- Opera in 1 Act
- 2 Men/3 Women, chorus, chamber orchestra, scratch DJ
- Premiered by The Glenn Gould School, Toronto, December 5, 2008
The contemporary youth opera Pandora’s Locker is inspired by the Greek myth of Pandora’s Box, in which a young woman’s curiosity leads to the unleashing of all the world’s evils. It is a simple, archetypal myth, which reflects our own hunt for knowledge and the potential for disaster upon its discovery. This search for information – keys to the future and past – is never more tangible than in the “up-and-down” lives of the average high school teenager. Pandora’s curiosity is timeless.
Pandora’s Locker was commissioned by The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Canada. The opera created for a mid to late teen audience featured a local turntablist, DJ Fields and received wide spread acclaim for its edgy and relevant story. It premiered at the Telus Centre for the Performing Arts on December 5, 2008.
“Dean Burry did the seemingly impossible with Pandora’s Locker, an opera for teens, earlier this month for the Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School. His most inspired move was asking a scratch DJ to augment the orchestra.”
-John Terauds, Toronto Star
“powerful and uncompromising in its honesty and inspiration.”
-David Visentin, Associate Dean, GGS
“A splendid exemplar of how ancient myth can reveal its truth in the most contemporary setting.”
-Wayne Gooding, Opera Canada Magazine
