Early Music Vancouver Sets Summer Festival, 2015-16 Season

Early Music Vancouver (EMV) announces its Summer Festival and 2015/2016 Season, which brings a dramatic and expansive array of historically informed performances to venues across Vancouver. The meticulously curated programmes range from a Medieval Miracle Play with Dialogos Ensemble for Medieval Music, to Baroque Opera at the Chan Centre, to a multimedia experience with Toronto's Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra. In their entirety, the festival and season offer a rare opportunity to hear some of history's greatest works using the instruments and forces for which they were intended.

New this year, Early Music Vancouver introduces a flexible subscription model that allows patrons to purchase any three concerts and attend a fourth free - where previously they would subscribe to a venue-based series. The new format allows lovers of a specific musical period or practice to build a custom subscription around their personal preference, regardless of venue.

"At every EMV concert, we take something that has made its way to us across the centuries and - through inspired musicianship - discover it anew," explains Matthew White, Artistic Director of EMV. "In our 2015/2016 season, we host some of the world's finest ensembles and musicians. We can not wait for them to come to Vancouver and share the freshness and vitality that are at the heart of these great works."

The EMV Summer Festival: Music for Queens runs from July 26 through August 7, offering a diverse lineup of instrumental and vocal music written by, for, and about great Queens in history. Highlights will include the return of medieval music ensemble Sequentia, an evening pairing Pergolesi's exquisite Stabat Mater with the lesser-known, but equally poignant, Il pianto di Maria by Ferrandini, and an opera in concert production of Henry Purcell's masterpiece Dido and Aeneas featuring the Festival Baroque Orchestra Chorus and Soloists.

The 2015/2016 season will commence in September under the baton of Vancouver's own Alexander Weimann, leading an expanded Pacific Baroque Orchestra in a performance of Bach's Brandenberg Concertos as part of the EMV Baroque Playhouse Series. Over the course of the season, the Vancouver Playhouse stage will host esteemed groups of musicians bringing unique musical programmes, including Ensemble Caprice's lively Salsa Baroque and Tafelmusik's international multimedia sensation - House of Dreams.

The EMV Masterworks at the Chan Centre will host EMV's most ambitious series to date, including Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 with the Vancouver Chamber Choir and Seattle's Pacific MusicWorks led by Stephen Stubbs, Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks, Collegium Vocale Gent with conductor Phillipe Herreweghe presenting the Renaissance masterwork Lagrime di San Pietro, and Dialogos Ensemble sharing Swithun - A Medieval Miracle Play. As a special treat for the holidays, EMV is bringing back its Festive Canatas with a twist; instead of focusing on the works of J.S. Bach, it will partner with early music presenters and performers from Seattle, Portland, and Victoria to perform Michael Praetorius' magnificent and joyful Christmas Vespers at the Chan Shun Concert Hall. Featuring over 70 performers, there is no better way to celebrate the holiday season.

The full EMV Summer Festival and 2015/16 Season includes:

EMV SUMMER MUSIC FESTIVAL - MUSIC FOR QUEENS

Queen Cristina - The Girl King, with soprano Ellen Hargis : July 26, 2015 at 7:30pm
Solo repertoire for Lute by Bach and Weiss with Lutenists Paul Beier and Robert Barto : July 28, 2015
Lutenist Ronn MacFarlane in Recital : July 30, 2015 at 12pm
Purcell's Opera in Concert Dido and Aeneas : July 30, 2015 at 7:30pm - at Chan Centre
The Queen's Delight - Les Voix Humaines Gamba Consort : July 31, 2015 at 7:30pm
Brahms' Die Schöne Magelone with Tyler Duncan & Erika Switzer : August 4, 2015 at 7:30pm
Pergolesi's Stabat Mater : August 5, 2015 at 7:30pm
A Queen's Music - Reginald Mobley in Recital : August 6 at 7:30pm
A Co-production with Queer Arts Festival at the Roundhouse
Sequentia: The Queen and the Troubadour : August 7, 2015 at 7:30 pm

All Concerts at Roy Barnett Recital Hall (except as otherwise noted)

EMV MASTERWORKS AT CHAN CENTRE

Purcell's Opera in Concert Dido and Aeneas: July 30, 2015 at 7:30pm - at Chan Centre
Claudio Monteverdi's Vespers of 1610 : October 23, 2015 at 7:30pm
Dialogos Ensemble - Swithun - A Medieval Miracle Play : November 13, 2015 at 7:30pm
Festive Cantatas - Praetorius Christmas Vespers : December 20, 2015 at 3pm
Death and Devotion with Soprano Dorothee Mields* : February 3, 2016 at 7:30pm
Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks* : April 3, 2016 at 7:30pm
Phillipe Herreweghe & Collegium Vocale Gent - Lagrime di San Pietro : April 15, 2016 at 7:30pm

THE BAROQUE PLAYHOUSE SERIES

Brandenburg Concertos* : September 18, 2015 at 7:30pm
Salsa Baroque - Ensemble Caprice : October 15, 2015 at 7:30pm
Music from the Court of Versailles - Byron Schenkman and Friends : November 6, 2015 at 7:30pm
Watermusic - Orchestral Suites - Victoria Baroque Players : January 15, 2016 at 7:30pm
House of Dreams - Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra : March 4, 2016 at 7:30pm
Handel's Apollo e Dafne *: March 18, 2016 at 7:30pm

SPECIAL COLLABORATIONS

Julliard415 with conductor Nicolas McGegan : November 18, 19 & 20, 2016
A Co-production with Music in the Morning at Vancouver Academy of Music
A Queen's Music - Reginald Mobley in Recital : August 6 at 7:30pm
A Co-production with Queer Arts Festival at the Roundhouse

Early Music Vancouver subscribers can attend any four EMV Summer Festival or 2015/16 Season performances for the price of three. Subscriptions are available by phone through the Chan Centre Box Office at 604 822 2697.

ABOUT EARLY MUSIC VANCOUVER (earlymusic.bc.ca)
For 45 years, Early Music Vancouver (EMV) has dedicated itself to fostering an understanding and appreciation of musical treasures from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods. Currently under the leadership of Matthew White - renowned countertenor and founding director of the Québec-based ensemble Les Voix Baroques - EMV continues to garner international acclaim as the largest presenter of early music in Canada, and as one of the most active and innovative organizations in its field in North America.

EMV is proud of its educational outreach initiatives that include its popular, annual summer festival at UBC's School of Music; a new Baroque Mentorship Orchestra; community lectures; and instrument instruction and preservation.

To post a comment, you must register and login.