Early Music Vancouver Marks 55th Festival Anniversary with BACH & MOZART: In Endless Ascent

Early Music Vancouver (EMV) invites audiences to an exploration of the interconnectedness of music, nature, and the elevation of the soul, in its 2025 summer festival, BACH & MOZART: In Endless Ascent, from July 26 to August 8, 2025, at various Vancouver venues.

“Just as trees reach for the sky, we, as part of nature's ecosystem, reach towards the highest expression of ourselves, and music—the language of the heart and the emotions—helps us up on our journey,” says EMV's Artistic and Executive Director Suzie LeBlanc. “This year's festival brings together music from East and West, past and present in celebration of our world's natural glory. Works by great masters of the past—J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart—are juxtaposed with new pieces by Canadian composers Dorothy Chang, Edward Top, Lan Tung, Gregory Borton and Grégoire Jeay that take us to new mystical heights, exploring themes ranging from earthly forces to celestial wonder to our soul's final ascent.”

EMV's 55th annual summer festival features a rich ensemble of more than 50 established and emerging international and Canadian early music artists. Special festival highlights include: keyboardist and Pacific Baroque Orchestra (PBO) director Alexander Weimann, who is making a special solo appearance in his imaginative True North Variations: O Canada Reimagined, and a special celebration of music and dance, featuring the Montréal-based baroque dance company Les Jardins Chorégraphiques along with the PBO in The Enchanted Forest. The highly acclaimed Vancouver-based violinist Chloe Kim joins musicians from Montreal in Bach's Musical Offering and Christina Hutten leads a rare collaborative fusion of Chinese and Baroque instruments in a dialogue across cultures and centuries in Silk Strings, featuring artists from Vancouver's Sound of Dragon Society and EMV.

Making their EMV debuts this year are singers Daniel Moody and Magali Simard-Galdès, as well as American tenor Jacob Perry, in collaboration with returning favourites Emma Parkinson and Drew Santini, for the festival's Bach and Mozart feature performances.

BACH & MOZART: In Endless Ascent also presents the fourth iteration of EMV: The Next Generation, whose emerging artists have been hand-selected by LeBlanc. This year, the Gallo Chamber Players treat us to a programme entitled Bach and the Heavens.

EMV's 2025 Artist-in-Residence, Magali Simard-Galdès, is a young Canadian soprano who, in addition to a thriving operatic career, has expertise in sustainable development specialising in the cultural sector. She will not only lend her beautiful voice to several concerts but also moderate a roundtable on Sustainability and the Arts.

BACH & MOZART: IN ENDLESS ASCENT complete summer festival lineup includes:

BAROQUE IN MOTION ON GRANVILLE ISLAND - FREE CONCERT

Artists: Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, dance; Alexander Weimann, harpsichord; Chloe Meyers, violin; and Grégoire Jeay, flute
Saturday, July 26, 2025 | 12pm & 1pm
Granville Island - Chain & Forge Plaza

TRUE NORTH VARIATIONS: O CANADA REIMAGINED

Artist: Alexander Weimann, piano
Sunday, July 27, 2025 | 2pm, followed by a reception and CD Launch
The Annex

SILK STRINGS: A CHINESE-BAROQUE MUSICAL DIALOGUE

Artists: Emma Parkinson, EMV Festival Players & Sound of Dragon Society, directed by Christina Hutten and Edward Top
Tuesday, July 29, 2025 | 7:30 pm 
Christ Church Cathedral

SUSTAINABILITY in the ARTS Roundtable

Moderated by Magali Simard-Galdès
Wednesday, July 30, 2025 | 1 pm 
Vancouver Civic Theatre Salons

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

Artists: Les Jardins Chorégraphiques, directed by Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière and Stephanie Brochard, PBO orchestra, directed by Alexander Weimann, with Rande Cook and Tarun Nayar
Thursday, July 31, 2025 | 7:30pm
Vancouver Playhouse

BACH AND THE HEAVENS

Artists: The Gallo Chamber Players
Friday, August 1, 2025 | 1pm
Christ Church Cathedral

FORGOTTEN HARMONIES: Schubert & Friends

Artists: Magali Simard-Galdès, soprano, Simon Poirier, natural horn, Olivier Godin, fortepiano
Friday, August 1, 2025 | 7:30pm           
Christ Church Cathedral

DE JUER ET DE BALER / To Play and Dance

Artists: Norbert Rodenkirchen & Pierre Hamon, medieval flutes and percussion
Saturday, August 2, 2025 | 7:30pm
Christ Church Cathedral

BACH CANTATAS: THE ASCENT

Artists: Magali Simard-Galdès, soprano; Daniel Moody, alto; Jacob Perry, tenor; Drew Santini, bass and the PBO, directed by Alexander Weimann
Tuesday, August 5, 2025 | 7:30pm
Christ Church Cathedral

FIGMENTS AND FRAGMENTS: Marenzio to Mozart

Artists: Abraham Ross, organ and fortepiano, Simon Poirier, natural horn
Thursday, August 7, 2025 | 1pm
Christ Church Cathedral

BACH'S MUSICAL OFFERING

Artists: Chloe Kim, violin, Grégoire Jeay, traverso, Margaret Little, viola da gamba, Christophe Gauthier, keyboard
Thursday, August 7, 2025 | 7:30pm
Christ Church Cathedral

MOZART'S REQUIEM

Artists: Magali Simard-Galdès, soprano; Emma Parkinson, alto; Jacob Perry, tenor; Drew Santini, bass; the Vancouver Cantata Singers and the PBO, directed by Alexander Weimann
Friday, August 8, 2025 | 7:30pm
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts