Early Music Vancouver Presents 'Festive Cantatas: J.S. Bach Magnificat & Cantata BWV 110'

This holiday season, Early Music Vancouver (EMV) is thrilled to present a joyful experience for the whole family - Festive Cantatas: J.S. Bach Magnificat & Cantata BWV 110 ('Let Our Mouth Be Full of Laughter') - on Saturday, December 17 at The Kay Meek Centre at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, December 18 at The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at 3:00 p.m.

Bach's Magnificat explores a wide spectrum of human responses to the Christmas story, from humility to ecstasy, sober consideration to laughing astonishment, and extroverted declamation to introspective affirmation. In them, we hear Bach amplifying the voices of different people and exploring their personal perspectives, especially that of an ordinary young woman, Mary, as she responds to the astounding news that she would give birth to the Son of God. The musical result is polyphonic in every possible sense.

Early Music Vancouver's Festive Cantatas: J.S. Bach Magnificat & Cantata BWV 110 features JUNO Award-winning artist Hélène Brunet (soprano); Portland's Arwen Myers (soprano); Hungarian-Canadian Krisztina Szabó (alto); winner of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra's Competition, Jacques-Olivier Chartier (tenor); and one of today's most sought-after voices, Sumner Thompson (bass); along with The Pacific Baroque Orchestra, directed by Alexander Weimann.

"Bach clearly intended to create something splendid, sparkling, and full of joy with his Magnificat and Cantata BWV 110," says EMV's Artistic & Executive Director Suzie LeBlanc, C.M. "The bringer of joy in Bach's music is often the trumpet, and these works feature three trumpets as well as three oboes to multiply the effect. 'Wake up' sings the bass and the trumpet at the end of Bach's Cantata 110 - a wake-up call akin to Handel's 'Sound the Trumpet' in Messiah! I hope this sumptuous and festive concert reconnects us to our fundamental and inherent feelings of joy."

For more information on Early Music Vancouver's Festive Cantatas: J.S. Bach Magnificat & Cantata BWV 110, please visit www.earlymusic.bc.ca/events/festive-cantatas/.

Single tickets for this joyful concert start from $36. For information on special single ticket offerings for youth, students and Indigenous peoples, please visit https://www.earlymusic.bc.ca/tickets/emv-53rd-main-season/ and scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Tickets for the December 17 performance can be purchased directly from The Kay Meek Centre's Box Office.

Tickets for the December 18 performance at The Chan Centre can be purchased at earlymusic.bc.ca.