East Village Opera Company

The East Village Opera Company (EVOC) is a rock group co-founded by vocalist Tyley Ross and arranger/multi-instrumentalist Peter Kiesewalter, both Canadians. Vocalist AnnMarie Milazzo was then recruited to provide female vocals. EVOC includes eight other members: two guitarists, a bassist, a percussionist, and a string quartet. EVOC could be described as a cover band whose niche is traditional operatic pieces that are then arranged to reflect more modern musical stylings.

EVOC has been on hiatus since 2010 as Kiesewalter started work on a new project he calls Brooklyn Rundfunk Orkestrata (BRO) to cover songs from The Sound of Music with the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization.

In 2004, EVOC released their first album, La Donna, under the Canal Records label. On this album, Ross and Kiesewalter fuse classic Italian arias and Neapolitan folk songs with "unabashed 70's arena rock, sultry bossa nova, four-on-the-floor disco, and celtic and bluegrass-tinged ambience." It was arranged and produced by Peter Kiesewalter, vocal arrangements by Tyley Ross, mixed by Wayne Bartlett at Bartmart Audio, Ottawa, and mastered by Steve Fallone at Sterling Sound, New York. Behind the duo are over twenty musicians, including guitarist Vernon Reid (Living Colour), banjo master Tony Trishka, Blue Man Group music director Byron Estep, and a string ensemble from the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada.

La Donna found its launching point as the soundtrack for Derek Diorio's 2001 film, The Kiss of Debt. The comedic film stars Ernest Borgnine as the godfather and self-proclaimed opera aficionado, and Tyley Ross, as Tino Moriano, the talented young tenor aspiring to sing with The Continental Opera Company. Ross performs "Panis Angelicus" and "Ave Maria", from La Donna, and the rest of the tracks are background music to the fanciful storyline.

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