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Reminding you that Pacific Lutheran University’s “Choir of the West” will be performing near you soon!
The repertoire for this year’s Choir of the West tour spans many stylistic eras and genres. You will hear premiere performances of three works:
- Exultate, by PLU choral faculty member Brian Galante;
- Northern Lights, by renowned Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds, and
- Ubi Caritas, Hebu Upendo!, an exciting new piece by PLU student Julian Reisenthel.
The program features two Renaissance anthems by English composer Thomas Weelkes, two vocal quartets by Johannes Brahms, and three of the Sept Chansons by Francis Poulenc.
As always, our program will contain works from our Lutheran college heritage, including W.B. Old’s dynamic arrangement of Luther’s A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, and two hymn arrangements by F. Melius Christiansen, O Day Full of Grace and Beautiful Savior.
Dr. Richard Nance, Director of Choral Activities at PLU, will conduct the program.
Please help us spread the word about our upcoming tour. We hope to see you at one of our concerts!
A native of Victoria, BC, David Palmer has performed from coast to coast in Canada, and has given recitals in such American centres as San Francisco, Washington and New York.
Subjects:
Repertoire for a Centre Recital with a Difference, with an emphasis on
attracting a young audience
Creative Hymn Playing at the Organ, from traditional hymns to songs with a pop
feel to world music.
Entry by donation.
RCCO’s travelling clinician programme and St. James Anglican Church, eminent organist David Palmer will present a varied programme:
- Prelude and Fugue in C major • Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780)
- Musical Clocks • Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
1. March
2. Allegro
3. The Kaffeeklatsch - Prelude after “Jesus Loves Me” • Christopher Kovarik (b. 1970)
- Fantasy on Resignation• Christopher Kovarik (b. 1970)
- Prelude and Fugue in F minor, Op. 45 • Rachel Laurin (b. 1961)
Intermission
- “Jesus Loves Me” • William Bolcom (b. 1938)
- Ragtime Lullaby (Flights of Fancy) • William Albright (1944-1998)
- Cat Suite • Denis Bédard (b. 1950)
I. Prrrelude
II. Cats at Play
III. Catnap
IV. Toc-cat-a - Britannia Waives the Rules (with footy songs) Simon Lesley • (b. 1974)
- Caillon-Sortie • Henri Mulet (1878-1967)
Marc D’Anjou, Principal organist at the Quebec City Cathedral Basilica, is well known in Vancouver, having lived here and been the music director at South Burnaby United Church from 2010 to August 2012.
Programme details:
Messe pour les couvents: Gloria (Extracts) – François Couperin (1668-1733)
– 1st verse – Plein-Jeu
– 2nd verse – Petitte fugue sur le Chromorne
– 3rd verse – Duo sur les tierces
– 4th verse – Basse de Trompett
3 Chorale Preludes Dietrich Buxtehude (1637(?)-1707)
– Der tag, der ist so freudenreich (O Hail, This Brightest Day of Days) BuxWV 182
– Durch Adams fall ist ganz verderbt (In Adam’s Fall Is All Depraved) BuxWV 183
– Ein feste burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) BuxWV 184
Prelude and Fugue in D major BuxWV 139 – Dietrich Buxtehude
Chorale Prelude ‘Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele’ (Adorn Yourself, O Dear Soul) BWV 654 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 532 – Johann Sebastian Bach
Prélude, fugue et variation opus 18 – César Franck (1822-1890)
Le Banquet céleste (1928) – Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Quatre pièces en forme de messe (1992) – D. Bédard (b. 1950)
2nd Symphony for Organ Op. 13 No.2 – Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937)
– Final
Marc D’Anjou Principal organist at the Quebec City Cathedral Basilica
Programme details:
Messe pour les couvents: Gloria (Extracts) – François Couperin (1668-1733) – 1st verse – Plein-Jeu – 2nd verse – Petitte fugue sur le Chromorne – 3rd verse – Duo sur les tierces – 4th verse – Basse de Trompett
