FAWN

Surveillance was a key theme we tested during our creative production design workshop for Cells of Wind, in association with

Cells of Wind written by:
(composer) 
Oana Avasilichioaei (librettist)

Production Workshop Team:
- Stage Director & Co-Dramaturge: Amanda Smith
- Set Designer: Shannon Lea Doyle
- Lighting Designer: Noah Feaver
- Projection Design Team: potatoCake_Digital (Emily Soussana & Andrew Scriver)
- Choreographer: Alyssa Martinjpg - Costume Designer: Joyce Padua
Co-Dramaturg: Graham Cozzubbo
- Rebecca Cuddy, playing L, an incarcerated woman (mover)
- Gwenna Fairchild-Tayler, playing an incarcerated woman (mover)
- Sam Grist (mover/dancer)
- documentation videographer: Taylor Long
- intern - Nuha Yousuf
- intern - Philipp Samutin



About Gwenna Fairchild Taylor, playing an incarcerated woman in Cells of Wind & the project's Community Engagement Coordinator:⁠
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Canadian soprano and teaching artist Gwenna Fairchild-Taylor believes in the power of music as a catalyst for community building and social change and strives to make sure everyone has access to creative experiences. Recent performance highlights include Sieglinde in scenes from die Walküre (Boston Wagner Institute) Mozart Requiem (Dalhousie Collegium Cantorum), premieres with the Artsong Collaborative Project, and new opera workshops with FAWN Chamber Creative and Good Mess Opera Theatre.

Gwenna regularly conducts choirs, adjudicates at music festivals, runs teaching artistry and community engagement workshops, and consults on curriculum and programming for universities, opera companies, and other nonprofits. As a teaching artist, Gwenna has written and facilitated community music programming for over 30 organizations across Canada and the United States.Learn more about Gwenna and her work at gwennafairchildtaylor.com
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Co-presented by Numus Concerts & FAWn Chamber Creative, the opera-in-concert debut of Cells of Wind will be performed in concert on January 29, 2025 at .⁠
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At its core, Cells of Wind is a highly impactful meditation on survival, systemic control, and the fundamental need for human connection.⁠
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The Cells of Wind project is supported by the & the .council.⁠
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⁠Graphic design by Andre Edwards-Roderique

About Rebecca Gray, playing G in Cells of Wind:⁠
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Rebecca Gray is a soprano, composer and improviser passionate about performing and creating both classical and contemporary repertoire. As a soprano, she has performed with Pacific Opera Victoria, Esprit Orchestra, Tapestry Opera, Opera Q, and is a member of FAWN chamber creative. She loves contributing to Canada's q***r opera scene as a performer and composer, and has presented interdisciplinary work at many national and international festivals and residencies. She has composed unique vocal music for Voces Boreales in Montréal, New Music Concerts in Toronto, Pro Coro in Edmonton and Soundstreams in Toronto. She has received Canada Council and Opera America grants to support the composition and workshop of “BUS Opera,” a q***r fantasy of overnight millennial angst, and won first prize in the choral category of SOCAN young composer awards in 2024. She won the Mecenat Musica Prix 3 femmes, and composed “Raccoon Opera: a fable of the housing crisis” in which she performed the titular role at Salle Bourgie, 2024.
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Co-presented by Numus Concerts & FAWN Chamber Creative, the opera-in-concert debut of Cells of Wind will be performed in concert on January 29, 2025 at The Registry Theatre.⁠
⁠
At its core, Cells of Wind is a highly impactful meditation on survival, systemic control, and the fundamental need for human connection.⁠
⁠
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The Cells of Wind project is supported by the & the .council.⁠
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⁠Graphic design by Andre Edwards-Roderique

About Dobrochna Zubek, cellist in Cells of Wind:⁠
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Polish-Canadian cellist Dr. Dobrochna Zubek has established herself as a versatile artist dedicated to a wide-ranging musical repertoire and to exploring boundaries between artistic disciplines. A soloist, chamber musician, orchestral cellist and educator, Zubek’s multi-faceted career has taken her to cities across Europe, Asia and North America. She has collaborated with some of music’s most distinguished artists, including Peter Gabriel, José Carreras, Shauna Rolston and Gioconda Barbuto. From 2009-2012, Zubek held an orchestra position with the Orquesta Sinfonica del Estado de Mexico. As a soloist, she has appeared on many festival stages, including Geneé International Ballet Competition (2019), Banff Center for Arts and Creativity (2019) and Ottawa Chamberfest (2016). From 2017-2023 served as a principal cellist of Sudbury Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, Zubek was invited by Symphony New Brunswick to be their principal cellist and a quartet cellist in residence. Zubek made her New York debut at La MAMA , an Off Broadway experimental theatre where she appeared in an all-female production of This is Why We Live. Written for cello and two actors, Zubek’s performance was hailed by critics as that of a virtuoso whose playing is soulful and wonderful. As a recording artist, Zubek’s repertoire includes Mexico-Voyage and the JUNO -nominated CD Hymns of Heavens and Earth, composed by Peter-Anthony Togni among others.
Dobrochna holds DMA from University of Toronto.

http://www.dobrochnazubek.com
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Co-presented by Numus Concerts & FAWN Chamber Creative, the opera-in-concert debut of Cells of Wind will be performed in concert on January 29, 2025 at The Registry Theatre.⁠
⁠
At its core, Cells of Wind is a highly impactful meditation on survival, systemic control, and the fundamental need for human connection.⁠
⁠
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⁠
The Cells of Wind project is supported by the & the .council.⁠
⁠
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⁠Graphic design by Andre Edwards-Roderique