The Cantata Singers of Ottawa joins forces with the NAC Orchestra and other Ottawa choirs to bring to life Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály's Psalmus Hungaricus, one of a number of works in this programme, a concert showcasing works from Hungarian composers.

National Arts Centre Orchestra
Ottawa Choral Society, Matthew Larkin, director
Boys' Choir of Christ Church Cathedral, Matthew Larkin, director

We started our three-concert series in Ottawa on Sunday, December 3, with Feliz Navidad, a Latin American Christmas. With this concert, we continued from our Nova Iberia performance of April 2005, where Argentinean composer Ariel Ramírez's Misa Criolla was the highlight of the concert. Feliz Navidad was a fiesta to spice up the holiday season, where we performed Ariel Ramírez's Navidad Nuestra and other works from Latin America. We were pleased to have with us Tito Medina and Amigos (the Latin American instrumentalists from our Nova Iberia concert) and the Ottawa Regional Youth Choir. If you lived near Perth, Ontario, you were able to hear the concert on Sunday, November 26.

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Tito Medina and his Amigos
Ottawa Regional Youth Choir (Ottawa performance only)

St. Paul's United Church

25 Gore Street West, Perth (map)

St. Timothy's Presbyterian Church

2400 Alta Vista Drive, Ottawa (map)

Seniors & students: $15
All others: $20

For this concert only, a family (one or two parents and any number of children) ticket may be purchased for $50.

A set of tickets for our entire season (all three concerts) may be purchased:

Adults: $50
Seniors & students: $35

The choir returns to the NAC to perform one of the standards: the Messiah. The choir has performed this work many times at the NAC over the years with many different conductors. Each conductor brings a different interpretation to the work, keeping the experience fresh and exciting for the choir members.

Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano
Anita Krause, mezzo-soprano
Frédéric Antoun, tenor
Gary Relyea, bass
Opera Lyra Chorus, Laurence Ewashko, director

For the second concert in our 2006–2007 series, on Saturday, February 3, 2007, we retreated to a quieter, more reflective state. Drawing from the works of Bach, Plakidis, Sander, and Pärt, we presented Meditation and Praise, a concert of voices and strings to lighten the spirit in midwinter. Before the concert, Michael Zaugg talked about the music we would be singing. Of the concert, reviewer Richard Todd wrote in the Ottawa Citizen

The program opened with a powerful and moving account of Kurt Sander's O Gladsome Light. The Singers seemed entirely comfortable with the piece. Moreover, they and their conductor judged the church's acoustics accurately and were able to tailor their sound accordingly.

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On Sunday, April 29, 2007, at 3:00 pm, our audience traveled with us to Switzerland, Austria, Italy, and Germany for An Alpine Soundscape. Sharing the stage with us were alphorns and the Ottawa Valley Swiss choir, the Montagna Singers, under the leadershp of Heather Rice. Before the concert, at 2:30 pm, Michael Zaugg talked about facets of the programme.

This concert was the second in our annual Soundscape series. We inaugurated the series in May 2006 with A Canadian Soundscape, where we drew upon the sounds of Canada to paint a picture of this wonderful land. Richard Todd, in his review of that May concert in the Ottawa Citizen, said:

A perfect spring day like yesterday could hardly have had a better culmination than the Cantata Singers of Ottawa's evening concert at Christ Church Cathedral. ... It's hard to imagine anyone not enjoying the eclectic program. ... [With R. Murray Schafer's Magic Songs,] conductor Michael Zaugg led the singers in persuasive renditions of this difficult music.

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Montagna Singers, Heather Rice, director

Come celebrate the beginning of Spring with the choir at a barbecue dinner and a performance from our repertoire. It's a fund-raiser for the choir to help support its vision of providing wonderful and varied choral music to the City of Ottawa and surrounding region. Chat with choir members and our Music Director, Michael Zaugg.

The choir finishes its forty-third season as it joins the NAC Orchestra and other Ottawa choirs in two performances of Giuseppe Verdi's massive Requiem.

Arianna Zukerman, soprano
Susan Platts, mezzo-soprano
John Mac Master, tenor
Greer Grimsley, bass
Opera Lyra Chorus, Laurence Ewashko, director
Ottawa Choral Society, Matthew Larkin, director

Posters designed by Catherine O'Neill, Emerging Design (emerging (at) rogers.com).