3 Chorale Preludes Dietrich Buxtehude (1637(?)-1707) – Der tag, der ist so freudenreich (O Hail, This Brightest Day of Days) BuxWV 182 – Durch Adams fall ist ganz verderbt (In Adam’s Fall Is All Depraved) BuxWV 183 – Ein feste burg ist unser Gott (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God) BuxWV 184
Prelude and Fugue in D major BuxWV 139 – Dietrich Buxtehude
Chorale Prelude ‘Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele’ (Adorn Yourself, O Dear Soul) BWV 654 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 532 – Johann Sebastian Bach
Prélude, fugue et variation opus 18 – César Franck (1822-1890)
Le Banquet céleste (1928) – Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992)
Quatre pièces en forme de messe (1992) – D. Bédard (b. 1950)
2nd Symphony for Organ Op. 13 No.2 – Charles-Marie Widor (1844-1937) – Final
Holy Rosary Cathedral presents:
ORGANIST VALERIE HALL,
PAST PRESIDENT OF THE ROYAL CANADIAN COLLEGE OF ORGANISTS,
ORGANIST AND MUSIC DIRECTOR AT HOLY ROSARY CATHEDRAL, REGINA, SK
IN CONCERT
Friday March 15, 8 pm
Holy Rosary Cathedral, Dunsmuir & Richards, Vancouver, BC
Tickets: $20 / Students and Seniors $15
Available at the door, at the Cathedral Office (646 Richards) and by phone 604 682 6774
Holy Rosary Cathedral presents organist Valerie Hall in a programme including J. S. Bach, French Baroque composer Louis Marchand, British composers Francis Jackson and Herbert Sumsion, Anglo-Canadian composer Healey Willan, and BC composers Nicholas Fairbank (Victoria) and Denis Bedard (Vancouver). The recital will be projected on a giant screen at the front of the cathedral.
An inveterate performer, Valerie Hall has appeared as organist, harpsichordist, singer and choral conductor in Canada, the United States and Europe. A native of Winnipeg, she obtained a Bachelor of Music degree in Performance from the University of Manitoba and a Master of Church Music degree from Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois. An active recitalist, Valerie has been invited on three separate occasions to perform on the famous Carthy Organ in Calgary’s Jack Singer Concert Hall. She has been a frequent recipient of Saskatchewan Arts Board grants for professional development and was awarded the Lilian Forsyth scholarship for advanced study in 2005.
Valerie has been Director of Music at Holy Rosary Cathedral in Regina since 2007 and Organist since 2002. She presides over one of Canada’s finest pipe organs and supervises an ongoing, three-year scholarship program in liturgical training for young organists. A respected pedagogue, she has taught organ at the university level and her private students have gone on to further study at some of Canada’s finest universities.
A past national president of the Royal Canadian College of Organists (RCCO), Valerie was for several years National Chair for Membership and Regional Director for the Prairies. She is frequently invited to perform at national conventions of the RCCO and will this year be a juror for the RCCO National Organ Playing Competition as well as a presenter at the convention in Ottawa.
Valerie has been an enthusiastic advocate for Canadian composers: consistently featuring their works on her recital programmes and demonstrating the breadth and variety of talent we are proud to call our own.
PROGRAMME:
Louis Marchand: Plein jeu, Basse de trompette, Tierce en taille, Dialogue from Livre d’orgue
J. S. Bach: Leipzing Chorale Preludes: Von Gott will ich nicht lassen (BWV 658), Trio super “Herr
Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend” (BWV 655), Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele (BWV 654)
Denis Bedard: Suite du premier ton
Francis Jackson: Three Pieces (Procession, Arabesque, Pageant), Op. 17
Nicholas Fairbank: Variations on “Kingsfold”
Herbert Sumsion: Pastoral
Healey Willan: Prelude and Fugue in C minor
Organist John Mitchell plays an exciting and entertaining programme on the magificent 1964 four-manual Casavant organ – recently modernized and enlarged. There will be some informal spoken introductions to the music.
