Previous events

Mar3

Britten - Rejoice in the Lamb Purcell - Comes Ye Sons of Art

Theatre of Early Music in collaboration with Historical Performance at the University of Toronto is proud to present this program that will honour the life, artistry and impact made by legendary countertenor James Bowman (1941-2023) One of the most important figures in 20th century classical music, Bowman ushered in the Early Music revival.

Dame Emma Kirkby, Charles Daniels and Joel Allison will help us celebrate this great artist!

Daniel Taylor directs the Schola Cantorum with the Musicians of the Theatre of Early Music

Free Admission: Donations will be dedicated to the Historical Performance and Scholarship Fund.

Diapente Renaissance Vocal Quintet is excited to share our first program of the 2024 season with you, "Rossi of Mantua: The Songs of Salamone". The program will feature sacred and secular songs from the Italian-Jewish composer Salamone Rossi, as well as his contemporaries at the Mantuan Court: Claudio Monteverdi and Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi. At the turn of the 17th century, Mantua was a hot spot for musical innovation, Salamone Rossi is one such innovator. His works include the first known publication of works in the Trio Sonata form, as well as the first published book of Hebrew liturgical music in the Italian Renaissance style, amongst other things. Between his globetrotting opera-singer sister Madame Europa, European pop-music sensation Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi, and avant-garde iconoclast Claudio Monteverdi, there was a lot of musical goings-on in the Lombardian Duchy! Tickets are "pay what you are able" with a suggested price of $30/$20.

Feb2

The Kingston Baroque Consort (KBC) presents “The Enchanted Garden: Music and Words inspired by Nature” featuring music to give spring an early welcome on Groundhog Day, Friday 2 February at 5:15pm at St James Church (10 Union St, Kingston). The concert features soloists Jonathan Stuchbery (https://www.jonathanstuchbery.com/) on Theorbo and Holly Gwynne-Timothy (https://www.melos-earlymusic.org/artistic-director-holly...) performing part of Telemann's "Canary Cantata". Tickets cost $25 (adults) and $10 (students), and free for under 17. Tickets are available by emailing legerek@queensu.ca, calling 613-217-5099, in person at Novel Idea (156 Princess St), or at the door with cash, cheque, or interac e-transfer.

Dec15

Messiah at St. James Cathedral

St. James Cathedral, 106 King St E, Toronto, ON

The Choirs of St. James Cathedral and Trinity College U of T, with the Orchestra of St. James perform Messiah by G. F. Handel

Conductor: Thomas Bell

Soprano: Anna Kwiatkowska

Mezzo-Soprano: Christina Stelmacovich

Tenor: Jacob Abrahamse

Bass: Dion Mazerolle

During the performance artists from OCAD will paint canvases based upon the themes of the libretto of Messiah. These paintings will be auctioned at the performance, all proceeds are given to the artists.

Performance time (including intermission): 2.5 hours

For more information: www.stjamescathedral.ca

Nov28

Festival Bach - Accademia de' Dissonanti

Salle Bourgie, 1339 Sherbrooke O, Montreal, QC

Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741) Concerto for strings in D minor, RV 127 Stabat Mater, RV 621 Concerto for strings in C major RV 114 (excerpts) In Furore iustissimae irae, RV 626

Georg Muffat (1653 – 1704) Sonata No. 5 in G major “Armonico Tributo” (excerpts)

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750) Cantata Widerstehe doch der Sünde, BWV 54

Sonia Prina, contralto

Mélisande McNabney, Harpsichord/organ/Artistic Director Alexander Read, Violin I leader Olivier Brault, Violin I Julie Rivest, Violin II leader Jessy Dubé, Violin II Valérie Arsenault, Viola Amina Tebini, Viola Elinor Frey, Cello Shanti Nachtergaele, Contrabass Jonathan Stuchbery, Theorbo

Nov22

Theatre of Early Music in collaboration with the Schola Cantorum will be presenting Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

This project features the iconic ballerina Evelyn Hart and prize-winning dancer/choreographer Bill Coleman with additional choreography by David Earle. Musicians from Tafelmusik and Theatre of Early Music join soprano Sinead White in the title role of Dido, baritone Alexander Dobson as Aeneas, and Ryan McDonald as the Sorceress. The orchestra is led by Adrian Butterfield with Daniel Taylor conducting.

Nov21

Theatre of Early Music in collaboration with the Schola Cantorum will be presenting Purcell's Dido and Aeneas

This project features the iconic ballerina Evelyn Hart and prize-winning dancer/choreographer Bill Coleman with additional choreography by David Earle. Musicians from Tafelmusik and Theatre of Early Music join soprano Sinead White in the title role of Dido, baritone Alexander Dobson as Aeneas, and Ryan McDonald as the Sorceress. The orchestra is led by Adrian Butterfield with Daniel Taylor conducting.

