Girl from the 905

A collaboration between Vivian Fung, librettist Royce Vavrek, and soprano Andrea Núñez.

Girl from the 905 is an autobiographical musical portrait of soprano Andrea Núñez’s experience growing up in the Toronto, Canada area. This song cycle was initially conceived as a reaction to the anti-Asian racism and violence that bubbled up during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the creative team wanted to offer an alternative perspective to what has been presented in mainstream song cycles. The entire work is a foil to the auto-biographical, confessional songwriting of artists such as Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, by highlighting a multiracial experience, including Andrea’s mixed heritage of Chinese and Hispanic cultures. The music is experimental in nature, drawing inspiration from disparate sources, including opera, rock, gamelan, and film music.

“For me, it is a dream come true to be collaborating with a star team of artists - Andrea, Royce, Han, Katie, and everyone at National Sawdust. It is also a new experience since I am breaking out of my concert music mold to work on a genre-defying project that blurs many different boundaries. This workshop is particularly meaningful as it allows me to take risks by trying out things that I normally don’t get to do. I identify so much with what the songs signify and also believe that they will resonate with many people, including my bi-racial son, Julian.” - Vivian Fung

“Collaborating with such fine artists like Royce and Vivian has been a true gift. They’ve taken my ramblings and feelings and turned them into beautiful art to be shared and I’m hopeful that my experiences resonate with others.” - Andrea Núñez

“Creating lyrics from the ideas and open-hearted anecdotes that Andrea offered was a unique and exciting opportunity for me to help organize the poetry of her lived experience. I have loved Andrea’s voice ever since she sang my opera “27” (with Ricky Ian Gordon) at Opéra de Montréal in 2019, and I have been dying to find a project with her until we connected a couple years later to dream up this song cycle. I am beyond grateful for Vivian Fung, one of my absolute favorite composers, and a fellow Albertan, who agreed to join our team and has written the most exquisite music, giving voice to these stories that Andrea so candidly sings.” - Royce Vavrek

Total excerpt duration below: 10 minutes

Total duration of entire proposed project: Evening length/length of a CD