and everything that
sings in the carbon of stone and bone
like a page of love, wind-lost from a hand, unread.
– Anne Michaels, ‘There Is No City That Does Not Dream’ (from Skin Divers)
“arresting and strangely alluring”
Cecilia Livingston is composer-in-residence at the Canadian Opera Company, following three years as composer-in-residence at Glyndebourne. Her music is driven by melody, mixing styles to create work that is lyrical and unsettling, and her work has been performed at Glyndebourne, Teatro Colón, Teatro Carlo Felice, Bang on a Can’s summer festival, Toronto’s Nuit Blanche festival, in recital at Carnegie Hall, L’Auditori de Barcelona, the Barbican, the Kennedy Center, by Orkest Phion, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, Tafelmusik, and Soundstreams, and is available on recording from Deutsche Grammophon.
“[music that asks] slow burning, sometimes fiery questions”
Current projects include new work for the Canadian Opera Company, and her 2026 opera-oratorio Parélios received wide acclaim: “otherworldly… unique and beautifully crafted,” “genre-defying” and "astonishing… rang[ing] from lyrical to dramatic, from meditative to explosive… Parélios expanded the boundaries of what contemporary opera can be." Winner of the Louis Applebaum Composers Award “for excellence in composition for theatre, music theatre, dance or opera,” Cecilia’s creative work is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, and SOCAN Foundation.
Cecilia was a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Postdoctoral Fellow in Music at King's College London and her writing has been published in Tempo, the Cambridge Opera Journal, The Opera Quarterly, and in The Cambridge Companion to Composition. She has given papers on contemporary opera at the Royal Musical Association, American Musicological Society, and Modern Language Association (MLA) annual conferences; in 2024 she was appointed to the MLA Forum Executive Committee on Opera and Musical Performance for a five-year term. She is Vice-President of the Canadian League of Composers and an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre.
Cecilia is represented by CM Culture Management.
“this vast and curious creative mind”
“a radiant and openhearted musical language”
Salt Air
(‘Kalypso’, ‘Circe’, ‘Penelope’)
Sono Luminus
LEGENDS: Rebellion (14 August 2026)
Laura Strickling, soprano
Joy Schreier, piano
Lullabies
Deutsche Grammophon
freezing, 2024
Emily D’Angelo, mezzo
JUNO Awards, Classical Album of the Year
2025 OPUS KLASSIK Award
‘Paula Modersohn-Becker’
from Breath Alone
Deutsche Grammophon
Breathe, 2024
Hera Hyesang Park, soprano
2024 OPUS KLASSIK Award
new work
details to be announced
Fall River, the legend of Lizzie Borden
November 2026
opera, 80’
libretto by Michael Patrick Albano
University of Toronto
with the generous support of Denton Creighton and
Kristine Vikmanis and the Roger D. Moore Distinguished Visitor in Composition fund at the Faculty of Music
Emily Ding Photography
Parélios
2026
Opera 5 and TorQ Percussion Quartet, 80’
libretto by Duncan McFarlane
”otherworldly… unique and beautifully crafted”
(Opera Canada)
"astonishing… expanded the boundaries of what contemporary opera can be" (Paula Citron)
Catherine Hancock Photography (Gregory Feldmann, baritone; Danny Zelibor, piano)
Nothing Can End
2025
song cycle, baritone and piano, 17’
text by Anne Michaels
Brooklyn Art Song Society
with the generous support of Jerry van Koolbergen, Philip Johnson, and the National Endowment for the Arts
Garden of Vanished Pleasures
2025
75’
devised and directed by Tim Albery
Soundstreams
Opera America Awards for Excellence in Digital Opera, 2022
Breath Alone
2023
song cycle for soprano/mezzo and piano, 25’
with orchestra, 2024
