courtesy of the artist, photo by Agate Bernard 
courtesy of the artist, photo by Kristy Farkas 
courtesy of the artist, photo by Kristy Farkas 
courtesy of the artist, photo by Agate Bernard 
courtesy of the artist, still from video documentation 
courtesy of the artist, still from video documentation 
courtesy of the artist, photo by Agate Bernard 
courtesy of the artist, still from video documentation 
courtesy of the artist, photo by Agate Bernard
forestorium
Created and directed by Paul Walde
Conductor: Ajtony Csaba
Costume & Props Design: Molly Somers
Still Photography: Desiree Wallace, Agathe Bernard, Kristy Farkas
Full Credits
Cast: Dahliea Greeves, Grace Vermette, Heather Pawsey, Heather Byford, čačumhi Aaron Wells, Peter Fairly, Trevor Eliot Bowes, Paul Boughen.
Chorus: Anna Bigland-Pritchard, Dahliea Greeve, Lisa Tinney, Talietha Sangha, Adam Dyjach, Leif Bradshaw, Louis Dillon, Peter Fairly.
Non-singing roles: Markwala Rande Cook, Eve Woldemikael, Mark Worthing.
Orchestra: Katerine Peter, Tamsyn Scryer-Klassik, Joanna Hood, Calvin Yang, Mahtab Saadatmand, Jayda Thor, Jody Johnson, Michelle Wolfenden, Alex Chernata, Carlos Santos Hernandez, Eilish McAree, Marc Micu, Sam McNally, Amaya Sydor, Yousef Shadian, Richard Lang, Tristan Holleufer.
Video: Guochen Wong, Mo Bradley, Ross Reid, Nick Patterson. Location Sound: Matheus Terra, Sean Kiley. Répétiteur: Dr. Kinza Tyrrel
Score editing and preparation: Sean Kiley, Nick Selig
learn more about the project
Forestorium is an operatic site-specific performance, theatrical work, and immersive media installation based on field studies of remaining old growth forests located in Pacheedaht and Ma’amtagila territories on Vancouver Island. Between 2021- 2024 Paul Walde undertook a series of visits to unprotected stands of old growth forests for a series of short residencies both alone and with the Awi’nakola: Tree of Life group which includes artists, scientists, and Indigenous knowledge keepers. During these visits, field notes, video and audio recordings, observations, reflections, insights, and meditations on this critically endangered environment were collected as the basis of the opera. Additional texts for the libretto were adapted from a series of interviews conducted with activists, forestry workers, forest ecologists, and Indigenous knowledge keepers in 2023-24. These texts and sounds are contrasted with BC Government press releases announcing the auction of old growth forests for logging, along with musical translations of giant trees being felled, and a metronome ticking at 125 beats per minute— which is the approximate rate of deforestation in BC. The opera is in three acts and is richly composed for featured performers, a chorus ,and orchestra. Act 1 features series of discrete songs focusing on various aspects of the human dynamic– how people use the forest and the fight to preserve it. Act 2 presents a more cohesive sound and vision through a series of variations on a theme exploring what a forest is from various perspectives; while the third act transports audience members into the heart of the forest, a place where the forest can communicate directly with them. Recordings of the site-specific performance and indoor theatrical presentations of the project will form the basis of an immersive media installation that will be available for galleries nationally and internationally in 2027.
Molly Somers 