Scene from the Mummers Play, Christmas 2005 at Trinity-St.Marks2011 - 2012 SEASON
In Concert with David MillardIn a presentation of the Rotary Club of Sechelt in support of the Rotary International Polio Plus for polio eradication. David Millard gives a short recital on the newly installed Casavant organ he inaugurated earlier this year. The choir's program will include Lauridsen's "Chanson des Roses" and some of the "St Nicholas" pieces they are preparing for their Christmas concert
Saturday, October 15th, 2:00 p.m. St Hilda's Anglican Church, 5838 Barnacle St, Sechelt Tickets $15 at Visitors Centre in Sechelt, Gaia's Fair Trade in Gibsons & Harbour Insurance in Pender Harbour
In the dark, a robed figure reaches up and drops a parcel through a window. The three purses of money in it give the three sisters in the house each a dowry and save them from a life of poverty - or worse. Thus runs the best-known story of Nicholas, the fourth century bishop of Myra who is thereby established as a protector of children and giver of gifts. Whether he is called Father Christmas, Sinterklaas, or Santa, the Byzantine bishop still plies his trade today.
Join the choir for music and readings in celebration of the original St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, whose deeds paved the way for the many legendary Christmas gift-givers who have followed in his footsteps as well as some special arrangements by David Millard of popular Christmas favourites. The choir will be presenting a capella and accompanied pieces by:
- Gallus
- Guerrero
- Zielenski
- Weelkes
- Peter Warlock
- William Matthias
Sunday, December 4th, 3:30 p.m. St. Mary Magdalene Church
Tickets at the door $15 or in advance at the "Trading Post"
Our final programme for this 2011-2012 season takes audiences to the lands of the Celts - with traditional songs arranged by Artistic Director, David Millard as well as interspersings of music from Irish and Scottish composers of the 16th - 19th centuries. Celtic harp (played by Elisa Thorn) and traditional Irish uilleann pipes (played by Greg Schnider) complete the offering of songs that drift from melodies more obscure to the blended refrains of the familiar. We offer this treat from the Highlands, where the heart lies.
Sunday, June 17, 2 p.m. St. Hilda's By the Sea Anglican Church, Sechelt
Tickets $15 at the door, or in advance at St. Hilda's church office (604-885-5019, Mon to Fri, 10am-2pm), the Sechelt Visitors' Information Centre and Gibsons' Gaia Fair Trade Gifts
2010 - 2011 SEASON
From Dickens' Time
 | Christmas songs selected to complement the writings of Charles Dickens December 17, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.Trinity-St. Mark's, Vancouver |
I am come to wish you a merry Christmas. A hundred years ago, Englishmen had almost forgotten about the Christmas spirit. They thought only of being respectable and making as much money as they possibly could; and the poor were oppressed and their old Christmas ways of beauty and goodwill were despised and forgotten. There arose a great man, Charles Dickens, who grew up in poverty and neglect, and who loved the good heart of the poor, and who made all men understand that to be jolly and generous is to be Christian. Then I came back to England again, and the carols came back with me: a few poor Waits had remembered them during the long years when the clever and fashionable and the powerful had forgotten.
The concert will include music of Dickens time, both popular and churchly (including some dance tunes named by Dickens) as well as music relevant to Dickens' 'social gospel' of Christmas. Added to this will be music drawn from other sources that either amplify Dickens' themes or reflect a Dickensian outlook on Christmas. The Vivaldi Chamber Choir, with guests Matthew Leighton, boy soprano, and instrumentalists (fiddle players and recorders) present a program of songs and readings inspired by Dickens' famous Christmas story.
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Mass & Magnificat
 | Antonio Vivaldi's Magnificat in G minor and Antonín Dvořák's Mass in D major March 25, 2011 at 7:30 p.m. St. Philip's Anglican Church, Vancouver | |
| The two principal works for this programme were altered by their composers for publication. Vivaldi wrote many of his works for the young women of the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. These women, amateurs in the strict sense, were nonetheless intensively trained, and their technique and musical knowledge often exceeded that of professional musicians. Vivaldi, in preparing his works for general dissemination, often altered them to make them accessible to less specialized performers. Such is the case with the Magnificat in g minor. In the Ospedale version, the work is largely a connected series of solos. The names of the intended singers are even given in the score. Vivaldi later recast the work as a sequence of nine discrete movements, principally choral, interspersed with shorter, simpler arias.
