Calendar

Performances by Michael Dirk, Isaac Howie and Isabelle Boersig:
Bach – Toccata & Fugue in D Minor BWV565
Bédard – Introduction et Toccata from Trois Esquisses (for organ pedals alone)
Pachelbel – Chaconne in F Minor
Franck-enstein – Choral No. 2 in B Minor
Bélier – Toccata pour Grand Orgue in D Minor

Free candy!! Make St. Andrew’s-Wesley a stop on your Trick-or-Treat route this year. From 5-7pm on Halloween night, stop by the front steps for a treat, Instagram pic with our building lit in Halloween colours, and enjoy spooky pipe organ music wafting through the rafters (played by organists Tim Woodford and Angelique Po.)

Spend a winter afternoon listening to music played on our Frobenius organ by the organists and musicians of the Danish Lutheran Church, with special guest Angelique Po performing Bruhns’ Praeludium in G major, and Buxtehude’s Chorale Variations on Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern. Steen Larsen will talk about the organ. Admission by donation, with refreshments to follow.

Read more about the history of the Danish Lutheran Church’s organ here: http://www.danishchurch.vancouver.bc.ca/history/organ.html

Internationally-renowned Spanish musician Loreto Aramendi, organist of the Basílica de Santa María del Coro de San Sebastián, brings to Vancouver the music of her favourite composers.  She has given many recitals in Europe, Argentina, Japan, Russia, and the United States, and her extraordinary skill and musicianship have been highly praised

Playing and interpretation of a very high standard
thanks to the performer’s stunning technique’  – David Baker

‘A fine example of absolute musicianship, sound
technique and utter command over the instrument’  – Sydney Organ Journal

‘Thrilled by her genius …
She has a unique gift that is very rare’ – JAV Records

St James’ Anglican Church welcomes back The Gesualdo Six !  The vocal ensemble performed at St James’ in 2018 when they started their first Canadian tour in Vancouver.

Comprised of some of the UK’s finest young consort singers, directed by Owain Park, the vocal consort was formed in March 2014 for a performance of Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories for Maundy Thursday in the chapel of Trinity College, Cambridge.  Since then, the group went on to give over one hundred performances around the United Kingdom and abroad in its first four years.

Though initially focusing on early music, concert programmes began to reflect a desire to include more modern repertoire and now renaissance polyphony is often juxtaposed with works by composers including György Ligeti and Joanna Marsh amongst others. In 2016, The Gesualdo Six curated its first Composition Competition, attracting 174 entries from around the world. In 2019, a second Composition Competition attracted entries from over 300 composers, with the winning works by Alison Willis and Jacob Beranek receiving their world premieres at Cadogan Hall in London.

Their debut album of English renaissance polyphony ‘English Motets’ was released in April 2018, followed in 2019 by their second recording ‘Christmas.’

The incredibly atmospheric church of St Bartholomew the Great in London was the perfect location to launch their third album in 2020 ‘Fading,’ which features a variety of music inspired by the service of compline.  And in 2022, The Gesualdo Six released two more albums : Tenebrae Responsories and Lux Aeterna.

The Gesualdo Six return to St James’ as part of their 2023 North American tour, and the programme will include selections from their most-recent CD Lux Aeterna , including

Communio : Lux aeterna  Cristóbal de Morales
Peccantem me quotidie  William Byrd
Funeral Ikos  Sir John Tavener
In remembrance  Eleanor Daley
Lumen  Donna McKevitt

The Gesualdo Six concert at St James’ in 2018 was a sold-out event, and we expect the same for their 2023 appearance.

The choirs at Douglas College led by Eric Hannan will be performing a concert of all-classical works, joined by organist Angelique Po. Featured pieces include Arvo Pärt’s Salve Regina, Ned Rorem’s Three Motets, Herbert Howells’ Like As the Hart, Fauré’s Tantum Ergo and Brahms’ Ave Maria.

This course explores the richly varied ways women have contributed to music-making. Live, interactive sessions through Zoom will include presentations, interviews with guest musicians and scholars, Q&A and discussion, and suggested playlists and literature for those whose curiosity has been piqued. Together with stories of women involved in Western classical music, this course will weave stories of women making traditional music, and women writing new music in dialogue with music of the past, including contemporary composers Robyn Jacob, Jessica McMann, Afarin Mansouri, Emily Doolittle, Tawnie Olsen, and Cris Derksen.

The course will run from April 4 to May 9, 2023, with two sessions every Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Each session is approximately 1.5 hours in length. The price is $90 for the full course of six sessions and will only be available to watch for three months.

For more info and to purchase tickets: https://www.earlymusic.bc.ca/online-school-women-in-music/

Organists Aart Bijkerk and Frank Ezinga will perform a concert of music by Bach, Bédard, Boëlllmann, and Dupré on Maranatha’s 1912 Casavant Heritage Pipe Organ. Complimentary refreshments will be served after the concert. For more information, contact maranathaorgan@gmail.com

Admission by donation.