Four performances to choose from, November 23 - 25. Come and hear the Viva Youth Singers of Toronto performing this wonderful work by Benjamin Britten. Marion in the role of Mrs. Noye, along with her Gossips (friends), will mock Noah's project, preferring to drink than to help out or even to board the ark. The tuned teacup chorus of raindrops ought to be worth the price of admission alone!
  

October 23, 2012 Devin Hurd at hurdaudio.blogspot.ca writes:

The Continuum Contemporary Music ensemble started off their 2012 season with a strong voice. Or at least a collection of strong voices that balanced out a program of music carving out a wide path of expressive territory. Each piece was exquisitely well rehearsed and presented in a manner that allowed the ears to hear all the way inside the music. Even as the subject material would switch from haunting beauty to complete madness.

The second half of the concert consisted of the Martijn Voorvelt pieces, presented as a continuous work of musical theater. Continuum had spent the last week working directly with the composer to realize the drama Frederick's Doctor and their dedication to the macabre absurdity made for a flawless production of material that was often challenging and brittle. The setting of Doctor Morell Mackenzie's often graphic accounts of the botched diagnosis and surgery upon German emperor Frederick III's laryngeal cancer were occasionally a bit hard to take. Especially given Christopher Mayell's incredible dead-pan delivery. The sense of madness in his text could nearly be tasted in the back of my throat. As this gave way to Marion Newman's performance of a voice robbed of its ability to communicate, the balance of humor and despair was simply delicious. Having the flute player and mezzo-soprano delivering text in rhythmic unison was a particularly striking sonic effect. Especially as the performance transitioned to the vocalist lip-syncing to Anne Thompson whispering through her instrument. It was a brilliant set of pieces that won over my normal aversion to theatrics.

To my ears, the most stunning work on the program was Linda C. Smith's Brush Line. An achingly beautiful work built out of luminous, horizontal strokes of warm sounds along a cold landscape of silence. The constant reference to colors in the text added to the sense of sound painting with their vibrato-less delivery.

Cazone Triste is a virtuosic solo harp piece that gently gives way to song. Sanya Eng's voice eventually shifting into the foreground as she plays to reveal a beautiful sound. The simplicity of her voice balanced well against the confidence of her playing.

The opening work, Music for Klein and Beuys by Christopher Butterfield, set the whimsical-yet-serious tone that anticipated the Martijn Voorvelt experience of the second half. The combination of bass recorder, melodica and banjitar with a percussion part the often consisted of tearing and wadding up newsprint never took on a sense of gimmick as the musical textures proved to be substantive. Written as a memorial to Yves Klein and Josef Beuys, it is a wonderfully unpretentious and warm piece of art music.

Overall, there aren't enough superlatives to lavish upon an evening such as this. An inspired sequence of great pieces of music performed well. Continuum has set high expectations for the season that follows this concert.

AMOR BRUJO AND CARMEN
HEAT UP A WINTER NIGHT

In the February 2011 Peterborough Examiner review by Timothy McGee, Marion's performance with the Peterborough Symphony was described thus:

"Mezzo soprano Newman was featured in two works: Manual de Falla's El Amor Brujo, and two arias from George Bizet's opera Carmen. The vocalist is limited to a couple of dramatic statements and one beautifully melodic song (in the Amor Brujo), all of which give the audience a clear introduction to the extensive vocal talents of the soloist. But it was in the Bizet arias where Newman really shone. In addition to a beautiful, velvety voice, she has an enormous breadth of vocal colours as well as an agile technique which allowed her to move with ease from dark brooding passages to bright, sprightly moods as the music demanded. Newman is also a consummate actress and she brought this talent into play by expressing the songs with facial and body gestures in such a way that her performances of Seguidilla and Gypsy Song completely enchanted the audience."
 

CENERENTOLA HAS VERY
WELL-DRESSED STEP SISTERS!

Marion (in purple) performed the role of Tisbé in Pacific Opera Victoria's gorgeous and much lauded production of Cenerentola this season.

"The bulk of the comedy is provided by terrific singer actors... [including] Marion Newman as his petty, preening daughter... convey larger-than-life personas and sing with an easy virtuosity." - Times Colonist review, October 2010
 

NATIVE EARTH OPERA PREMIERE

Marion performed the role of Noodin-Kwe in the premiere of Spy Dénommé-Welch and Catherine Magowan's Giiwedin, Directed by Maria Lamont, with Gregory Oh Conducting.

View the full poster
 

GIIWEDIN REVIEWS
 
"The cast rose to the occasion and gave a committed ensemble performance. Marion Newman, as Noodin-Kwe, displayed a clear mezzo with an impressive range. She was well paired with the smooth baritone of Jesse Clark as Jean." - Colin Eatock, the Globe and Mail
 
Read the full review here!

"Marion Newman (Noodin-Kwe) came to the project with an already formidable reputation. She has a gorgeous voice, lustrous and burnished in sound, which she can bend at will, whether as a soft lullaby for her child or a singing declamation against injustice." - Paula Citron, Opera Canada

"But the greatest accolades go to the committed, passionate and enthusiastic cast, led by First Nations mezzo Marion Newman, who successfully brought to life Noodin-Kwe, the fictional and symbolic 150 year old native woman fighting for her land. Yes, I believe those were real tears on her face at the end of the final scene." - Joseph So, La Scena Musicale

"One would like to hear more from Noodin-Kwe... Newman’s rich, powerful voice is ideal for Noodin-Kwe, so much so that we would like longer arias simply to showcase it." - Christopher Hoile, Eye Weekly
 

THUNDERBIRD WITH ARADIA ENSEMBLE

On May 15, Marion performed Thunderbird, an original work centered around a Newman family legend.
 
A Thunderbird mask, carved by Marion's father, Master Carver Victor Newman, was danced by traditional Kwagiulth dancer Jason Taylor, who was accompanied by renowned drummer and singer George Taylor.
 
The remainder of the program was made up bird inspired music from the Baroque era performed by the Aradia Ensemble with weather and storm related themes. Ending the concert was a new work by Dustin Peters, which meshed the Baroque style with Aboriginal Arts.
 
More information is available here!
 

EARLY MUSIC AMERICA RINALDO REVIEW

Marion's role in the Naxos recording of Handel's Rinaldo has been very positively reviewed in the Vol 15, 2009 issue of Early Music America Magazine:
 
"Marion Newman is the vocal surprise of this recording, showing a remarkable versatility for such a short role; she has a magnificently full bodied voice reminiscent of Jennifer Larmore's in her "Mio cor, che mi sai dir?" and a tamed, almost without vibrato, and androgynous tone in "Sorge nel petto."
 
Read the full review here!