CAROLINE’S SWEEPER – WORLD PREMIERE

CAROLINE’S SWEEPER

Michael Donovan, Composer
Monica Pearce, Librettist
Upstream Association
Strug Concert Hall
January 11, 2026 @ 7:30pm

Tickets online and at the door: https://www.simpletix.com/e/caroline-s-sweeper-tickets-248706

CAST & CREATIVE TEAM

Erin Bardua, Director
Tara Scott, Musical Director
Jodie Alcorn-Miller, Conductor
Andrew Alcorn, Set Designer
Diego Cavedon, Costume Designer
Matt Downey, Projections and Lighting Consultant
Ben B. Creelman, Live Sound Engineer
Riley J. Valotaire, Technical Coordinator

Maureen Batt, Soprano, as Caroline Herschel
Tara Scott, Piano
Richard Belding, Bass
Megan Chandler, Double Bass
Geordie Haley, Guitar

Presentation by Dr. Margaret Z. Buhariwalla, Postdoctoral Fellow in Astronomy and Physics, Saint Mary’s University.

PROGRAM NOTE

Caroline’s Sweeper follows Caroline Herschel, 18th-century comet huntress, as she discovers eight comets. Largely overshadowed by the success of her astronomer brother William Herschel, she was the first woman to receive a salary as a scientist and was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society. In this chamber opera, Caroline Herschel’s life and work is unfolded through a series of vignettes exploring her astronomical discoveries.

Composed by Michael Donovan with libretto by Monica Pearce, Caroline’s Sweeper was commissioned by Maureen Batt for Crossing Borders with support from the Canada Council for the Arts. 

Thank you to astrophysicist Matt Russo and Dr. Margaret Z. Buhariwalla for your expertise and consultation.

CROSSING BORDERS

Crossing Borders is a concert series founded by Maureen Batt in 2015 that features contemporary music by living Canadian composers and musical artists from around the world. With themes of compassion, contemplation, beauty, loneliness, darkness, healing, and warmth, the pieces presented in this series mirror both modern societal views and ancient cultural contexts through the lenses of humour, hope, and nostalgia. Its mission is to celebrate new, Canadian works, while also honouring people and voices from our past, connecting the past-present-future through shifting lenses and layers. Art song is a featured genre on this recital series, but programs also often include opera, musical theatre, and electronics. Tonight’s performance marks Crossing Borders’ 18th world première.

MORE ABOUT CROSSING BORDERS 

Crossing Borders is a concert series founded by Batt that features contemporary music by living Canadian composers and musical artists from around the world. With themes of compassion, contemplation, beauty, loneliness, darkness, healing, and warmth, the pieces presented in this series mirror both modern societal views and ancient cultural contexts through the lenses of humour, hope, and nostalgia.

Three programs have toured to Halifax, Toronto, and Philadelphia with Cheryl Duvall on piano: Crossing Borders: A Celebration of New Music from New Mexico to Nova Scotia (2015) Crossing Borders: Realities Blurred (2016) Crossing Borders: Mission Compassion (2018). Crossing Borders: Travesía Latinoamericana toured to Canada and Colombia in 2019 with Fabián Arciniegas (tenor) and Claire Harris (piano). Crossing Borders: Living Room Edition, was a livestreamed concert featuring works for solo soprano and soprano and electronics from Maureen’s living room in April 2020. Crossing Borders: Shifting the Lens featuring Tara Scott, Claire Harris, Fabián Arciniegas was a digital broadcast in December 2021. Our June 2023 digital broadcast was a première of Amy Brandon’s Vertical Labyrinth featuring Maureen Batt and the Halifax Camerata Singers. The most recent projects include world premières of Caroline’s Sweeper, a new opera by Michael Donovan, with libretto by Monica Pearce, and Five Formosa Songs, a new song cycle by Chia Yin Wu 吳佳音, with poetry by Chen Mo Lin 林沈默.