text by Anne Michaels
Hera Hyesang Park, soprano; Katelan Tran Terrell, piano
photo by Cylla von Tiedemann
mark
2023
viola, baritone, chorus, percussion, and celeste
40’
text by Duncan McFarlane, on the art of Mark Rothko
Soundstreams, dir. Tim Albery
Matisse
hyacinth: songs of the Minotaur
2023
song cycle for soprano/mezzo and piano
15’
text by Duncan McFarlane, on the art of Matisse
SongFest
image by Dog and Pony Studio
luna premit
2023
song cycle for high voice and piano
20’
text by Anne Michaels and Duncan McFarlane
Canadian Art Song Project
Glyndebourne
Pay the Piper
2022
opera
Glyndebourne, with Psappha
dir. Stephen Langridge
winner, Best Opera, RESEO Youth Music Awards
“Cecilia Livingston, a female composer holding space in a male-dominated field”
“hewn by wind and sand, as sea-swept and gritty as it is tender”
Calendar
TBA
Toronto, Canada
new work, Canadian Opera Company
2027, May 23
New York City, USA
new work
Indyana Schneider, mezzo; New York Festival of Song
2027, May 9
New York City, USA
hyacinth
Sara LeMesh, soprano; Brooklyn Art Song Society
2027, March 12-13
Thunder Bay, Canada
Starve
Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, cond. Evan Mitchell
2027, March 5-6
Toronto, Canada
‘What Does a Mother Say to Her Child?’ from Nothing Can End
Jonelle Sills, soprano; Jesse Blumberg, baritone; Steven Philcox, piano
Canadian Art Song Projects at Confluence Concerts
2027, February 13-April 11
Koblenz, Germany
Dido and Aeneas | Waiting for you
ballet-opera, created by Steffen Fuchs; featuring Penelope
Theater Koblenz
2027, February
New York City, USA
slow disclosure: songs for Paula Rego
Sparks & Wiry Cries
2026, November 19-22
Toronto, Canada
Fall River, the legend of Lizzie Borden (80’)
opera, University of Toronto; cond. Sandra Horst
supported by Denton Creighton and Kristine Vikmanis, and the
Roger D. Moore Distinguished Visitor in Composition Fund at the Faculty of Music
2026, October 18
Charlottetown, PEI, Canada
Leap of the Heart
Prince Edward Island Symphony Orchestra, cond. Jaelem Bhate
2026, September 18
London, Canada
conference concert (program to be announced)
Music, Craft, and the Fibre Arts: Textures in Conversation, Western University
2026, August 14
worldwide
Salt Air, LEGENDS: Rebellion album release (Sono Luminus)
Laura Strickling, soprano; Joy Schreier, piano
2026, July 2
Ottawa, Canada
arrangements of Clara Schumann’s songs
Alex Hetherington, mezzo; National Arts Centre Orchestra, cond. Alexander Shelley
2026, June 12-14
Toronto, Canada
Parélios (80’)
Opera 5 and TorQ Percussion Quartet; Jennifer Nichols, director and choreographer
Toronto Opera Festival at Theatre Passe Muraille
2026, May 9
Vancouver, Canada
After the Wind
New Orford String Quartet; Vancouver Chamber Music
2026, May 8
Delta, BC, Canada
After the Wind
New Orford String Quartet; Vancouver Chamber Music
2026, May 8
Chicago, USA
Penelope
Alannah Spencer, soprano; Fourth Church Music
2026, April 15
Montreal, Canada
Kalypso, Penelope
Zoe McCormick, soprano; Alexey Shafirov, piano
Wirth Vocal Prize recital
2026, April 13
New York, USA
2026, April 12
New York, USA
2026, April 11
Ottawa, Canada
After the Wind
New Orford String Quartet; Ottawa Chamberfest
2026, March 23-25
Kingston, Canada
2026, March 20
Toronto, Canada
guest lecture, University of Toronto “Lives in Music”
2026, March 15-17
Banff, Canada
National Summit on Artificial Intelligence and Culture
Government of Canada in partnership with the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
2026, March 8
London, UK
hyacinth: songs of the Minotaur
Carola Emrich-Fisher, soprano; Lara Dodds-Eden, piano
Lauderdale House
2026, March 7
Hooge Zwaluwe, Netherlands
Moon
Valerie Dueck, piano; Snaren op Swaluw
2026, February 22
Montreal, Canada
