Welcome to Intimate Conversations – Early Music Vancouver’s new video series of interviews with this concert season’s artists and collaborators.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified when a new episode is released.
Episode #14 Intimate Conversations with Mélisande McNabney hosted by Sylvia L’Ecuyer
Meet our first solo keyboardist of the 2023/24 Season, Mélisande McNabney in her interview hosted by Sylvia L’Ecuyer. From piano inaugurations to tales of her musical family, Mélisande is sure to get you excited about her upcoming concert, Silver Apples of the Moon, a collaboration with The Chopin Society.
Episode #13 Intimate Conversations with Emerging Artist Competition Winner Emily Saville
Meet the winner of EMV’s first annual Emerging Artist Competition. Through her conversation with host Julia Halbert, Emily digs into her passion for music and voice and how the two can work in tandem.
Episode #12 Intimate Conversations with EMV’s 2023 Artist-in-Residence Catalina Vicens
In this episode of Intimate Conversations, EMV 2023 Artist-in-Residence Catalina Vicens chats with Suzie LeBlanc and Julia Halbert about her start in early music and how the works of Christine de Pizan and Martin le Franc have inspired her throughout her career. The conversation goes on to discuss the three concerts she is involved in at our Summer Festival – Our City of Ladies (with her ensemble Servir Antico), The Queen of Carthage (she is musical director) and her solo recital Songs Without Words plus her role as curator of the Tagliavini Collection and her excitement in coming to Vancouver for the first time.
Episode #11 Intimate Conversations with EMV’s Next Generation Artists Ai Horton, Elana Cooper and Jessica Korotkin
Meet EMV’s 2023 Next Generation Artists, soprano Ai Horton, violinist Elana Cooper and cellist Jessica Korotkin! In this interview, host Julia Halbert gets to know the Next Gen artists and learns about what they hope to bring to this year’s summer festival. From Bach Parodies to tales of their college experiences, you’ll surely get to know these three women before seeing them live in concert.
Music: Minuets 1 & 2 “Bach Parody Suite in F Major” by Jessica Korotkin
Episode #10 Intimate Conversations with Florence Bolton and Sébastien Marq
In this episode of Intimate Conversations, Florence Bolton and Sébastien Marq of La Rêveuse share how they incorporate bird sounds into their programme. They also teach us about how birds have influenced musicians when making music throughout history.
Episode #9 Bruce Dickey and Hana Blazikova hosted by Sylvia L’Ecuyer
In this episode of Intimate Conversations, guests Bruce Dickey and Hana Blazikova discuss how and why the cornetto and voice work so beautifully together and why they try to imitate each other. In addition, host Sylvia L’Ecuyer digs in to find out where the manuscripts for the On The Breath of Angels album were originally found.
Episode #8: The Consone Quartet hosted by Sylvia L’Ecuyer
In this episode of Intimate Conversations, host Sylvia L’Ecuyer sits down with three members of the Consone Quartet to discuss their journey as a group, the life and work of composer Fanny Mendelssohn and their upcoming concert Consone Quartet: BBC New Generation Artists.
Episode #7: Alexander Weimann and Reginald Mobley hosted by Bill Richardson
Writer and broadcaster Bill Richardson sat down with Countertenor Reginald Mobley and Alexander Weimann, director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, for an Intimate Conversation about music, what it means to “raise your voice,” their many years of friendship and the upcoming concert Raise, Raise the Voice.
Episode #6: Alexander Weimann and Matthew Jennejohn hosted by Bill Richardson
In this episode, author and broadcaster Bill Richardson chats with Pacific Baroque Orchestra’s music director Alexander Weimann and Matthew Jennejohn – oboe d’amore soloist and instrument maker. This information-packed conversation ranges from what Christmas was like for Bach, the contagious laughter in Cantata BWV 110, the joy of the Magnificat, Bach’s love of the oboe to the types of wood used in oboe construction and different ways to playing the cornetto and lots of other interesting insights into the music.
Episode #5: Thomas Dunford hosted by Sylvia L’Ecuyer
Thomas Dunford first picked up the lute at age nine, and it was love at first pluck. He talks about his passion for the instrument in this Intimate Conversation with musicologist Sylvia L’ Ecuyer. M. Dunford explains how the lute first developed from the Middle Eastern oud and how it has continued to evolve into the archlute he plays today. Other points of discussion include the challenges of adapting Bach’s music for the lute, modern music being currently written for this ancient instrument, his group Jupiter and his packed concert/travel schedule. Listen in and then join EMV for what is sure to be an extraordinary live concert on November 25. Buy tickets here.
Episode #4 (French version): Nicolas Sansarlat hosted by Sylvia L’Ecuyer
Écoutez cet entretien entre Sylvia Lecruyer, journaliste musicale et ancienne animatrice à Radio-Canada, et Raphael Boulay, ténor, au sujet de la recherche musicale approfondie de l’ensemble Diabolus in Musica. Quel type de musique jouait-on en France au Moyen Âge? Quelles étaient les divers sujets exprimés dans cette musique et que signifie le nom de l’ensemble?
Episode #3: Raphaël Boulay hosted by Sylvia L’Ecuyer
Music journalist and former Radio-Canada host Sylvia L’Ecuyer sits down (virtually) with Diabolus in Musica’s Raphaël Boulay for a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation. They discuss the ensemble’s extensive musical research, what type of music was being written and played (and by who) in France in the Middle Ages, the various forms of love expressed in Medieval music and the meaning behind the group’s name. Draw up a chair and listen in. Purchase tickets to the concert on Oct 28 at 7:30 p.m here.
Episode #2: Rona Nadler of Infusion Baroque and Mike Fan hosted by Bill Richardson
Join broadcaster and author Bill Richardson in an ‘Intimate Conversation’ with actor/tenor Mike Fan and Infusion Baroque’s Rona Nadler as this discuss the scandal and theories that accompanied the unsolved murder of French composer Jean-Marie Leclair in 1764 including shady characters hanging about Leclair’s Marais home. Mr. Fan plays four characters – three of them suspects in the case including Leclair’s gardener and neighbour, Leclair’s widow, and Leclair’s nephew, who was an up-and-coming violinist. The fourth character is the police Inspector assigned to the case. The audience follows along as the musicians try to get on with their concert while the Inspector tries to solve a murder. Leclair’s music, weaves it way through the proceeding. Listen in to learn more about Leclair, his music, and his murder. Purchase a ticket here.
Episode #1: Kyriakos Kalaitzidis hosted by Aram Bajakian
Welcome to episode #1 of Intimate Conversations. In this episode, PhD student, guitarist and oudist Aram Bajakian chats with Kyriakos Kalaitzidis, oud player and music director of En Chordais. En Chordais is an early music ensemble based in Thessaloniki Greece and they will be performing alongside Constantinople in our Passport Series concert Treasures From Byzantine Manuscripts on September 23 and 24 in Victoria and Vancouver. Learn about the origins and history of these Byzantine manuscripts in this intimate conversation.