Nov12

POSTPONED: Diapente - The Songs of Salomone

Heliconian Club, 35 Hazelton Ave, Toronto, ON

A skilled violinist, composer and musician of the Mantuan court, Salamone Rossi is known for many great accomplishments.

He was musical innovator, one of the first composers to write in trio sonata form. He was skilled writer of secular Italian madrigrals, with eight published collections printed in his lifetime. In an era rife with antisemitic policies and practices, he published the first book of sacred Hebrew motets in the Renaissance style.

Diapente presents a snapshot of his music, and the music of his contemparies at the Mantuan court such as Claudio Monteverdi and Giovanni Gastoldi. The beautiful, passionate love poems of the Italian Renaissance & the ancient sacred poetry of the Psalms sung in one night, under one roof.

Listen to the story of Rossi's life and accomplishments, hear the Songs of Salamone.

Oct29

Early Music Alberta: Diminutions from the Italian Renaissance

(MDT, UTC-06) (MDT, UTC-06)

First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton, AB

The festival’s final concert will take us to 16th-century Italy and features highly embellished quasi-improvised music. The art of playing diminutions, (called divisions in England, passaggio in Italy, double in France and glosas or diferencias in Spain) has been largely lost in modern times. It is thoroughly documented in written sources of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and early eighteenth centuries, and enjoyed a remarkable flowering in Venice from about 1580-1620. The concert will draw you into the intimate world of Italian Renaissance music. Musicians: Noémy Gagnon-Lafrenais, violin Josephine van Lier, viola da gamba Lucas Harris, theorbo Jonathan Stuchbery, theorbo Kerry Bursey, tenor, lute Christopher Bagan, historical keyboards

Oct28

Early Music Alberta: Vivaldi - L'Estro Armonico

(MDT, UTC-06) (MDT, UTC-06)

First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton, AB

This concert showcases all twelve spectacular concertos of Antonio Vivaldi’s L’estro Armonico. They are the most popular and well-known of all of Vivaldi’s works. It is vintage Vivaldi: lively, exuberant and brilliant allegros, spun‐out cantilenas in Italian ‘belcanto’ style, and a general feel of Italian passion and good humour. The works immediately met with great acclaim after their publication in 1711, giving way to over 30 reprints in the subsequent 32 years. For each concerto, there are seven independent parts. In each consecutive group of three concertos, the first is a concerto for four violins, the second for two violins, and the third a solo violin concerto. The cello gets soloistic passages in several of the concertos. Vivaldi scholar Michael Talbot described the set as “perhaps the most influential collection of instrumental music to appear during the whole of the eighteenth century.” Our violinists will all be soloists as well as taking on all the other parts. A concert not to be missed! Musicians: Noémy Gagnon-Lafrenais, solo violin Laura Veeze, solo violin Naomi Delafield, solo violin Keith Hamm, solo violin Leanne Dammann Maitland, viola Ronelle Schaufele, viola Josephine van Lier, cello Anne Duranceau, bass Lucas Harris, theorbo Jonathan Stuchbery, theorbo Christopher Bagan, historical keyboards

Oct27

Early Music Alberta: Claudio Monteverdi - Combattimento

(MDT, UTC-06) (MDT, UTC-06)

First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton, AB

Opening night will feature music by Venetian composer Claudio Monteverdi, and the program will be centred around the dramatic “Il combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda”. The piece is based on a libretto by Tasso and describes the fight of Tancredi and Clorinda, star-crossed lovers who fight each other to the death without realizing each other’s true identity. It is fully orchestrated and effectively written (in stile concitato) to represent the sound of swords clashing, horseback riding, and fully expressing the anger, sorrow, and regret in this story. The piece was first performed during the carnival season of 1624, when it was semi-staged at the palace of a Venetian nobleman. Monteverdi wrote that music had long been able to depict the emotions of love, but it needed a new language in order to truly express the more agitated emotions of anger and the violence of war. The level of detail in Monteverdi’s instructions about how to perform this piece is unprecedented for his time. Several madrigals, including the spectacular Lamento della Nynfa, Zefiro Torna, and Ballo will also be on the program. Musicians: Jolaine Kerley, soprano Dawn Bailey, soprano Timothy Schantz, tenor Kerry Bursey, tenor, lute Noémy Gagnon-Lafrenais, violin Laura Veeze, violin Josephine van Lier, violone Lucas Harris, theorbo Jonathan Stuchbery, theorbo, tenor Kerry Bursey, lute, tenor Christopher Bagan, historical keyboards