- This event has passed.
Symposium on La Reine-garçon
Saturday January 18, 2025, 9:15 am - 5:00 pm
Event Navigation
From January 31 to February 15, 2025, the Canadian Opera Company (COC) will be mounting the Canadian composer Julien Bilodeau’s new opera, La Reine-garçon, with a libretto by Michel Marc Bouchard. It focuses on Queen Christina of Sweden and her interactions with the philosopher René Descartes, whom she invited to Stockholm in late 1649.
This one-day symposium on January 18, 2025, will explore how La Reine-garçon is grounded in Cartesian philosophy and contemporary theories of gender and performance.
Registration for the symposium is required.
Questions about the symposium? Contact Donald Ainslie or Vincent Lee.
Symposium Program
9:15-9:30—Welcome
9:30-10:30—Christina and Descartes: History and Philosophy
- Marleen Rozemond, Philosophy, University of Toronto
- Alison Smith, History, University of Toronto
- Chair: Donald Ainslie, Philosophy, University of Toronto
10:30-11:00—Break
11:00-12:00—Representations of Christina
- Alice Maurice, English and Cinema Studies, University of Toronto
- Michael Slowik, Film Studies, Wesleyan University
- Chair: Dana Seitler, English and director of Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto
12:00-1:30—Lunch
1:30-2:30—Opera and Gender
- Jane Forner, Music, University of Toronto
- Aria Umezawa, Director & Co-founder Amplified Opera
- Chair: Caryl Clark, Music, University of Toronto
2:30-3:00—Break
3:00-4:00—A Conversation with the Composer and Librettist from the Canadian Opera Company’s La Reine-garçon
- Julien Bilodeau, Composer (tentative)
- Chair: Norbert Palej, Music, University of Toronto
4:00-5:00—A Conversation with the Creative Team from the Canadian Opera Company’s La Reine-garçon
- Chair: Johannes Debus, Music Director, Canadian Opera Company
Conference Sponsors:
- Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto
- Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts and Science, University of Toronto
- Department of Philosophy, University of Toronto Mississauga
- Department of French, University of Toronto
- University College, University of Toronto
- Faculty of Music, University of Toronto
- Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies, University of Toronto
- Department of English, University of Toronto Scarborough
In addition to the opera and the symposium, the Queer Cinema Club is screening Queen Christina (1933), starring Greta Garbo, on January 20, 2025, 8 PM, at the Paradise Theatre (1006 Bloor Street West). The screening will also feature onstage Peter Knegt, founder of the Queer Cinema Club, and the musicologist Jane Forner, both of whom will offer some insight into the film, the opera, and the history behind both. Get tickets for the screening!
