Music Picnic

12/13/2025

Thank you to all who have tuned in to our opera series. The complete work is up now. If you have not checked it out already, keep it in mind the next time you are looking for alternative programming online. Find us at musicpicnic.com/digital. Thanks to Ludwig van Toronto and .wassenberg for the shout out.

Toronto composer Njo Kong Kie and librettist Douglas Rodger have teamed up for a digital opera project titled The Futures Market.

12/13/2025

Thanks to the sponsorship of Canadian Heritage and the leadership of Association for Opera in Canada, I was able to attend the Opera Europa Conference in Geneva with all these wonderful Canadian colleagues from Canadian Opera Company, Edmonton Opera, Opéra de Montréal, Soundstreams, Musique 3 Femmes and Les Productions du 10 avril. Thanks to Canadian Heritage for covering a great part of the costs of attending this event and I am very grateful to the SOCAN Foundation - Fondation SOCAN for providing the funds I needed to raise on my side as a participant.

12/04/2025

The Finale of The Futures Market is out now. Thank you for all of you who have tuned in to our opera series so far. The entire 14 episodes can now be enjoyed at musicpicnic.com/digital. We acknowledge once again the support of Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada, the Ontario Arts Council - Conseil des arts de l'Ontario, an agency of the Ontario Government and the Toronto Arts Council to get this work out.

12/02/2025

Heading into the finale stretch of The Futures Market. Ep. 12 - The Blue Room - out now. musicpicnic.com/digital

12/01/2025

This is where we ended last week with The Futures Market. Ep. 11 out now. Join us as we continue the story this week to reach its finale on Dec 4th. musicpicnic.com/digital

11/28/2025

Ep. 10 out - Last episode of the week before the weekend break. And it is home stretch next week for The Futures Market, an opera series. Join us at musicpicnic.com/digital

11/27/2025

On the left of the clip is the earliest visual design for The Futures Market, a 13 min short made for The Wrecking Ball in 2007. On our way to now this 14-episode opera series — we found showcasing opportunities at the New Music Marathon (now the Intersection Music & Arts), the Canadian Opera Company noon-hour series, and SummerWorks Industry Series. Excited to be sharing the fruit of our journey. musicpicnic.com/digital Ep. 9 out now.

11/25/2025

We are halfway. Ep. 7 of the opera series The Futures Market is out now. Enjoy the full series at musicpicnic.com/digital

Join Teiya and Derek as the story unfolds. We acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada, Ontario Arts Council - Conseil des arts de l'Ontario, an agency of the Ontario Government and Toronto Arts Council.

11/24/2025

We launched last week with 5 episodes of The Futures Market. We continue with 5 more this week. Ep. 6 is out now, featuring Derek Kwan and Keith Lam. musicpicnic.com/digital

11/22/2025

I don't remember how and where I knew Keith from now, likely from the number of productions he has performed in, from his work at the Canadian Opera Company, , , Soundstreams and indie opera projects over the years such as SWEAT, whose digital version won the Opera America Award for Digital Excellence. Check out his work with Teiya Kasahara on Ep. 5 of The Futures Market - the last for this week before we take the weekend break.

musicpicnic.com/digital

11/22/2025

Over the years, I got to know Keith from the many productions he has performed in, from his work at the Canadian Opera Company, , , Soundstreams and indie opera projects such as SWEAT, whose digital version won the OPERA America Award for Digital Excellence. Check out his work with Teiya Kasahara on Ep. 5 of The Futures Market - the last episode for this week before we take the weekend break.

musicpicnic.com/digital

11/22/2025

Over the years, I got to know Keith from the many productions he has performed in, from his work at the Canadian Opera Company, , , Soundstreams and indie opera projects such as SWEAT, by Juliet Palmer and Anna Chatterton, whose digital version won the OPERA America Award for Digital Excellence. Check out his work with Teiya Kasahara on Ep. 5 of The Futures Market - the last episode for this week before we take the weekend break.

musicpicnic.com/digital