IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Dear Valued Audience Member,

It is with deep disappointment that we’re letting you know that one of the key players in this weekend’s Blue Horse Opera concert has been bitten by a case of COVID. The timing couldn’t be worse and we’re all extremely saddened. Unfortunately we have no choice but to reschedule the show.

The new dates are Friday September 19 and Saturday September 20, 2025.

If you already have a ticket for Saturday June 14 your ticket will be valid for Saturday September 20. If you would like a refund, please contact info@pitheatre.com

If you had a ticket for Friday the 13 through the Vancouver Opera Voices series, your ticket is still valid for Friday September 19.

The company had their first rehearsal on the weekend and they sounded fantastic. We hope you can stay with us. It’ll be worth the wait!

All best wishes for a healthy summer,

Richard Wolfe - Pi Theatre Artistic Director

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"In a world upside down, they journey through a desert of their own making.”

Pi Theatre is set to present the live debut of Blue Horse Opera, a visionary song cycle by acclaimed Canadian artist Rick Maddocks. This unique performance will take place on June 13 and 14, 2025, at The Martha Lou Henley Rehearsal Hall at the Vancouver Opera. Tickets are available starting at $25.  

Blue Horse Opera is a bold fusion of indie, folk, classical music, and dance, drawing inspiration from the climate emergency and the cinematic landscapes of spaghetti westerns. Maddocks, known for his evocative storytelling and musical innovation, performs this original song cycle accompanied by some of Vancouver’s finest musicians and dancers.

he production features a rich and eccentric musical palette, including twangy guitar, soprano vocals, trumpet, and flamenco dance, all seamlessly interwoven through a lyrical narrative that explores both environmental and emotional depths.

This performance marks the first live rendition of the Blue Horse Opera record, which is celebrating its release this year.

Pi Theatre's Provocateurs Performance series is dedicated to expanding the traditional definitions of genre, bringing powerful events that use art to explore a range of questions, styles, and themes. Blue Horse Opera is a testament to this mission, promising an unforgettable night of music and storytelling

FEATURING

‍Rick Maddocks
Maria Avila
Dory Hayley
Feven Kidane
Stephen Lyons
Wynston Minckler
Jon Wood

"I'm extremely pleased that Pi is able to bring Rick Maddocks' visionary opus to you June 13 and 14.

This is the first ever live concert of the Blue Horse Opera record, which is celebrating its release this year.

BLUE HORSE OPERA FEATURES SOME OF CANADA'S FINEST

Rick Maddocks (composer, vocals and acoustic guitar): Rick Maddocks’s work bridges music, fiction and stage performance. He wrote, and performed in, the experimental opera The Meal, which premiered at the PuSh Festival, was re-staged at Pacific Theatre, and was later released as an independent album. Other projects include Cabalcor: An Extracted History, a multimedia novel-and-album created with the interdisciplinary group Sun Belt. His previous recordings include the albums El Ángel Exterminator and 01 with The Beige. 
 
Maria Avila (flamenco dance) is an established independent dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Recent achievements include completing a MFA in Dance at York University and being awarded a mentorship to study with Myriam Allard. She recently received grants from Canada Arts Council and BC Arts Council to study in Sevilla, Spain, as well as performing in the Coetaní Experimental Flamenco Festival in Athens, Greece. she has trained at Al Mozaico Flamenco Dance Academy, Karen Flamenco, and completed Centro Flamenco's professional training program. She currently performs with Calle Verde and La Triana. 

Dory Hayley (soprano vocals): A leading voice in Canada’s contemporary and experimental music scene, Dory has been a soloist with the Vancouver Symphony, the Vancouver Island Symphony, the Allegra Chamber Orchestra, the Turning Point Ensemble, and Capriccio Basel, and has appeared in recitals across four continents. She is a member of the Erato Ensemble, the Broadwood Duo, and the Hayley-Laufer Duo, and has recorded with Postcommodity, and the Negative Zed ensemble. She is the Artistic Co-Director of the Blueridge Chamber Music Festival.
 
Feven Kidane (trumpet) is a dynamic Ethiopian-Canadian composer, trumpeter, bassist, and electronic musician. An improviser in Vancouver's free music scene, she adheres to the traditions of Black American Music of the '60s and '70s, incorporating its foundational components of decolonization, creation and spirituality. Feven’s well-known in circles both underground and above. She has worked alongside veterans of the genre including Douglas R. Ewart (Yusef Lateef, Anthony Braxton), as well as being a member of the New Orchestra Workshop Society (est. 1977).
 
Stephen Lyons (drums) is a JUNO Award-winning multi-instrumentalist who’s been active in Vancouver’s creative community since 2003. Critically-acclaimed for his visceral output as the composer/guitarist of the avant-rock septet Fond of Tigers, Lyons is also a noted improviser, arranger, and producer. Recent interdisciplinary collaborations include work with Theatre Conspiracy, illustrator/animator Amanda Cassidy, and Pi Theatre, where he appeared as The Drummer in 2024’s Canadian premiere of Enda Walsh’s Medicine. Applied Silence, his creative partnership with playwright José Teodoro, has yielded several boundary-pushing projects including the double-LP debut album and spatial sound installation, Screen Door.
 
Wynston Minckler (bass) is a Vancouver-based bass guitarist and double bassist. He’s a fixture of the Western Canadian music scene, playing a diverse range of music from jazz, fiddle bands, r n' b, folk songwriters, rock, and latin bands. He can be found playing live and recorded with the likes of Robin Layne and the Rhythm Makers, Bonnie Northgraves, Josh Robert’s Jazz Orchestra, Dean Thiessen’s Stranger Friends, Sharon Minemoto, Alan Matheson, Skye Wallace, Saltchuck Orchestra, and Aerialists.
 
Jon Wood (electric guitar, lap steel): A multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer with over 30 years’ experience, Jon has made many albums with artists such as Cam Penner and The Beige. He’s also released a rich and textured discography of eight “fractured-Americana” recordings for his own long-term project Flophouse jr., including recent releases When We Should Have Known and Hall.  In addition, he’s worked on a number of independent Vancouver theatre productions and workshops with Theatre Conspiracy, Pi Theatre and other companies.

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