The recital begins with three Baroque B’s:- the virtuosic Prelude and Fugue in C major by Bach’s teacher Georg Böhm, followed by two of Buxtehude’s most popular pieces – the Passacaglia in D minor and the ‘Jig’ fugue in C major. J.S. Bach is represented by his longest organ work – the twenty minute set of variations on the chorale ‘Sei gegrüsset, Jesu gütig’.This is considered the finest set of organ variations ever written.
From the romantic period Edward Elgar’s charming ‘Vesper Voluntaries’ will be followed by the lushly ‘orchestral’ slow movement from Widor’s last organ symphony – the ‘Romane’ It is based on the Easter hymn ‘Haec Dies’.
The recital will conclude with a novelty – to honour the recent discovery of the remains of King Richard III in Leicester, England (under a carpark!) Sir Lawrence Olivier’s 1955 film ‘Richard III’ had a magnificent score by Sir William Walton, and a suite of four pieces will be played. In the film the first three are actually played on an organ. The concluding march has a melody as glorious as anything by Elgar.
The concert is at 3:00 PM Sunday April 21 at Ryerson Church – corner of 45th Ave and Yew St.
Admission at the door only – Adults $15 – Students $10
Progamme details:
- Prelude & Fugue in C major G. Böhm
- Passacaglia in D minor D. Buxtehude
- Fugue in C major (Jig) D. Buxtehude
- Partita ‘Sei gegrüsset Jesu gütig’ J.S. Bach
- Vesper Voluntaries E. Elgar
- Choral (Haec dies) from Symphonie Romane C.M. Widor
- Toccata in D major M. Lanquetuit
Holy Rosary Cathedral presents:
CATHEDRAL ORGANIST DENIS BEDARD IN CONCERT
Friday April 26, 8 pm
Holy Rosary Cathedral, Dunsmuir & Richards, Vancouver, BC
Tickets: $20 / Students and Seniors $15
Available at the door, at the Cathedral Office (646 Richards) and by phone 604 682 6774
Hidden gems from the Renaissance and Baroque eras including rarely played works by Bach, the premiere of a new composition by Denis Bedard, and works by 20th century French composers, performed by the Cathedral’s own organist. The recital will be projected on a giant screen at the front of the church, allowing the audience to watch the performance.
Denis Bedard graduated from the Quebec Conservatory of Music with first class honours, continued his studies in Montreal, Paris and Amsterdam, and was laureate of the “Prix d’Europe” in 1975 and of the CBC Radio Talent Competition in 1978. A very active concert artist, he has given recitals across Canada, in the United States, in France and in Brazil. He also pursues an international career as a composer. He has written over a hundred compositions and his music has been performed and recorded throughout the world. He has received commissions from Radio-Canada, the CBC, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, Monaco Cathedral, and various professional musicians in Canada, England, France, Switzerland and the U.S. Since September 2001 he has been organist and music director at Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver.
Programme:
Charles Piroye: La Beatitude (Dialogue à deux choeurs, 1711)
Francisco Peraza: Medio Registro Alto de Primer Tono
Andrea Gabrieli.: Canzona in F
Girolamo Frescobaldi: Toccata per l’Elevatione
Antonio Valente: La Romanesca
John Stanley: Voluntary VI in F
Diderik Buxtehude: Chorale Prelude “Von Gott will ich nicht lassen”, BuxWV 220
Arnold Matthias Brunckhorst: Praeludium in E minor
Johann Sebastian Bach: Chorale Prelude “Herr Jesu Christ zu uns wend’”, BWV 709
Johann Sebastian Bach: Fugue in G major, BWV 586
Denis Bédard: Suite in A major (premiere)
Jean Langlais: Tiento (Suite medievale), Canzona (Folkoric Suite)
Gaston Litaize: Prelude liturgique no. 20, Toccata sur le Veni Creator
The annual RCCO Members’ Recital will take place at Kerrisdale Presbyterian Church (2733 W 41st Ave, Vancouver, at Yew, lots of free parking behind the church) on Saturday, May 25 at 7 pm.
Performers will include Sam Balden, Michael Dirk, Frank Ezinga, Cindy Leung, Huiyan Ma, Michael Molnar, Susan and Paul Ohannesian, and David Poon.
Entry by donation.
Repertoire and other details will be announced very soon.