Christ Church Cathedral
Bach’s Musical Offering
Artists: Chloe Kim, violin; Grégoire Jeay, traverso; Margaret Little, viola da gamba; Christophe Gauthier, keyboard
Pre-Concert Chat: 07:00pm hosted by Abraham Ross with Chloe Kim and Christophe Gauthier
Runtime: Approximately 60 min, no interval
Music fit for a king – Bach’s Musical Offering, written for Frederick the Great, is a collection of musical puzzles that surveys the leading musical genres and techniques of the time and includes pieces for the Prussian king’s own instrument, the flute. The intricate, elegant music on this programme will be performed by internationally-celebrated Canadian violinist Chloe Kim alongside leading Canadian early musicians.
Click here to read the programme notes by Connor Page.
This concert is generously sponsored by Koch Continuum
PROGRAMME
C.P.E. Bach (1714-1788)
Trio sonata in C major, Wq 147 / H 571
Allegro-Adagio-Allegro
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Ricercar à 3 – harpsichord solo
Canon perpetuus – flute, violin, harpsichord
Canones diversi super Thema Regium
I. Canon à 2 cancrizans – violin, treble viol
I. Canon à 2 Violini in Unisono – violin, treble viol, harpsichord
I. Canon à 2 per Motum contrarium – flute, violin, treble viol
I. Canon à 2 per Augmentationem – violin, bass viol, harpsichord
I. Canon à 2 per tonus – violin, bass viol, harpsichord
Fuga canonica in Epidiapente- tutti
Regis Iussu Cantio Et Reliqua Canonica Arte Resoluta
Ricercar à 6 – harpsichord solo
Canon à 2 Quaerendo invenietis – bass viol, harpsichord
Canon à 4 – tutti
Sonata sopr’il Soggetto Reale à Traversa, Violino e Continuo
I. Largo
I. Allegro
I. Andante
I. Allegro
Canon perpetuus – tutti
Chloe Kim, violin
Praised as a “rising superstar” (The Georgia Straight) who performs with “passion and intensity to electrifying effect” (The Vancouver Sun), Canadian violinist Chloe Kim is in high demand internationally as a performer with leading period instrument ensembles. She appears regularly with groups such as Voices of Music, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, The English Concert, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
A passionate advocate for historically informed performance, Chloe is the recipient of numerous accolades, including the 2021 American Bach Society Grant, the 2020/21 Mercury–Juilliard Fellowship, and a feature on CBC’s 30 Under 30 list in 2020. She was elected a Fellow of The English Concert in America in 2021 and has served on multiple occasions as a panelist for the BC Arts Council.
Some favorite past projects include performing an all-women Vivaldi program with Monica Huggett, touring Scandinavia with Yale’s Schola Cantorum, and leading Juilliard415 as concertmaster in acclaimed performances of Dido and Aeneas at Opera Holland Park and the Opéra Royal de Versailles. In the upcoming season, Chloe will appear with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, La Nuova Musica, and the Irish Baroque Orchestra.
Outside of music, Chloe is a self-proclaimed linguaphile and cinema obsessive. She is known amongst friends as monstrous company before (and occasionally after) coffee, and her partner insists she should come with a warning label. She is a devoted reader and a lover of a well-crafted cocktail. Chloe is deeply grateful to her dear friends and mentors Heilwig von Königslöw, Elizabeth Blumenstock, and Jeanne Lamon for their enduring support and inspiration.
Grégoire Jeay, traverso
Baroque flute specialist Grégoire Jeay performs regularly throughout Canada,the US, Europe and as far afield as Turkey. He is recognized for his musicality and expressiveness, and for his sense of ornamentation and improvisation. Mr. Jeay also brings his virtuosity on the transverse flute to the recorder and to flutes from various other cultures. He performs and records regularly with internationally renowned musicians and conductors, including Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Clavecin en concert, La Nef, Theatre of Early Music, L’Harmonie des saisons, Les Voix humaines, Emma Kirkby, Daniel Taylor, Luc Beauséjour, Sylvain Bergeron, and many others. In addition to his regular activities as a flutist, Grégoire Jeay composes and arranges for various ensembles such as Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra; he also produces music for European and Chinese circuses.
Margaret Little, viola da gamba
Margaret Little discovered the viola da gamba at the age of eleven at the CAMMAC Music Centre and instantly fell in love with the instrument and early music repertoire. Margaret has been performing since 1975 as a soloist, and a chamber musician on the viola da gamba and baroque viola with various groups, including the Studio de Musique ancienne de Montréal, Les Idées Heureuses, Arion, Musica Divina. In 1985 she founded the viola da gamba duo Les Voix humaine with Susie Napper. Margaret has performed with many early music groups (as a gambist and baroque violist) including Cappricio Stravagante, Fuocco e Cenere, Rebel, Four Nations, Trinity Consort, The Publick Musick, Les Boréades, Les Violons du Roy. Her career has included extensive tours in North America, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Europe. Margaret has recorded more than 90 CDs, and her first solo CD Senza Continuo was nominated for an Opus Award. Since 1992, she has taught the viola da gamba and baroque ensembles at the Université de Montréal.
Christophe Gauthier, keyboard
Born in Montréal, Christophe Gauthier studied harpsichord with Mireille Lagacé at the Conservatoire de Montréal. He then earned two degrees at the Université de Montréal, his bachelor’s studying with Réjean Poirier and his master’s studying with Luc Beauséjour.
His skill as a chamber player has led Christophe Gauthier to help found a number of ensembles, including the Rendez-vous baroque français and the Consort Laurentien. The latter group performed in the summer of 2021 at the Utrecht Early Music Festival in the Netherlands. He performs as organist and harpsichordist with the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal (SMAM), Arion Baroque Orchestra, I Musici de Montréal, and the Orchestre Métropolitain under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin.
Christophe Gauthier teaches organ and harpsichord at the Cégep de Saint-Laurent. He is regularly invited to teach at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance (Nova Scotia). He occasionally directs ensembles from the harpsichord, and conducts the choir Ensemble vocal Vivace. Notably, he has directed performances of the operas Dido and Aeneas by Purcell, Hercules by Handel, and David et Jonathas by Charpentier. He can be heard weekly on Radio VM, where he co-hosts the show Musique classique.