Antonín Dvořák's Mass in D major underwent the reverse process. Having originally composed the work quite simply for choir with organ accompaniment, Dvořák was required by his publisher to provide a full orchestration. In its original form, the work is the epitome of a liturgical mass setting. Unlike in many major mass settings (such as Beethoven's Missa Solemnis) here the sections of the mass are not broken down into a series of choruses and arias, but are treated as organic wholes, with solos coming from within the choir. In our performance we shall be singing the later version of the Vivaldi and the earlier version of the Dvořák. We will also perform a Credo by Vivaldi and the Haydn "Missa Brevis Sancti Joannes de Deo"' sometimes known as 'Kleine Orgelmesse." This performance will use a "Gloria" elaborated by Franz Josef's brother, Michael Haydn. | ||
| Michael Murray, organ | |
| Valerie Chan, violin | Holland Ninow, violin |
| Calvin Yang, viola | Aaron Leung, cello |
Tickets $20, Students & Seniors $15 at the door, or from any choir member. Doors open at 7:00.
St. Philip's Anglican Church is located at 3737 West 27th Ave., Vancouver, a block and a half west of Dunbar - for more information call 604-221-0665
Concert Report
Love & Roses
 | Brahms' "Liebeslieder" Waltzes and "Les Chansons des Roses" by Morten Lauridsen |
May 28, 2011 at Trinity-St.Mark's, Vancouver
The rose, a perennial emblem of love and purity takes central place in Morten Lauridsen"s setting of five French poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, Les Chansons des Roses. Paired with these are Brahms' celebration of love in his Liebeslieder Walzer. Combining Daumer's 'volkisch' love poems with a series of dances for two pianists Brahms achieves a kind of 'urbane rusticity'. The programme is rounded out with some arrangements of Judeo-Spanish folk songs by the choir's director David Millard.
| with pianists Leah Hokanson and Barry Yamanouchi |
2009 - 2010 SEASON
In Those Twelve DaysAnd in those twelve days, let us be glad, For God of his power hath all things made. - Traditional counting carol
In the annual spate of radio DJs offering up the current cost of sending all those leaping lords, milking maids, swimming swans and pear-treed partridges to one's true love, it is never asked 'which are the twelve days in question'. The twelve days of Christmas run from December 25 to January 5, inclusive. Ten of those twelve days have specific designations in the Roman Church calendar, from the Nativity through Saints Stephen, John, Thomas and Sylvester, as well the feasts of the Innocents, the Circumcision and the Holy Name.
In this concert we explore music assigned specifically to those holy days. Paired with the twelve sacred pieces we offer twelve secular carols, matched as well as possible to one of the feast days. Composers represented include Fauré, Parry, Zielenski, Hassler and Byrd
- Friday December 11th at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, North Vancouver
- Saturday, December 12th at Trinity-St. Marks Church 1805 Larch Street, Vancouver
Tickets at the door $15/$12 seniors and students
Both concerts start at 8 pm
Refreshments will be served afterwards
Endless Light - Sacred Music of Howells, Stanford and Rutter.
In an all English programme, we offer anthems by Herbert Howells, two Canticles from Evensong by Stanford and Rutter's tranquil interpretation of the Requiem mass. While an element of sorrow is present in any Requiem, Rutter's careful selection of texts tends rather to address the comfort of the mourning and the hope of repose for the departed.
Friday, March 19 2010 at St. Philip's Anglican Church 3737 West 27th Ave. The concert will begin at 7:30
The Vivaldi Chamber Choir will be joined be joined by singers drawn from the BC Boys Choir and the Vancouver Bach Children's Chorus The accompaniment will be provided by Harp, Oboe, Cello and Organ. The organist will be Michael Murray and we welcome the return of Esther Cannon who played for us in the Requiem and Racine concert in the Spring of 2008
Concert Report
Lo Splendore d'Italia
The Splendour of Italy - Music of the Early Italian Baroque
In the early 17th century, Italy stood at the forefront of musical innovation which made it a must-see place for composers from all over Europe. Seeking to restore the ethos of classical Greece and Rome, composers devised new means of expression that defied tradition and touched directly upon the emotions of their listeners. The principal innovation, solo voice with basso continuo accompaniment led directly to the creation of opera and oratorio.In our final concert of the season we offer up a taste of the 'Splendour of Italy' ranging from a literal musical banquet in the form of a cantata for a wedding feast through the veiled eroticism of the madrigal repertoire to the mature reflections of the masters Monteverdi and Carissimi in the service of the Church. Joining the choir is an ensemble of strings, bassoon and keyboards as we present Monteverdi's setting of Confitebor tibi and Carissimi's Historia di Jonas, a musical retelling of the Biblical story of Jonah and the whale.
The concert will be held at Trinity-St. Mark's on May 29th begining at 7:30pm.
2008 - 2009 · CELEBRATING OUR 20TH SEASON!
