In December of 2021, Tapestry Opera and Nightwood Theatre announced to their patrons that after nearly 20-years in Toronto’s Distillery Historic District, they were being displaced later that year. This came as a shock to both organisations, and to the other members of the Artscape collective, who were under the impression that their lease was secure until at least 2023. 

Tapestry and Nightwood appealed to their community. They set out to create a new performance venue in the heart of the city, at 877 Yonge Street, and fund it with the help of their audiences. Their “take a seat” campaign invited donors to contribute $877.00 in exchange for their name on a seat, permanently. In June, they had reached 65% of their goal: at the end of March 2025, they presented their opening concert at the newly named Nancy and Ed Jackman Performance Centre. 

General Director of Tapestry Opera Michael Mori notes that this milestone would not have been possible without the support they received from the City of Toronto, and the Ontario Trillium Foundation. This, along with the individual donations amassed through their campaign, saw them across the finish line. 

The grassroots nature of their funding scheme has left Mori, and the rest of the Tapestry, to double down on their commitment to their community of artists and arts lovers. This new space is more than just their home – Tapestry will subsidize rental costs, making the space an accessible rehearsal and performance venue for individual artists and smaller companies. Given the high cost of renting space in Toronto, particularly downtown, the significance of this addition to the performance venue landscape cannot be understated. Mori describes the versatility of the room, and explains that it can be set up in various configurations according to the demands of a given performance. 

The hope is that 877 Yonge becomes something of a sanctuary, minutes away from the Bloor Yonge subway station, in which theatre and classical music will thrive for years to come. How fitting, then, that Tapestry’s first staged production in the space will be none other than their award winning piece, Sanctuary Song. 

Midori Marsh

Evelina Rahara

Alvin Marsh

Directed by Mori himself, and featuring Midori Marsh, Alvin Crawford, Elvina Rahara and Courtenay Stevens, Sanctuary Song is the true story of a Sumatran elephant named Sydney, who lives a life in captivity before ultimately being released into an animal sanctuary. Premiered by Tapestry Opera at the Luminato Festival in 2008, Sanctuary Song received an impressive three Dora Award nominations, and won Outstanding New Musical/Opera. It serves as a fine example of what Tapestry does so well: produce new pieces of operatic theatre, which tell human stories in refreshing and unexpected ways. 

In choosing to open their new artistic “sanctuary” with Sanctuary Song, Tapestry makes a point to welcome opera lovers of all ages into their space. This isn’t a “show for adults”, nor is it an “opera for children” - it is with this kind of come-all programming that opera will survive. As audience numbers dwindle and North American opera companies cut their seasons shorter every year, we are reminded over and over again that doing the same things as we have always done them – the same shows, presented in the same ways, in the same spaces – will guarantee failure. In staying true to their mission, Tapestry will inaugurate this space intended for everyone, with art for everyone – a piece of theatre accessible to audience members of all ages, presented in a format which invites them in, and in a space that they will hopefully return to, time and time again, for art of all different shapes and sizes.