Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, announced that Canadian Soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee will be making her company debut in the North American premiere of Flight Pattern by Crystal Pite.
Performances take place from February 27 to March 6, 2026 at the Four Seasons Centre. Brueggergosman-Lee’s role will sing the first movement of Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 3, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs. Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 is a three-movement work composed in 1976. It revolves around feelings of loss and longing, and begins with a soprano soloist whose song expresses the grief of a mother who’s lost her son. It is sung in Polish.
“Words cannot adequately express how honoured I am to be making my debut at the Four Seasons Centre with the National Ballet. Since its opening nearly 20 years ago, I have eagerly anticipated this momentous occasion,” said Brueggergosman-Lee in a statement. “I am deeply in awe of the artistry, leadership and excellence with which I get to rub shoulders in this production. Pinch me because I must be dreaming!”
“It is a great honour to welcome one of Canada’s most acclaimed singers, Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, to The National Ballet of Canada for the first time to collaborate with our orchestra and dancers in Górecki’s transcendent work. Measha infuses every performance with emotional depth and exceptional artistic insight. Her National Ballet debut in Crystal Pite’s powerful and deeply moving Flight Pattern will be truly unforgettable,” said David Briskin, Music Director and Principal Conductor.
When Flight Pattern premiered at the Royal Opera House in London on March 16, 2017, Crystal Pite became the first woman to choreograph for the main stage in 18 years. The ballet would go on to win the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production in 2018.
Pite’s one-act ballet takes its inspiration from real-world events, including the influx of refugees caused by the Syrian Civil War. The work is performed to Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No. 3, and begins with a company of 36 dancers, developing into a series of duets and solo dances. The movements and lines created on stage by the dancers reflect the tensions and struggles of refugees, and Pite has described the work as her personal response to the global refugee crisis.
Flight Pattern became the third work of Pite’s to enter the National Ballet’s repertoire, after crowd favourite Angels’ Atlas, and Emergence.
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