Loreena McKennitt Added To The Royal Conservatory's Concert Season

The Royal Conservatory of Music has added a very special holiday concert – Loreena McKennitt's Under A Winter's Moon – to the 2023-24 season lineup on December 10. There will be two performances, a matinee at 2pm and a second show at 7pm. The concert is a unique mixture of carols and tales and the oral traditions found in many cultures, interwoven with strands of the natural world revealed through Indigenous stories. This seasonal miscellany of music and spoken word also features Gemini Award-winning actor Cedric Smith performing A Child's Christmas in Wales.

“It's really a love letter to the season,” said Juno Award-winning Canadian artist Loreena McKennitt. “We're delighted to be bringing our eclectic blend of Christmas, nature, Indigenous and Celtic culture to Koerner Hall – an exquisite gem in the heart of Toronto.”

Under A Winter's Moon is a two-set concert. The first set includes performances by McKennitt and her band, as well as a reading and music by Ojibway artist and flautist Jeffrey “Red” George. The second set features actor Cedric Smith performing, in six parts, the late Welsh poet Dylan Thomas's nostalgic A Child's Christmas in Wales, each segment interspersed with more songs from McKennitt. The concert also includes 15 seasonal tunes, with such favourites as “Coventry Carol,” “Good King Wenceslas,” and the “Huron Carol.”

McKennitt will be accompanied by Caroline Lavelle on cello and recorders, and members of the Celtic group The Bookends, including Errol Fischer on fiddle, Pete Watson on guitar and bouzouki, and Cait Watson on Irish whistle, joined by Romano DiNillo on percussion.

McKennitt first performed Under A Winter's Moon as a series of live concerts in a historic sanctuary in Stratford, Ontario, in December 2021. She subsequently released the performance as her 16th album, which was followed by an eight-city Ontario tour in 2022.

McKennitt's eclectic Celtic blend of pop, folk and world music has sold over 14 million albums worldwide. Her recordings have achieved Gold, Platinum, and multi-Platinum status in 15 countries on four continents. She has twice been nominated for a Grammy Award and has won two Juno Awards, as well as a Billboard International Achievement Award. She has performed in some of the world's most-respected and historic concert venues, from Carnegie Hall to the famous Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain and for dignitaries including the late Queen Elizabeth II and His Majesty King Charles III, and other heads of state. In addition to her musical career, McKennitt has been recognized for a number of noteworthy philanthropic initiatives, including The Cook-Rees Memorial Fund for Water Search and Safety, Falstaff Family Centre, and Honorary Colonel of the Royal Canadian Air Force. In 2004, McKennitt was awarded the Order of Canada and in 2013 was appointed Knight of the National Order of Arts and Letters of the Republic of France.

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