Early Music Vancouver Events

The City of Ladies (film)

Tuesday July 27, 2021 | 7:00PMThe Cinematheque

In this concert film, Servir Antico tell the story of Christine de Pizan (1364 – ca.1430), a revolutionary woman who questioned the treatment of women and their prescribed place and role in society in her magnum opus, The Book of the City of Ladies. Though it was heavily criticized at the time, the poet Martin Le Franc, unlike most other men, championed her cause and helped spread awareness of the importance of women as active and multifaceted citizens. The programme is in praise of womankind, with works from the Ars Subtilior, compositions by Baude Cordier and Soulage, and anonymous compositions alongside works by Binchois and Dufay. Catalina Vicens and Servir Antico present this exquisite concert, which was recorded in the medieval chapel of Notre-Dame- à-la-rose in Belgium.

Online Concert – Cozzolani Reunited

Wednesday, March 30 at 7:30 PM through Tuesday, April 5 at 5:00 PM, 2022Online I Ariadne Lih, Myriam LeBlanc & Suzie LeBlanc, sopranos I Lucas Harris, lute & director

Chiara Margarita Cozzolani has been steadily receiving recognition in recent decades as one of the most skillful and expressive of a handful of published nun composers from seventeenth-century Italy. She took her vows at age 18, adopting “Chiara” as her religious name as she entered the Benedictine monastery of Santa Radegonda, where she would serve as maestra di cappella, abbess, and prioress.

This programme focuses on her 1648 collection of twelve motets for solo soprano, Scherzi di sacra melodia. No copy of the accompanying basso continuo partbook has been found, making the collection inaccessible to performers until now. The bass part for three of the motets was composed from scratch by lutenist Lucas Harris. The concert ends with Non tema nò di morte, a trio from the sole surviving collection of another Italian nun composer, Maria Francesca Nascinbeni. Of Nascinbeni’s life we know little, though in her publication’s preface she casually mentions being only sixteen years old.

A Tribute To The Hospitalières (film)

Tuesday, July 27th, 2021 | 3:00PMCinematheque

Marrying music with history, this tribute to the Hospitalières is a journey across time, weaving words from the archives of the first Hospitalières with the reflections of today’s nuns on the state of the world. The concert offers insight into the heroic lives of these women and the music from their religious establishments in 17th century France and Quebec. With the magnificent female singers of the Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal and the French actress Célia Laguitton as Sister Marie-Ange, this musical and theatrical creation honours the lives of those who took part in the foundation of Montréal and of the Hôtel-Dieu, where the concert was filmed.

Continuum: A conversation on historical musics and Indigenous resurgence

Monday, June 14 2021 | 11:00AMOnline

June is Indigenous Heritage Month and as part of Jonathon Adams’ summer residency, EMV will be hosting a panel discussion with four Indigenous leaders in the arts: mezzo-soprano Marion Newman, writer and academic Dylan Robinson, multi-disciplinary artist and theatre founder Reneltta Arluk, and baritone Jonathon Adams.

The Small Rain feat. Isaiah Bell, tenor & Alexander Weimann, keyboard | EMV DCH

Wednesday May 5, 2021 | 7:30PM

Join Isaiah Bell, one of Canada’s most promising young tenors, on a musical exploration of the self. This program transcends eras with music that includes traditional folk songs, works by Handel and Schubert, as well as Isaiah’s own philosophically minded poetry. This thoughtfully crafted concert examines our relationship with nature, our own personhood, and the existential questions in between. Alexander Weimann accompanies on EMV’s 1875 Broadwood piano and Elder harpsichord. 

The Crossroads of Cantemir feat. Ensemble Constantinople

Wednesday, April 21 2021 | 7:30 PM

Ensemble Constantinople performs the music of Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723), a Moldavian prince, scholar, composer, and diplomat. A fascinating historical figure, Cantemir’s compositions are considered part of the Ottoman music repertoire. More influential though are the over 350 instrumental works that he preserved in his book, Edvar-i Musiki, using his own innovative notation system, which remains as one of the most important collections of 16th and 17th century Ottoman and Middle Eastern music.

Love Near, Love Far ft. Tyler Duncan, baritone & Erika Switzer, fortepiano | EMV DCH

Wednesday February 10, 2021 | 7:30PM

Love Near, Love Far – a timely and timeless state of longing. Early Music Vancouver recently received an historic and beautifully maintained 1875 Broadwood piano that still possesses its original parts as a gift to the society from Patricia and Nicholas Lee. This instrument has been meticulously restored to sound exactly as it would have 150 years ago and is the perfect vehicle for these late 19th century songs by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Charles Gounod, Cécile Chaminade, and Hugo Wolf.

Corelli, Janitsch and J.B. Bach feat. EMV’s Baroque Mentorship Orchestra | EMV DCH

Wednesday March 10, 2021 | 7:30PM

A collaboration between Early Music Vancouver, the UBC School of Music, and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Programme gives student and community players the chance to play side by side with experts in historically informed performance. This unique mentorship initiative is designed to foster the next generation of early music performers. Members of the Baroque Mentorship Orchestra reconvened at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in July, 2020, to record this varied programme of German and Italian instrumental music. Smaller chamber ensembles and the full baroque string orchestra play the music of Arcangelo Corelli, J.G. Janitsch, and J.B. Bach, one of J.S. Bach’s talented cousins.