Tornrak is the third opera by Welsh composer John Metcalf. It has an English-language libretto by Michael Wilcox with Inuktitut sections translated by Blandina Makkik. Set between the worlds of the Canadian Arctic and Victorian Britain, it features Inuit throat singing and other extended vocal techniques that give the Arctic scenes a distinct character. The opera was composed between 1986 and 1990 when Metcalf was working in Canada. It was first staged in 1990 in a co-production by the Banff Centre, where Metcalf worked, and the Welsh National Opera who had commissioned the work.

Although Welsh National Opera (WNO) had first discussed with Metcalf the possibility of his writing a second opera, after The Journey, for them in 1981, it was not until 1986 that Brian McMaster, the company's then managing director, first brought the composer and librettist together. After Wilcox had initially started work on another idea, Metcalf contacted him about the true story of a 19th-century Inuk girl, Milak, who rescued a British sailor, Arthur. Like the character in the opera, the true Milak was shown as a circus freak; unlike her, she returned home.

The development of Tornrak was greatly influenced by Metcalf's move to Canada later in 1986 to teach on the Music Theatre course at the Banff Centre in Alberta. He subsequently became Artistic Director of the programme and Composer-in-Residence. Wilcox visited Metcalf in Canada that winter to work on the first draft of the libretto and used the library facilities there to learn about Inuit traditions and mythology. Metcalf too found that the setting enabled him to portray their subject in a more genuine manner. "If I wasn't in the North itself, at least I could now be in contact with a way of looking at the world, the culture, the music, and the language of the Inuit that would have been absolutely impossible in Wales."

From 1988 onwards, Metcalf tried out sections of the developing opera in workshops at Banff. Such support for new compositions were an important facet of the programme there. He also had ready access to experienced colleagues such as Keith Turnbull, the Assistant Director on the course, and Richard E. Armstrong who had worked with Roy Hart. Just as Peter Maxwell Davies had composed Eight Songs for a Mad King with Hart's unusual voice and extended vocal techniques in mind, so Metcalf was able to compose Tornrak knowing that Armstrong would participate in the opera and also coach the other performers. Armstrong's repertoire of unusual sounds were used in the writing for the spirits and animals. The Inuit parts also required techniques new to Western singers. Fides Krucker, who played the part of Milak in Banff, visited Iqaluit in 1989 and 1990. There she learnt the Inuit throat singing techniques which she used in her performances and on which she advised Metcalf.

Wilcox encouraged Metcalf to make any changes to the libretto that he needed. He himself revisited Banff again to update the text. Even when he was in Britain, he would respond to urgent phone calls to make changes during the workshops. One of the most significant of the changes to the libretto was the decision to translate much of the first act from English into Inuktitut. Differences in stress patterns between the two languages meant that Metcalf recomposed vocal lines, moving material initially intended to be sung into the orchestral parts.

Meanwhile, WNO had agreed to a change in the scale of Tornrak. Instead of it being a chamber opera using just ten singers to be performed in small venues in Wales, it would now use a larger cast including a chorus and be staged in the large venues normally used by the full company. While those who were involved in the project were sure that the final work was stronger than it would have otherwise been, the many changes resulted in severe delays to the opera's completion and led to repeated postponements of the first performance.

Tornrak was given a "World Preview Performance", without a chorus, in workshops in Banff on 23 February 1990. This was a co-production with Welsh National Opera with scenery, props and costumes being shared. The first performance by WNO was on 19 May 1990 at the New Theatre, Cardiff, two years later than originally planned. This first Welsh performance, with chorus, is often listed as the official première. A second performance in Cardiff later that month was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. The production was toured to six English cities during June and July.

Fides Krucker, the original Milak, kept the role in her repertoire, performing extracts, for example, at the Royal Ontario Museum in 1994