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| Home > News & Reviews > Sounds most sacred (24 September 2003) | Content updated 25 September 2003 |
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Sounds most sacredThe Outaouais Festival of Sacred Music fills the region with heavenly voices, writes Steven Mazey.The Ottawa CitizenPages C12 & C15 Wednesday, September 24, 2003 ©2003 Some of Canada's leading musicians and ensembles, including the Elmer Iseler Singers, Les Violons du Roy and tenor Kevin McMillan, will perform as part of the annual Outaouais Festival of Sacred Music, starting tomorrow and continuing to Oct. 4 in churches and halls on both sides of the river. The festival will present music that ranges from 16th century motets to Klezmer and Celtic music and a performance on Sunday that includes a buffet breakfast and a concert of Spanish music by Ottawa mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah with guitarist Daniel Bolshoy. The festival starts tomorrow at 8 p.m. with a performance by the Ontario Youth Choir at Christ Church Cathedral under veteran choral conductor Noel Edison. It concludes Oct. 4 with a program of music by Bach and his contemporaries by harpsichordist Thomas Annand, mezzo-soprano Renée Lapointe and other performers. Other concerts include a performance Oct. 1 of baroque and contemporary music featuring the acclaimed Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal and Toronto's Elmer Iseler Singers, performing separately and together. It will mark the first time the two groups have shared a stage. There will also be an outdoor performance of Celtic music by mezzo-soprano Sandra Reid at Kingsmere Sunday afternoon and a concert of Klezmer music Oct. 3 by the Montreal group Kleztory. Kevin McMillan will join the Cantata Singers of Ottawa and director Laurence Ewashko Oct. 2 at the University of Ottawa for a concert celebrating the music of Hugo Wolf. Ewashko, the festival's artistic director, says the focus of the festival is on choral and vocal music, though not all of the music is sacred. "We try to program lighter music if that's more appropriate for the venue," says Ewashko, who teaches at the University of Ottawa and at McGill University and also conducts the Opera Lyra Ottawa chorus. "For a brunch concert or a concert at Kingsmere, we have lighter music. But we have a greater emphasis on choral music and vocal music than you would find at the Chamber Music festival, for example. I think there's a niche for it. The important thing is to give a variety of styles and repertoire. That's crucial to making an interesting festival." One of the splashiest concerts will be Saturday's performance at Ottawa's St. Joseph's Church, with the much-praised Quebec City-based chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy and the choir La Chapelle de Québec in an all-Mozart program under director Bernard Labadie that includes the Mass in C minor. The soloists include rising young French soprano Sandrine Piau, Canadian mezzo Anita Krause, tenor John Tessier, who sang the role of Ernesto in Opera Lyra's recent production of Don Pasquale, and Pembroke baritone Joshua Hopkins, who graduated recently from McGill University. Hopkins, a former student of Ewashko's, is now a member of the Houston Grand Opera's training program for young singers. Along with the Mass in C minor, the program will include Mozart's Symphony No. 38 in D major "Prague," and Piau singing Mozart concert arias. The concert on Oct. 1 at Gatineau's St-Benoît-Abbé Church will mark the first time the Elmer Iseler Singers and the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal will share a stage. The program will include 16th century motets and music by Mozart, Claude Vivier, Peter Togni and the premiere of Ottawa composer Frederic Lacroix's Prières. Ewashko will lead the Cantata Singers at the University of Ottawa Oct. 2 in the tribute to Hugo Wolf. The concert will mix performances by the choir with performances by McMillan. The concert of Klezmer music by the five-piece Montreal band Kleztory at Gatineau's Maison du Citoyen Oct. 3 got its start when Ewashko heard the group performing in the Byward Market two years ago. The quintet, directed by accordionist Henri Oppenheim, specializes in the traditional Jewish dance music from eastern Europe. "They're all originally from Russia, and they play phenomenally," says Ewashko of the group, which includes clarinet, guitar, viola and double bass. The festival's most mouth-watering concert will happen Sunday morning at Aylmer's Chateau Relais Cartier. At 10 a.m., there will be a buffet breakfast followed at 11 a.m. by a concert featuring Nesrallah and Bolshoy. The Ottawa musicians met when they performed together two years ago at the Chamber Music Festival. They now live in Bloomington, Indiana, where Bolshoy is pursuing a doctoral degree and working as a teaching assistant. They will perform music by Rodrigo, Granados and Falla, pieces that are ideal for Nesrallah's warm, dark-chocolate voice. For details on concerts, call 771-5329 or visit www.sacree.qc.ca. Tickets can be reserved by calling 237-3800. They will also be available at the door. The Festival ScheduleThursday: Ontario Youth Choir, 8 p.m. Christ Church Cathedral. Noel Edison, conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, conducts this 40-voice choir of singers aged 16 to 22 in music by Britten, Mendelssohn, Bach, John Rutter and spirituals. Tickets: $15.Saturday: Les Violons du Roy, with the choir La Chapelle de Quebec, 8 p.m., St. Joseph's Church, Wilbrod at Cumberland Street. Bernard Labadie conducts a program that includes Mozart's Symphony No.38 in D major, concert arias with soprano Sandrine Piau and Mozart's Mass in C minor. Tickets: $25. Sunday, 10 a.m.: Breakfast and concert, Chateau Relais Cartier, 1170 Aylmer Rd., Aylmer. A buffet breakfast followed at 11 a.m. by mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah and guitarist Daniel Bolshoy performing music by Rodrigo, Granados and Falla. Tickets: $35. 2 p.m.: Celtic music in Mooreside Ruins. Ottawa mezzo-soprano Sandra Reid, who studied music in Ireland, will join Ottawa guitarist David Binder present a concert of Celtic music at Kingsmere. The concert is free. Parking is $8. In case of rain, it will be held indoors. Oct. 1: Studio de musique ancienne de Montreal, Elmer Iseler Singers, 8 p.m., Eglise Saint Benoit-Abbé, 170 Sherbrooke St., in Gatineau. Tickets: $20. Oct. 2: Cantata Singers of Ottawa with tenor Kevin McMillan, 8 p.m., Tabaret Hall, University of Ottawa. Lieder and sacred songs of Hugo Wolf. Tickets: $20. Oct. 3: Kleztory, Klezmer music. 8 p.m., Salle Jean Desprez, Maison du Citoyen, Gatineau. Tickets: $20. Oct. 4: Bach and his contemporaries, 8 p.m., Église Saint Benoît-Abbé, 170 Sherbrook St. Mezzo-soprano Renée Lapointe will join harpsichordist Thomas Annand, recorder player Lucie Laneville, Hélène Plouffe on baroque violin and Betsy MacMillan on viola da gamba. Includes music by Bach, Sch&uunlaut;tz and Telemann. Tickets: $20. |
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