Kalypso
Zoe McCormick, soprano; Alexey Shafirov, piano
Wirth Vocal Prize competition - winner
2026, February 13
Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, Canada
Penelope
Allyson McHardy, mezzo; Carson Becke, piano
Musique Royale
2026, February 11
Halifax, Canada
Penelope
Allyson McHardy, mezzo; Carson Becke, piano
Scotia Festival of Music
2026, February 8
Luskville, Quebec, Canada
Penelope
Allyson McHardy, mezzo; Carson Becke, piano
Collines en musique
2026, February 3-5
Edmonton, Canada
panelist, O2: The Canadian Opera and Orchestra Conference
Association for Opera in Canada and Orchestras Canada
2026, January 29
Toronto, Canada
What Does a Mother Say to Her Child? from Nothing Can End
Jonelle Sills, soprano; Jesse Bloomberg, baritone; Stephen Philcox, piano
Canadian Art Song Project, University of Toronto New Music Festival
2026, January 11
Toronto, Canada
session chair, “Performing Cultures, Performing Communities”
Modern Language Association annual convention
2025, December 17
Toronto, Canada
Salt Air
Ariane Cossette, soprano; Brian Cho, piano
Richard Bradshaw Recital Series, Canadian Opera Company
2025, November 24
Sackville, NB, Canada
After the Wind
Nadia Francavilla, Danielle Sametz, violins; Robin Streb, viola; Chris Yoon, cello
Mount Allison University Faculty and Guest Artist Recital
2025, November 23
Fredericton, NB, Canada
Light
Nadia Francavilla, violin; Joel Cormier, percussion; Carl Philippe Gionet, piano
University of New Brunswick Contemporary Music Festival
2025, November 22
Fredericton, NB, Canada
After the Wind
Nadia Francavilla, Danielle Sametz, violins; Robin Streb, viola; Chris Yoon, cello
University of New Brunswick Contemporary Music Festival
2025, November 21
NYC, USA
Penelope Project
Why Collective at The DiMenna Center for Classical Music
2025, November 13
Doetinchem, Netherlands
Paula Modersohn-Becker from Breath Alone
Elisabeth Hetherington, soprano; Phion Orchestra, cond. Joana Carneiro
2025, November 11
Deventer, Netherlands
Paula Modersohn-Becker from Breath Alone
Elisabeth Hetherington, soprano; Phion Orchestra, cond. Joana Carneiro
2025, November 9
Enschede, Netherlands
Paula Modersohn-Becker from Breath Alone
Elisabeth Hetherington, soprano; Phion Orchestra, cond. Joana Carneiro
2025, November 7
Arnhem, Netherlands
Paula Modersohn-Becker from Breath Alone
Elisabeth Hetherington, soprano; Phion Orchestra, cond. Joana Carneiro
2025, November 7
Toronto, Canada
Penelope
Chihiro Yasufuku, voice; Kento Stratford, piano
Confluence Concerts
“textural intensity and myriad styles that suggest an exploration and boundlessness that is somehow always cohesive”
Words
“Arranging as Process and Product: A Composer’s Perspective.” The Oxford Handbook of Arrangement Studies. Ed. Ryan Banagale. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2026. (forthcoming)
“Nothing New Under the Sun: Composition as Adaptation.” The Cambridge Companion to Composition. Ed. Toby Young. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2024. 257–269.
Profile, Choral Repertoire by Women Composers. Ed. Hilary Apfelstadt and Alan Troy Davis. GIA Publications, 2025. 408-411.
Interview: ‘Soundstreams present The Bright Divide’, Foyer, Art Gallery of Ontario (Oct. 2023)
Cover feature, La Scena Musicale magazine, Vol. 28 No. 6 (Apr-May 2023), pg. 22-24. Online here.
Feature profile, Opera Canada magazine, Vol. 63 No. 4 (Spring 2023), pg. 26-29.
“Room to Fail or Doomed to Fail? How misunderstandings of creative labor in opera undermine new works.” Modern Language Association convention, 2023
Contact
CM Culture Management
Rebecca Townsend
Director of Artistist Management
rebecca@cmculturemanagement.com
For score inquiries and to submit performance information, please use the form here.