Photo: Dahlia Katz
The April 26 edition of Haus Musik, Tafelmusik’s experimental, immersive series is at Longboat Hall, The Great Hall, 1087 Queen Street West. Doors and electronic set at 8pm | Live music at 8:30pm. General admission, limited seating. Tickets: $20 Advance / $25 Door | Cash bar. Details at hausmusikTO.com.
JAMES STRECKER: 1 If you were asked for 50 words for an encyclopedia to summarize what you do, or have done, in the arts, what would you say?
AMANDA SMITH: “Canadian stage director, Amanda Smith, is the Founding Artistic Director of the interdisciplinary new music and opera collective FAWN Chamber Creative. Her work revolves around visual and dramatic interpretation of classical music through staged concerts and opera. Smith’s work is known for her frequent collaborations with artists from different disciplines.”
JS: What important beliefs do you express in or through your work?
AS: That’s a tricky question, because it changes based on the project and, probably, what’s most on my mind at the time of concept creation. I think it’s important to show that people’s lives are not always what they seem to be. In much of my work, I often focus on creating understanding around the complexities of people’s internal experiences that are often superficially judged. I try to create opportunities for empathy in my work.
JS: Name two people, living or dead, whom you admire a great deal and tell us why for each one.
AS: I admire my parents. It might sound cheesy but they worked very hard to give my siblings and I a loving, fun and fulfilling life. We grew up with a number of challenges but they made sure we stuck together and enjoyed being with each other. They taught us that caring for other people is of the utmost importance and I thank them for that.
JS: How have you changed since you began to do creative work?
AS: I’m sure I’ve grown in a lot of ways but one is that I’m a lot more collaborative in my directing approach. It’s easy to want to control everything but far less interesting. Some of the best ideas belong to many people all at once. An important part of my job is to bring focus to those collective ideas.
JS: What are your biggest challenges as a creative person?
AS: Burnout can be an issue, especially since I often direct and design for the shows I work on. It’s important to give yourself space for that.
JS: Please describe at least one major turning point in your life.
AS: Meeting my partner and soon to be husband, Julius. I would be a very different person if I had not met him. The type of love and support he has given me has allowed me to grow in very important ways.
JS: What are the hardest things for an outsider to understand about what you do?
AS: I think a lot of people have a hard time fully understanding what a director does. Every director works a little differently and may have more influence over some elements of a production than others, due to their areas of expertise and interests. It’s a highly collaborative role, so the lines of creative responsibilities can be somewhat blurred. The idea is that directors often have a few fingers in every pot.
JS: How and why did you begin to do creative work in the first place?
AS: I was in music school and craved a creative outlet. Before going to school for it, singing was my outlet but it no longer felt that way. I still love singing but making music is not how I personally access my creativity. With that said, music remains the source of my creativity. I wanted to find a way to interpret what I saw in my head while listening to music. I started directing and designing my school’s choir concerts in my second year of undergrad. I definitely caught the bug then.
JS: What haven’t you attempted as yet that you would like to do and please tell us why?
AS: I have always wanted to move to Berlin and was preparing to do so at the end of my undergrad. The range of work being done there looks like a place I would feel comfortable in. I stayed because I fell in love, as simple as that, and it was totally worth it. Living there for a short period is still on my list, but I’m enjoying the classical music and opera scene that’s growing in Toronto. There are many reasons to stay here!
JS: What are your most meaningful achievements?
AS: My most meaningful achievements come from times when I’ve been able to give people a voice to be heard, especially when it leads to self-discoveries. This is true when it happens in my creative work and also my personal life.
JS: What advice would you give a young person who would like to do what you do?
AS: I strongly encourage anyone who wants to become a director to experience life from multiple perspectives. Open yourself to different kinds of people and truly listen to their stories. Go to see different types of art and take the time to think about it. Attend a range of events by different social and professional circles. This all helps you to better understand the worlds and characters you’re imagining.
JS: Of what value are critics?
AS: It’s important to have discussions about the art we see. Critics help to keep that spirit alive.
JS: What do you ask of your audience?
AS: Remain open minded and take the time to think about what you’re experiencing. This is something I tell myself as well.
JS: What specifically would you change about what goes on in the world and the arts?
AS: Wow, this list is forever changing and growing as I get more settled in both. In both cases, inequality is ever-present, be it as a result of gender, sexuality, religion, physical appearance, physical abilities, culture and/or mental health. We see white, cis men at the top more often than not, so my hope is that we see more progress in this as time goes on.
JS: If you could relive one experience from your creative life, what would it be and why would you do so?
AS: Last summer I was the faculty Chamber Werx stage director for the Banff Centre’s summer opera program. I directed and designed two immersive, interdisciplinary music-theatre shows out of art song, arias and electronic music by ACOTE. Being there, where you can fully immerse yourself in your work, was an immensely powerful experience. High altitudes seem to be great for creative thought!
JS: Tell us what it feels like to be a figure who is presented somehow in the media. What effect does this presence have on you?
AS: Being in the media can be exciting but it’s also a bit unnerving, especially for a stage director. The best way to learn is by doing, so, unlike a performer, most of your learning is done publicly. Hopefully it just means that more people can be witness to your growth as an artist.
JS: Name two places you would like to visit, one you haven’t been to and one to experience again and briefly tell us why.
AS: One place I would like to visit is Berlin, as mentioned before. The plan is to head there in September 2018 for a visit, so I’m looking forward to that. As for a place to go back to, I always love going to New York City. It’s hard to explain why but I feel immediately at home there, more than any other city I’ve been to. The size of it suits me.
JS: Please tell us about one or more projects that you have been working on, are preparing, or have recently completed. Why do they matter to you and why should they matter to us?
AS: I just finished stage-one of a project called Belladonna, which is a new, queer techno opera developed by FAWN Chamber Creative. The story was created for the FAWN Team by U.K. librettist, Gareth Mattey, who specializes in writing queer narratives for opera, something that is very infrequently done despite the significantly sized LGBTQ community in the industry. As the Artistic Director of FAWN, I’m very excited to be helping to grow the queer voice in opera through this project.
The piece includes dance, modular electronics (by my upcoming Haus Music collaborator, ACOTE) and a classical ensemble of double-bass, piano, tenor and mezzo-soprano. Creating this piece was a very interesting process because the staging, choreography and music were all developed in tandem through guided improvisation, using the libretto as its guide. As a result, all three elements were intrinsically linked through the narrative. With over half of the Belladonna team belonging to the LGBTQ community, the creation of this work, from concept to performance, has been infused with the voices and experiences of numerous queer individuals. Be sure to keep an eye out for Belladonna because this is a piece that will continue to grow with every performance.
JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?
AS: People are becoming less complacent and more vocal about prejudice and inequality – this gives me hope. I find it depressing that human decency is something we even have to fight for at all.
JS: Finally, what do you yourself find to be the most intriguing and/or surprising thing about you?
AS: I’ve had a wide range of life experiences, which I like to think gives me the ability to intrigue people through my work.