Swete was the Song
The Vivaldi Chamber Choir's annual excursion into the byways and garden paths of the Christmas repertoire. Some old favourites will make a reappearance after several years in the file drawer. Noëls Provençaux-carols from the Occitan region of France will be featured in this performance. In addition to singing, members of the choir will try their hand at accompanying these carols with traditional instruments: the recorder, the cornemuse, the psauterie, the tambourin à cordes and a variety of drums and percussion.
This concert will see the launch of the Vivaldi Chamber Choir's new CD Swete was the Song
- Saturday November 29th - Christmas music at the Roundhouse Craft Fair
- Friday December 5th - Christmas concert at Trinity St Mark's in Kits
- Saturday December 6th - Christmas concert redux at Gloria Dei in North Vancouver
The British Orpheus and the Saxon Devil
2009 marks both the 250th anniversary of the death of Handel and the 350th anniversary of the birth of Purcell. This concert will celebrate English choral music from 1659 to 1759, focussing on the work of these two giants. The feature work of this programme will be the anthem Let God Arise, written by Handel during his service to the Duke of Chandos.
This concert will presented in collaboration with the "Company of Instruments Baroque Orchestra" with soloists Julie Duerichen, soprano and Isaiah Bell, tenor
Programme
- Oh God, Thou Art My God....Purcell
- I Was Glad....Purcell
- Salvator Mundi....John Blow
- An Evening Hymn....Purcell
- Suite in G major (for strings)....Purcell
- Pavane and Chaconne in G minor (for strings)....Purcell
- O Sing Unto the Lord....Purcell
INTERMISSION
- Concerto for Organ and Orchestra....Handel
- Turn Thee Unto Me ... William Boyce
- Chandos Anthem # 11, Let God Arise....Handel
SCHEDULE
- Friday March 27th - St. Philip's, off Dunbar
- Saturday, March 28th - Gloria Dei Lutheran, North Vancouver
- Tuesday, March 31st - Redeemer Lutheran, on Laurier - Granville & W. 24th
All concerts start at 7:30
Musicks Empire
The choir will revisit its favourite works from the 19th and 20th centuries, featuring works by Bruckner, Stanford, Willan and Britten. A highlight of the programme will be Britten's A Hymn to Saint Cecilia, but look for folk song arrangements by Holst and Vaughan Williams and by the Armenian composer Komitas
Programme details
Sacred
- Stanford Beati Quorum Via
- Willan Arise, My Love, My Fair One
- Bruckner Locus Iste
Ave Maria - Copland Zion's Walls
- Komitas Aravod Lousaper
Ech Miadzin'n
Secular
- Britten A Hymn to St. Cecilia
- Pfautsch Musicks Empire
Consecrate the Place and Day - Pearsall Lay a Garland
- Millard Fear No More the Heat of the Sun
- Mendelssohn Die Nachtigall
- Millard Lord Randall
Yo m'enamori d'un Aire
Sunday, May 31st, 7:30 pm. - Season close at Trinity St. Mark's
THE 2007 - 2008 SEASON
Come Not Near Our Faerie QueenSongs of Snakes, Dragons, and the Occasional Jabberwock
Just in time for Hallowe'en, the Vivaldi Chamber Choir presents a programme full of fairy mischief, a dragon or two, some spotted snakes, and a new twist on Lewis Carroll's dreaded Jabberwock. Compositions and arrangements by Earle Peach and David Millard take centre stage, but be prepared for plenty of old favourites and new delights.
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"Come Not Near Our Faerie Queen" will be at 8 pm. on Saturday, October 27th at Trinity-St. Marks, 1805 Larch Street, Vancouver. Tickets are $15.00 - students & seniors pay $12.00. Click on the poster to the right for a larger image.
Concert Report
Waits and Wassailers
Traditional Tunes for the Turn of the Year
Frozen feet and ague may have been the lot of the old-time travelling Yuletide musicians, but comfort and warmth awaited them in the halls where they were welcomed. The choir once again presents its eclectic mix of sacred and secular Christmas delights-taken from the sideboard rather than from the main table. Focussing on the rough and tumble of the folk carol tradition more than on the ethereal harmonies of the Church, this programme offers a trip down the byways of a holiday whose beloved tunes sometimes get over-played at the local mall. Not that you won't hear some familiar favourites-they'll just be dressed in the clothing of a bygone era whose traditions have all but been lost in the modern world. As an added bonus, when these waits perform, they provide the cider and goodies too.
"Waits and Wassailers" will be at 7:30 pm. on Sunday, December 16th
Requiem and RacineMusic of Fauré
Beginning in 1887 Fauré wrote his famous Requiem not for any specific purpose, but for the pleasure of it. By abandoning strict liturgical form, and setting only texts that appealed to him, Fauré unintentionally created a model that has been followed by many composers since. The Vivaldi Chamber Choir, with organist, Susan Ohanessian will perform this sublime work. As well, Esther Cannon (Harp), Catherine Laub (Soprano), and Joel Klein (Baritone) join the choir in what promises to be a memorable presentation.
