen-day intensive. Immediate feedback will come through musical reading and discussion sessions between each creation period, and a semi-staged, informal showcase at the culmination of the Forum will give invited guests a chance to hear the outcome of participants' experience.
2026 PARTICIPANTS
Composers
Roan Shankaruk
Gavin Fraser
Marie-Pierre Brasset
Eugene Astapov
Librettists
Jessica Moss
MJ Kang
Éléonore Brieuc
Martin Bellemare
Singers
Catherine St-Arnaud
Dante Mullin Santone
Ellita Gagner
Mishael Eusebio
Pianists
Alona Milner
Jerome de los Santos
Stage Director
Caroline Yergeau
Read an in-depth interview with Luna Pearl Woolf and Kristin Hoff about the 2025 OCF by composer Tawnie Olson: “The whole experience was inspiring and life-changing…”
Testimonials from 2025 participants:
“The creation forum was a landmark experience in my life as a writer. It instilled in me a desire to pursue writing for opera and gave me a solid foundation to do so. The short but intense and relevant training received at the start of the forum enabled us to acquire valuable tools for collaborative writing, and to develop a common artistic vocabulary to exchange ideas effectively. The course facilitator, Luna Pearl Woolf, created a non-competitive group dynamic and nurtured a climate conducive to boldness and creativity.” - Poet, playwright and librettist Nathalie Boisvert (OCF 2025)
“The past 11 days have been inspiring, stimulating and encouraging. It was truly amazing to witness the craftsmanship and fluency that the writers and composers possess. And my biggest reward was to set those wonderful, fantastical, emotional and beautiful texts to music. It truly was a great honour. This whole experience really squeezed the last bit of my creative juice that I didn't think I had…The workshop format was designed to encourage feedback in the most constructive way possible. I loved the creative space of the Opera Creation Forum; it was filled with curiosity, encouragement, and a shared sense of artistic purpose… I truly felt the openness and trust from everyone involved… that spirit of generosity elevated all of our work.” - Composer Jeffrey Fong (OCF 2025)
“Something about these past 12 days has touched [me] very deeply... Thank you for creating an environment in which everyone could feel vulnerable but safe.!”
- Soprano Ellen Wieser (OCF 2025)
Reflecting on an incredible week… It's such a rare privilege to work with artists as brilliant and knowledgeable… - Poet and librettist Meghan Kemp-Gee (OCF 2025)
Mentoring sessions were provided at the ideal moment in the creative process for composers and librettists, and provided consistently helpful feedback that invariably strengthened the final work… I believe that this program is laying the groundwork for the creation of new, effective, idiomatic, groundbreaking Canadian opera in a manner unmatched by any other organization. - Composer Tawnie Olson (OCF 2025)
Not only did the forum help me to understand the basics of operatic creation, it also put me in touch with musicians, singers and directors with experience in the field. Thanks to hands-on practice and discussions with these professionals, I'm now able to imagine how music and opera can play a part in my future projects, and how to approach them realistically. It was a rich, intense and valuable course. - Playwright and librettist Étienne Lepage (OCF 2025)