Art song is a featured genre on this recital series, but programs also often include opera, musical theatre, and electronics. So far, Crossing Borders has given 18 world premières and has given composers and works countless Canadian/American/Colombian premières. Among those world premières are works by Bob Bauer, Leila Lustig, Saman Shahi, Anthony T. Marasco, Anna Höstman, Rodney Sharman, Jessie Rivest, Rosśa Crean, Alondra Vega-Zaldivar, Leo Herrera, Mario Gómez-Vignes, Chris Hutching, Chia Yin Wu, Elisha Denburg, Claire Harris, and Michael Donovan.

One of the cycles that Crossing Borders commissioned and premièred in 2018, Breathing in the Shadows (Saman Shahi) was released on a commercial album in September 2020 on Leaf Music’s label, with support from Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, and Canada Council for the Arts. It earned Saman Shahi a JUNO nomination for Classical Composition of the Year (2022). Elisha Denburg’s Durme, Durme: Four Ladino Folk Songs was released on an EP February 3, 2023, and was nominated for Classical Recording of the Year by Music Nova Scotia (2023). Chia Yin Wu’s Five Formosa Songs will be released as an EP in 2026.

Crossing Borders concerts and tours have been supported by SOCAN, Arts Nova Scotia, and FACTOR. And Crossing Borders commissions have been supported by Arts Nova Scotia, the Canada Council for the Arts, Waterloo Arts Fund, and the Ontario Arts Council.

Previous calls for scores can be found here, here, here, and here for reference. If you want to discuss commissioning, please feel free to get in touch via the contact form or social media . You can also find posts about Crossing Borders on my site here.

CALL FOR WORKS (Duets) –

Deadline for submission: ongoing

There is no age, gender, or nationality restriction on this call.

Scores selected for performance will be purchased (submitted scores via email are for perusal only).

INSTRUMENTATION

Voice duets (sop & tenor) unaccompanied 
2 Voices and piano
2 Voices and electronics
2 Voices, piano, and electronics
Spoken word
Graphic scores
Interactive scores

Please read the full call here: https://maureenbatt.com/crossing-borders-call-for-duets/

*See full call for more details on voice types.

In Shifting the Lens and Vertical Labyrinth, we explore the richness found in the layers of blurred timelines, where our art and our voices connect us across dimensions. Works on this program shift the perspective of our current world while honouring people and poetry from the past.

Crossing Borders: Shifting the Lens

Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 8pm AT/ 7pm ET

(48-hour replay available with ticket purchase by show time)

Fabián Arciniegas, tenor
Claire Harris, piano
Maureen Batt, soprano
Tara Scott, piano
Grej, vocals and electronics
And the Halifax Camerata Singers*

Featuring a program of premières by Amy Brandon*, Elisha Denburg, Chia Yin Wu, Mario Gómez-Vignes, and music from Maureen and Grej’s most recent album, Lighthouse.

In Crossing Borders: Shifting the Lens, we want to explore the richness found in the layers of blurred timelines, where our art and our voices connect us across dimensions. Works on this program shift the perspective of our current world while honouring people and poetry from the past.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Crossing Borders: Living Room Edition

3:30pm ET/ 4:30 pm AT

Streamed live at www.facebook.com/maureenbattsoprano

FB event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/217954729413994/

Tickets here: https://www.tickethalifax.com/events/106757949/crossing-borders-living-room-edition

Featuring pieces by Stephen Bachicha, Melissa Dunphy, Melissa Vargas Franco, Monica Pearce, Bob Bauer, Daniel Gardner, Matthew Emery, Rosśa Crean

Program notes, song texts, and composer information will be emailed to you before the concert. Buy a ticket to ensure the program is emailed to you.

The concert is part of the recital series Crossing Borders, which puts Canadian music together and in dialogue with music from other countries. The series pushes geographical, musical, and metaphorical thresholds. With sounds of ice crackling, to dreaming of blissful sun basking, to contemplating a blurred reality, this program of living classical contemporary composers explores themes of compassion, isolation, and joy.