Danika Lorèn is a soprano, composer, and vocal explorer whose work defies categorization.
Their career reflects a deep engagement with both classical traditions and contemporary experimentation, embracing the full expressive potential of the voice and an abiding curiosity, openness, and commitment to storytelling. This season, they take centre stage in two Soundstreams productions: with you and without you (March 22) and the live world premiere of Garden of Vanished Pleasures (April 25-27). Both works delve deeply into themes of love, loss, and the intricate ways humans connect.
with you and without you
with you and without you is built around the idea that all songs, at their core, are love songs, and that all love songs are, in some way, songs of loss. Conducted by Gregory Oh and featuring the virtuoso Ensemble Soundstreams, this program creates powerful contrasts. It juxtaposes the lush consonance of the Romantic era with striking contemporary dissonance. It balances purely instrumental works by Oliver Knussen and Matthew Ricketts with vocal pieces by Tansy Davies and Shawn Jaeger. And it plunges from the grand to the intimate in Ana Sokolović’s evocative love song. These dualities mirror the push and pull of lovers: challenging perceptions of contemporary repertoire while celebrating its romantic and expressive spirit. Curated by Brad Cherwin (winner of the 2024/25 Soundstreams New Voices Curator Mentorship Program), this program reimagines the love song in all its ardour and sorrow.
As both a performer and a composer, Lorèn resonates deeply with this concept. “I think it takes love to create anything,” they explain. “A love for the act of creation, a love for the message behind what is being created, a love that propels the process of creation from start to finish, and/or a love of being seen/heard/understood. Even if the act of creating is inspired by sadness, anger, or any other emotion, I think it is always combined with love in some way.” So in summary, “The real question is: what is love?” For Lorèn, these themes and this question are fundamental and “what life is made of! So I don’t find it difficult to connect with them; the challenge is to really understand how I feel about them and what I am saying in these works.”
From Lorèn’s early musical roots in Saskatoon to celebrated performances as a member of the Canadian Opera Company’s Ensemble Studio – and beyond – they have consistently showcased a rare combination of technical skill, versatility, and creative vision. Lorèn’s career embraces vocal exploration across a wide range of styles, from contemporary classical to pop and bluegrass: “I really value an open-minded approach to my voice and technique, so I think that has attracted a lot of interesting projects,” they share. “Of course, I am classically trained and that foundation of technique is really important to me, but I don’t lay favourites with genres, and I don’t consider any way of music-making to be superior to another.” Even more critically, “I never want to just coast on what I already know; I get bored too easily. The more I push myself to expand my idea of what singing can be, the more connected to humanity I feel.”
Garden of Vanished Pleasures
Garden of Vanished Pleasures is a work inspired by the life and work of English filmmaker and queer-rights activist Derek Jarman. Conceived and devised by U.K./Canadian director Tim Albery, this opera seamlessly weaves together the music of composers Cecilia Livingston and Donna McKevitt, creating an intimate and immersive experience that reflects Jarman’s bold vision and emotional depth. In addition to Lorèn, the production features soprano Mireille Asselin, mezzo-soprano Andrea Ludwig, and countertenor Daniel Cabena, supported by an instrumental ensemble led by music director and pianist Hyejin Kwon, with Amahl Arulanandam on cello and Brenna Hardy-Kavanagh on viola. This live world premiere follows the success of its digital release in 2021, which was met with critical acclaim and was a finalist for Opera America’s 2022 Award for Excellence in Digital Opera.
With its chamber ensemble and intimate storytelling, the production offers a unique experience for both performers and audiences. “This piece does feel very different from other operatic works I have done,” Lorèn notes. “The scale of the work is very intimate: just a few voices and a chamber ensemble, which works beautifully to tell such an intimate story. It’s hard to say what resonates the most until we begin rehearsals and really immerse ourselves into the world of the piece, but I love the playfulness and grittiness that Jarman’s texts evoke.”
As a champion of new music, Lorèn finds immense joy in working on new pieces and collaborating with composers. “There is so much space for creativity and self-development in these projects,” they say. “Working this way keeps my connection to the art form fresh and dynamic, and always leaves room for discovery and curiosity.” So naturally, one of the pieces Lorèn is most excited to perform in these upcoming productions is their own composition “Tell Everyone”. “This is a work that was commissioned by the Sappho Project for two other singers, and I have been itching to sing it myself for a while! It has been a channel for myself to process what queer love means to me, so it is very personal.”
Redrawing maps
For Lorèn, the essence of performance is about evoking something beyond words in the audience. “I hope each audience member takes away something unique, some thought or feeling that maybe doesn’t have words or a succinct message,” they express. “Everyone’s version of love is nuanced and unique, and the meaning of love is ever changing and ambiguous. I hope everyone leaves just feeling fearlessly alive!”
And in addition to a thriving operatic career, Lorèn continues to explore new artistic frontiers through projects like the visual album Gentle Freak and the opera Hetta. This work as a composer and director signals further evolution in this bold voice that honours operatic tradition while restlessly expanding the interdisciplinary possibilities of vocal performance.
As our conversation draws to a close, Lorèn offers up a quote from Sylvia Wynter, which is featured in Tansy Davies’ song cycle “The rule is love”: “Human beings are magical. Bios and Logos. Words made flesh, muscle and bone animated by hope and desire, belief materialised in deeds which crystalise our actualities… And the maps of Spring always have to be redrawn again in undared forms.”
It’s fitting. With their bold artistic choices and commitment to storytelling, Lorèn is continuing to redraw the maps of music and vocal performance – with love, deep passion and fearlessness.
Soundstreams productions of with you and without you is on stage at Jane Mallett Theatre St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts on March 22, 2025, 7:30 pm ET. The live world premiere of Garden of Vanished Pleasures is on stage at Canadian Stage – Berkeley Street Theatre on April 25-27, 2025. Visit Soundstreams.ca for tickets.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesaya Arts Magazine, 2025
