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Aiden Hartery, Ph.D. candidate at the Western University in London, Ontario is writing an opera about Red Bay and Basque whalers in the 16th Century for his Ph.D. dissertation. Hartery, who holds a BA in Music, as well as a Masters of Music Composition, is drawing on some of the oldest documents ever found in Canada, basing the opera on the story Juan Martinez de Larrume from Orio, Gipuzkoa.  

Labrador City, Newfoundland.  Graduate student, Aiden Hartery from Labrador City is currently writing an opera about Basque Whalers in Red Bay for his Ph.D. Dissertation.  According to an article in The Aurora newspaper, Hartery is working with Megan Coles, award-winning Newfoundland playwright, theater director and novelist, who is working on the opera’s lyrics. 

The opera is based on the story of the ship the “San Juan,” and Juan Martinez de Larrume from Orio, Gipuzkoa and his crew who were forced to spend the winter of 1577 in Red Bay.  As Hartery explains, “He died in Red Bay and at the time (his Will) was discovered it was the oldest legal document in North America.”  The stories of his widow and child may also be worked into the opera.  Hartery credits all the research that has already been conducted on Red Bay and Basque whaling for providing him with true events that he can also use in his work.  He may also incorporate more Basque musical elements into the opera including the txalaparta, txistu, the danbolin and the alboka. 

The Basque Maritime Heritage Association, known as Albaola in Pasaia, Gipuzkoa is currently working on reproducing the “San Juan,” and so Hartery’s hope is that his opera will debut in 2018-2019 coinciding with the delivery of this replica to the area. 

After completing his Ph.D. Hartery is hoping to create an educational package to accompany the opera.  The package would include information to be given to schools to guide instruction about Red Bay and its history. Hartery hopes that the opera can be filmed so that schools have a visual to accompany the educational package. “I believe this will be really beneficial for students as it focuses on multiple curriculum areas (music, geography, history, interactions between early Europeans and indigenous Labradorians),” Hartery said.