On the morning of September 22, 2015, in Renfrew County, Ontario, one man went on a killing spree, brutally murdering three ex-partners in their separate homes. They were victims of a crime now recognized as one of the worst domestic violence cases in Canadian history. The murders devastated the rural Ottawa Valley community where baritone Joshua Hopkins grew up – his sister, Nathalie Warmerdam, was one of these women.
Hopkins has since set out on a journey to use his voice to wake people up to the global epidemic of gender-based violence – and their part in it. His call to action was answered by two exceptional creators. Jake Heggie, hailed by the Wall Street Journal as “the world’s most popular 21st-century opera and art song composer,” agreed to write the music, and Margaret Atwood, the Booker Prize-winning author of more than 50 books of fiction and poetry, including The Handmaid’s Tale, wrote the searing words.
The result is a set of 8 songs, collectively titled Songs for Murdered Sisters, which have now been released as both a film and a Juno-nominated digital album. In partnership with co-commissioner Houston Grand Opera, the chamber version premiered in March 2022 at Rothko Chapel in Houston. In February 2023, the orchestral version received its live World Premiere with Canada's co-commissioner National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, with subsequent performances in Toronto and Kingston.
"I have known two women who were murdered, both by jealous former romantic partners, so the killing of Joshua’s sister resonated with me. But I could not promise anything: with songs and poems, they either arrive or they don't. I then wrote the sequence in one session. I made the ‘sisters’ plural because they are indeed – unhappily – very plural. Sisters, daughters, mothers. So many."
Margaret Atwood
“Margaret sent a perfect, complete set of 8 texts and asked, ‘How about something like this?’ Josh and I were stunned and deeply moved. I am in complete awe of Margaret’s genius – and it was a great honor and privilege to explore every corner of her poems to shape this musical, emotional journey for Josh.”
Jake Heggie
Upcoming Performances
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Trasimeno Music Festival
EUROPEAN PREMIERE
WITH PIANIST ANGELA HEWITTJuly 1, 2023
Magione
Italy -
Philadelphia Orchestra
ORCHESTRAL USA PREMIERE
CONDUCTED BY YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUINJanuary 9-11, 2025
Philadelphia, PA
USA -
Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall
CONDUCTED BY YANNICK NÉZET-SÉGUINJanuary 15, 2025
New York, NY
USA
Film
Directed by James Niebuhr, the film premiered with Houston Grand Opera on Friday, February 19, 2021, and is now watchable on HGO Digital and YouTube.
Album
The album, released on the Pentatone label with composer Jake Heggie at the piano, is available digitally on all major platforms. It launched on Friday, March 5, 2021, to align with International Women’s Day the following Monday and was nominated for a 2022 Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year (Solo Artist).
We hope that sharing this harrowing story through song will inspire other voices – of all genders – to take up the call in the future, providing hope and healing for countless families around the world who have been impacted by this global societal issue.
More immediately, we challenge men to own their responsibility to end violence against women. We aim to motivate 10,000 men to take the White Ribbon Pledge, promising “never to commit, condone, or remain silent about all forms of gender-based violence.”
“I felt so numb after Nathalie’s murder. It was so shocking it was almost impossible to comprehend. But Margaret’s words and Jake’s music have opened a door, and stepping through it has allowed me to access all my complicated feelings surrounding Nathalie’s death.
You don’t process grief in a linear fashion – any emotion can come up any time you’re experiencing an emotional influx. But meaning transforms grief into a more peaceful and hopeful experience. These songs have provided that meaning for me.”
Joshua Hopkins
Words
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood, whose work has been published in more than forty-five countries, is the author of more than fifty books of fiction, poetry, critical essays, and graphic novels. Dearly, her first collection of poetry in over a decade, was published in November 2020. Her latest novel, The Testaments, is a co-winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. It is the long-awaited sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, now an award-winning TV series. Her other works of fiction include Cat’s Eye, finalist for the 1989 Booker Prize; Alias Grace, which won the Giller Prize in Canada and the Premio Mondello in Italy; The Blind Assassin, winner of the 2000 Booker Prize; The MaddAddam Trilogy; and Hag-Seed. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Franz Kafka International Literary Prize, the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Los Angeles Times Innovator’s Award. She lives in Toronto.
Photo by Luis Mora
Music
Jake Heggie
Jake Heggie is the composer of the operas Dead Man Walking, Moby-Dick, It’s A Wonderful Life, If I Were You, Great Scott, and Three Decembers, among others. He has also composed nearly 300 songs, as well as chamber, choral and orchestral works. The operas – most created with Gene Scheer or the late Terrence McNally – have been produced on five continents. Dead Man Walking (McNally) recently received its 70th international production, making it the most-performed American opera of our time. New York’s Metropolitan Opera recently announced it will produce Dead Man Walking in a bold new production by director Ivo van Hove, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Heggie has served as a mentor for the Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative and is a frequent guest artist at universities, conservatories, and festivals throughout the USA and Canada. He lives in San Francisco.
Photo by James Niebuhr
Voice
Joshua Hopkins
Widely respected as one of the finest singer-actors of his generation, Canadian baritone Joshua Hopkins brings his “glistening, malleable baritone of exceptional beauty” (Opera Today) to a repertoire spanning four centuries. His versatile artistry is frequently on display on the stages of The Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, Glyndebourne, Washington National Opera, and the Canadian Opera Company. His recent seasons have featured signature roles including Count Almaviva in Le nozze di Figaro, Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte, and the title role in Billy Budd. In concert repertoire, he has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra. He lives in Houston.
Photo by Dario Acosta
WE NEED YOUR HELP TO SAVE LIVES and end gender-based violence. YOU CAN TAKE ACTION by mailing or e-mailing these LETTERS to your REPRESENTATIVES.
In June 2022, the coroner’s office of the province of Ontario held an inquest into the Culleton, Kuzyk, and Warmerdam murders – the CKW inquest. After listening to three weeks of testimony and reviewing voluminous written exhibits, the five-person jury returned with a verdict that included 86 recommendations for change. Luke's Place, a non-profit family law support centre for abused women, has built a TOOLKIT to help implement these changes. Even if you don't live in Ontario or Canada, many of these recommendations should be implemented everywhere, so please write your local representatives.
As reports tell us again and again, the vast majority of domestic homicides are both predictable and preventable. We MUST urge our political representatives to implement these vital recommendations.
Premiere Performances
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Houston Grand Opera / Rothko Chapel
CHAMBER WORLD PREMIERE
March 8, 2022
Houston, TX
USA -
National Arts Centre Orchestra Tour
ORCHESTRAL WORLD PREMIERE
February 9-14, 2023
Ottawa, Toronto, Kingston
Canada
Partners
Houston
Grand Opera
Song cycle co-commissioner; film premiere
Canada’s National
Arts Centre Orchestra
Song cycle co-commissioner; orchestral premiere
White
Ribbon
#WhiteRibbonSisters challenge
Pentatone
Music
Album label
Verismo
Communications
Public relations; project management
Marquee
TV
Film streaming