The programme will also feature additional works by Gabriel Fauré, including his Cantique de Jean Racine. The proceedings will be rounded out with performances of motets by Saint-Saëns and Duruflé.
"Music of Fauré" will be on Saturday March 29th at 8:00 pm. at St. Philip's Anglican Church, 3737 West 27th Ave. Tickets are $18.00 - students & seniors pay $15.00. Click on the poster to the right for a larger image.
THE 2006 - 2007 SEASON
"Vivaldi Sings Vivaldi"
The Vivaldi Chamber Choir presents Vivaldi's Gloria and other choral works.
Written between 1713 and 1717, Vivaldi's Gloria in D has become one of the most popular choral pieces of the Baroque era, and it certainly deserves its reputation. This extroverted work is scored for four-part choir and an instrumental ensemble comprising strings, oboe, and trumpet. 
With the Gloria the Vivaldi Chamber Choir will be presenting its namesake's less-known but equally delightful Credo in e minor.
Also featured on the program are two of Tchaikovsky's settings of the Cherubic Hymn and some shorter sacred works by the choir's conductor, David Millard. Join the Vivaldi Chamber Choir with an ensemble of guest instrumentalists for an evening of Baroque splendour
At St. Mark's/Trinity
1805 Larch St. Vancouver
Doors open at 7:00 PM
Tickets:
$15/12 Seniors and Students
The full programme is as follows:
Tchaikovsky - Cherubic Hymn No. 1
Millard - Salvator Mundi
Millard - Kyrie Domenicale
Vivaldi - Credo
Millard - Salve Regina
Tchaikovsky - Cherubic Hymn No. 2
Vivaldi - Gloria
Nowell Sing We
Motets, Carols & Wassails for Christmas Throughout the Ages
This year’s Christmas Concert, Nowell Sing We will be performed in St. Mark’s Church in Kitsilano on Sunday, December 17th, and will feature musical delights by Morley, Byrd, Poulenc, Ireland, Howells, Parry and others. Doors are open at 7:00 pm for a 7:30 start.
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The following pieces (in alphabetical order) are in preparation for this concert:
Seasonally apposite readings will be interspersed. |
THE 2005 - 2006 SEASON
The Vivaldi Chamber Choir will present four concerts between September 2005 and June 2006.
From the grandeur of 16th Century Spain to the picaresque irony of 20th century folksong realizations, the Vivaldi Chamber Choir is delighted to announce the four engaging programmes of its 2005/2006 Season:
| Friday, October 28th | Songs of Magic & Mystery |
| Saturday, December 17th | Carols & Anthems of Georgian England |
| Saturday, April 8th | Madrigals & Partsongs from 1550 to the present |
| Saturday, June 3rd | Music of Sixteenth Century Spain |
Around the Charmèd Cauldron's Bubbling Wave
Songs of Magic & Mystery
Hags and Serpents abound in these seasonal offerings for the ensemble and selected soloists, with words by Wm. Shakespeare, Nahum Tate and Robert Graves set by Purcell, Linley, Hatton, Millard and Peach. "Anonymous" and his chum "Traditional" are in there too!
Join us for family fun and get yer Goblins well and truly Hobbed!
October 28th at Trinity-St. Marks
And Evermore be Merry
Carols & Anthems of Georgian England
A perennial favourite with Vivaldi audiences is our annual Yuletide concert. This year's offering will focus on the manner of keeping Christmas in the days of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens, with just enough music of other lands to pique the interest and tempt the palate.
Join us afterwards for mulled cider and Christmas baking.
December 17th at Trinity-St. Marks
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Sweet Love Doth Now Invite
Madrigals & Partsongs from 1550 to the present Dowland, Weelkes, Wilbye, Stanford, Morley, Monteverdi and more celebrate life and love in song. From the raucous charivari of animals imitating human counter-point* to the serene call of a blue bird over a lake, the evening promises laughter and languor and the gamut of emotions in between.
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April 8th at Trinity-St. Marks
El Siglo de Oro
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Music of 16th Century Spain
Beginning with the reign of Fernando and Isabella, and with the colonization of the New World, Spain enjoyed a time of prosperity and political dominance known as the "Golden Age". Music of this Renaissance period is a study in contrasts. From the serene motets by Guerrero and Morales to the infectious rhythms of popular vallancicos and the lively Chacona of Arañès, the music brims with confidence and optimism. Join us at Ryerson United Church for a musical tour of the Iberian Peninsula with voices, percussion, and guitar, together with some gems of Spanish organ music played on Ryerson's newly restored organ by choir director, David Millard. Passports not required!.
*** Intermission ***
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June 3rd at Ryerson United
