Edmonton sun — March 15, 2005.   The Edmonton Opera’s new season will feature the familiar and far-out, as announced yesterday by artistic director Brian Deedrick.

First up is John Estacio’s Filumena (opening November 29), which premiered in Calgary in 2003. Set to a text by prize-winning playwright John Murrell, it tells a true story of Italian immigrants living in the Crowsnest Pass in the 1920s, of passion and murder, and of the last woman to be hanged in Alberta. It was received enthusiastically in Calgary and Banff performances, and Estacio was the Edmonton Symphony’s composer-in-residence for several years. Soprano Laura Whalen, who sang the title role in the premiere, will star.