Founded in 2009, Culture Days is a non-profit organization dedicated to building a national network of cultural connections devoted to providing Canadians with opportunities to participate in and appreciate all forms of arts and culture.
To start our 2015-16 Baroque Series at the Vancouver Playhouse, EMV partners with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra for a performance featuring Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos Nos. 2 and 4 as well as concertos for solo recorder and solo trumpet by Georg Philipp Telemann.
Inspired by the stories of ‘courts of love’ presided over by twelfth-century noblewomen such as Eleanor of Aquitaine, this programme presents songs, stories and dances from the love-drenched world of the troubadours and minstrels of medieval Europe.
As was with people of color, the contribution of gay composers and musicians throughout history has been largely forgotten, hidden, or ignored. And in this “Age of Grindr”, where the “woof” of an app is stronger than the bite of wit, we need to be reminded that we have a responsibility as lay curators of culture.
Perhaps the most celebrated queen in Western music history, the Virgin Mary, has inspired countless sacred musical tributes. This programme includes two superb examples, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater for soprano and alto soloists and the less well-known, but equally poignant, Il pianto di Maria by Giovanni Battista Farrandini for mezzo-soprano.
Die Schöne Magelone tells Ludwig Tieck’s medieval love story about Peter, a young knight from Provence, and the beautiful princess Magelone. Set by Johannes Brahms for baritone, narrator, and piano, the fifteen songs are interwoven with unifying descriptive prose.
A musical drama written by the brilliant, eccentric fop, gamba player, composer, mercenary soldier, and model for Shakespeare’s Sir Andrew Aiguecheak in Twelfth night, the inimitable Tobias Hume!
One of the best-loved and well-known of all English operas, Henry Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas tells the tragic tale of Queen Dido’s love and subsequent abandonment by the Trojan hero, Aeneas.
“His intense concentration, technical prowess and rapport with the audience showed that, in time, he could become the Segovia of the lute.” – Chicago Tribune
Solo works for lute by Leopold Weiss and Johann Sebastian Bach, including two Bach Suites for harpsichord transcribed for lute by Paul Beier.
A musical account of the life of Queen Christina of Sweden, one of Europe’s most eccentric monarchs and personalities. Featuring music and dance by Luigi Rossi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Arcangelo Corelli, and others.
Renowned baroque violin specialist Marc Destrubé and his former student, genre-breaking fiddler Jaron Freeman-Fox, share the stage, exploring beautiful variation-based compositions for solo violin by Bach, Biber and Baltzar, along with Jaron’s variations and improvisations and electro-acoustic re-imaginings of these.
