Pacific Baroque Orchestra
“The Pacific Baroque Orchestra under Alexander Weimann are sensitive partners, the flutes especially buttery…” – Grammophone review of Nuits Blanches (2020)
“Kudos must go to Weimann for his versatile precision, focus and energy, often playing harpsichord with his left hand while conducting with his right. His right hand always knew what his left was doing.” – Vancouver Presents (2023)
The Pacific Baroque Orchestra (PBO) is recognized as one of Canada’s most exciting and innovative ensembles performing “early music for modern ears”. PBO brings the music of the past up to date by performing with cutting edge style and enthusiasm. Formed in 1990, the orchestra quickly established itself as a force in Vancouver’s burgeoning music scene with the ongoing support of Early Music Vancouver.
In 2009 PBO welcomed Alexander Weimann as Artistic Director. His imaginative programming and expert leadership have drawn in many new concertgoers, and his creativity and engaging musicianship have carved out a unique and vital place in the cultural landscape of Vancouver.
PBO regularly joins forces with internationally celebrated Canadian guest artists, providing performance opportunities for Canadian musicians while exposing West Coast audiences to a spectacular variety of talent. The Orchestra has also toured BC, the northern United States and across Canada as far as the East Coast. The musicians of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra have been at the core of many large-scale productions by Early Music Vancouver in recent years, including many summer festival performances led by Alexander Weimann.
Upcoming Concerts
Summer Festival 2026
Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons
Guest director Rachel Podger leads the Pacific Baroque Orchestra through Vivaldi’s best-known concertos, which revolutionized ideas about what orchestral music could achieve.
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
2026-2027 Season
Music for the Little Ice Age
This programme features the premiere of Snow Skills, a newly commissioned work by composer Peter Hannan that blends humans with electronics, and the past with the present. Stories unfold through Renaissance letters and speech set against contemporary digital transmissions, performed by a small vocal ensemble, with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra on period instruments and electronic tracks.
Christ Church Cathedral
2026-2027 Season
A Little Night Music with Mozart
Mozart’s KV 525, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, is arguably one of the most recognizable pieces in the history of classical music. But it is only one of countless “Serenatas” or serenades – pieces written for entertainment in the evening hours. We pair Mozart’s classic tune, freshly performed on period instruments, with a lesser-known piece from his earlier life in Salzburg: The Serenata Notturna, KV 239. This eclectic programme also includes a fanciful quintet by Boccherini about 18th century night-life in Madrid, instrumental songs by Dowland and Purcell, and an intriguing night-watch tune by Austrian composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, in which even the audience will participate.
Christ Church Cathedral
2026-2027 Season
Festive Cantatas: Gloria with Vivaldi & Bach
For much of his adult life, Antonio Vivaldi worked as a teacher at the Ospedale della Pietà, a charitable convent, orphanage and music school established by Venetian nuns in the 14th century. It was for those children that Vivaldi composed such pieces as The ‘Gloria’, and in doing so attracted travelers from around Europe to see them perform. Inspired by Vivaldi’s work with young people, we have invited the Vancouver Youth Choir to perform ‘Gloria’ with us this holiday season, which is sure to be an extraordinary celebration of light and joy.
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
2026-2027 Season
Handel’s La Resurrezione with PBO
In 1708, George Frideric Handel was just twenty-three years old, a German Lutheran who had been in Rome for only two years, when he undertook one of the most profound subjects of Catholic liturgy: the Passion and Resurrection of Christ. In La Resurrezione, Handel encapsulates all the operatic styles and languages available at the time. The story is bookended by the transcendent fight between heaven and hell, personified by an angel and Lucifer; the earthly actors are Mary Magdalene, Mary Cleophas and John the Baptist. A stellar team of 5 soloists will join the festive orchestra forces with trumpets, oboes, recorders, flute, bassoon, strings, gamba, harpsichord and theorbo.
Chan Centre for the Performing Arts
Music Director
Alexander Weimann | Sponsored by Bruce Munro Wright, O.B.C.
The internationally renowned keyboard artist Alexander Weimann has spent his life enveloped by the therapeutic power and beauty of making music. Alex grew up in Munich. At age three he became fascinated by the intense magic of the church organ. He started piano at six, formal organ lessons at 12 and harpsichord at university (along with theatre theory, medieval Latin and jazz piano.) He is in huge demand as a director, soloist and chamber player, traveling the world with leading North American and European ensembles. He is Artistic Director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Vancouver and teaches at the University of British Columbia where he directs the Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Programme.
Alex has appeared on more than 100 recordings, including the Juno-award-winning album “Prima Donna” with Karina Gauvin and Arion Baroque orchestra. His latest album series “The Art of Improvisation” (Volume 1: A Prayer for Peace; Volume 2: Ad libitum; and Volume 3: Canavian Variations, released on Redshift, 2024) unites his passions for both baroque music and improvisation on organ, harpsichord, and piano.
Orchestra Members
Click on a headshot to read their biography.
Chloe Meyers
Violin & Concert Master
Christi Meyers
Violin
Paul Luchkow
Violin
Elyssa Lefurgey-Smith
Violin
Kathryn Wiebe
Violin
Christine Wilkinson Beckman
Violin
Angela Malmberg
Violin
Majka Demcak
Violin
Mieka Michaux
Viola
Joanna Hood
Viola
Natalie Mackie
Bass
Nathan Helgeson
Bassoon
Katrina Russell
Bassoon
Matthew Jennejohn
Oboe
Curtis Foster
Oboe
Soile Strataukas
Flute
