Both Sides Now
August 8
Both Sides now
Produced by Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野
August 8th
Synopsis
Both Sides Now brings together opera singer Teiya Kasahara 笠原 貞野 and pianist David Eliakis for an evening of Canadian songs that have been reimagined through their experiences as classical musicians. This magical evening of melodies will ignite nostalgia from coast to coast to coast, including legendary artists like Joni Mitchell, Jane Siberry, k.d. lang, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young, Anne Murray, Sarah MacLachlan, and more, all woven together with personal anecdotes by the performers themselves.
meet the team
Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/he) – Creator & Performer
Heralded as “artist with extraordinary things to say” (The Globe and Mail) and “a force of nature” (Toronto Star), Nikkei Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara 笠原貞野 (they/he) is a transgender opera singer and interdisciplinary theater creator based in Tkarón:to (colonially known as Toronto, Canada). Teiya comes from a background of nearly 20 years of singing both traditional and contemporary operatic roles across Turtle Island and Europe including the Queen of the Night Die Zauberflöte, Cio-Cio San Madama Butterfly, and the soprano solos in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Verdi’s Requiem.
Their critically acclaimed operatic-play The Queen In Me declared as a “radical, innovative piece of operatic art” (Intermission Magazine) recently had a sold-out run at the National Arts Centre, and has played at the Belfast International Arts Festival, Meridian Arts Centre in Ontario, Canadian Opera Company (world premiere), and will begin its west coast tour starting with Opera Kelowna in 2025. This summer will also mark the world premiere of a new opera by Leslie Uyeda, Silence, with Teiya in the title role for Nuova Vocal Arts in Edmonton.
In his practice Teiya explores the intersections of identity through reimagining the operatic and classical music canon in works such as the iterative Butterfly Project, Little Mis(s)gender (in development with Queer AF Collective, UofT Bonham Centre Artist-in-Residence 2021-2022), and Dichterliebe: Whose Love?, among others. He recently launched an autoethnographic multidisciplinary series Project T about his vocal transition at New York’s ChamberQUEER festival in 2024, with the latest performance in Toronto this past spring.
Teiya is a co-founder of Amplified Opera, an artistic associate with Confluence Concerts, and a member of Fractal Arts Collective with Debi Wong (Founding Artistic Director of re:Naissance Opera) and poet/librettist Luke Hathaway. He is the recipient of the Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Music from the Canada Council for the Arts.
For more information visit www.teiyakasahara.com or follow @teiyakasahara.
David Eliakis (he/him) – Pianist
Passionate about the hidden gems of music, pianist David Eliakis thrives on uncovering lesser-known works and composers waiting to be discovered. With an ear for the unique and a love for the classics, he enjoys reinterpreting timeless songs, breathing new life into beloved melodies.
His performances have taken him to the stages of Brazil, Switzerland (World Economic Forum), England (as a finalist in the Wigmore Hall Song Competition), Northern Ireland, Germany, New York, and across Canada as pianist and musical director for Against The Grain Theatre’s national tour of La Bohème.
A recipient of the Ontario Arts Council Chalmers Award, David had the honour of studying privately with Warren Jones (Manhattan School of Music) in New York City, as well as working with Julius Rudel, Sir Martin Isepp, Dalton Baldwin, Graham Johnson, and Roger Vignoles.
A faculty member of the Royal Conservatory of Music, David has also collaborated with Tapestry Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, Opera In Reach, and Amplified Opera in numerous performances of “The Queen in Me” with Teiya Kasahara, including performances at the Belfast International Arts Festival, and the National Arts Centre. He was also the host and curator of Against The Grain Theatre’s monthly Opera Pub for five years.
As a lecturer he speaks passionately about under-represented composers and works, as well as singers of past generations. He was also featured as a guest speaker and Q&A panelist at the Toronto International Film Festival for the premiere of Maria by Callas and Maria starring Angelina Jolie.
