Presents the
May 6, 7, 8, 2016 Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, Jeanne Lamon Hall 427 Bloor St. West, Toronto
With our sincere appreciation and gratitude
salutes
Vivian E. Pilar for her leadership, support of Charles Daniels and
salutes Greig Dunn & Robert Maclennan Thank you for sponsoring Kevin Skelton in the
salutes The Spem in Alium Fund for supporting the
salutes 2015-16 Season Sponsor
Claudio Monteverdi
Vespro della Beata Vergine Versicle: Deus in adiutorium Respond: Domine ad adiuvandum Antiphon: Missus est angelus Psalm 109: Dixit Dominus Concerto: Nigra sum Antiphon: Ave Maria Psalm 112: Laudate pueri Concerto: Pulchra es Antiphon: Ne timeas Maria Psalm 121: Laetatus sum Concerto: Duo seraphim Antiphon: Dabit ei Dominus Psalm 126: Nisi Dominus Concerto: Audi coelum
INTERMISSION Please join us for refreshments and the CD Boutique in the Gymnasium. CDs are also on sale in the Lobby.
Antiphon: Ecce ancilla Psalm 147: Lauda Ierusalem Sonata sopra Sancta Maria Hymn: Ave maris stella Antiphon: Spiritus Sanctus Magnificat
David Fallis, Artistic Director, tenor Michele DeBoer, soprano Katherine Hill, soprano Paul Jenkins, organ Alison Melville, recorder John Pepper, bass Laura Pudwell, alto GUEST SINGERS
GUEST PLAYERS
Dawn Bailey, soprano Charles Daniels, tenor Paul Oros, bass Bud Roach, tenor David Roth, bass Kevin Skelton, tenor Jessica Wright, alto
Patricia Ahern, violin Margaret Gay, cello Thomas Georgi, viola Lucas Harris, theorbo Patrick Jordan, viola Alison Mackay, double bass Dominic Teresi, curtal Christopher Verrette, violin
LA ROSE DES VENTS Peter Christensen, sackbut, recorder Bruce Dickey, cornetto Trevor Dix, sackbut Catherine Motuz, sackbut Kiri Tollaksen, cornetto
Board of Directors
Staff
Ann Posen, President John Ison, Treasurer Kim Condon, Secretary Harry Deeg Chester Gryski Garth Laurie Trini Mitra Sara Morgan Tiffany Grace Tobias Heather Turnbull
David Fallis, Artistic Director Michelle Knight, Director of Marketing Nellie Austin, Bookkeeper Kiran Hacker, Graphic Designer Yara Jakymiw, Season Brochure Graphic Designer Martin Reis & Derek Haukenfreres, Box Office Peter Smurlick, Database Consultant Gordon Baker, Stage Manager Cecilia Booth, Front of House, Volunteer Coordinator Gordon Peck, Technical Director Sam Elliott, Intermissions & Receptions Heather Engli, Touring
The Toronto Consort is Canada’s leading ensemble specializing in the music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance and early Baroque – roughly 1200 to 1675. Founded in 1972, the Toronto Consort is one of Canada’s first professional period-music ensembles. Over the past four decades, the Toronto Consort has continued to expand listeners’ appreciation through inventive programming that breathes life into period music. The Toronto Consort is heard frequently on Canadian and international radio and television and has appeared with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra as well as the North German Radio Orchestra. Its many recordings include The Little Barley-Corne; Navidad: Christmas Music from Latin America and Spain; The Way of the Pilgrim: Medieval Songs of Travel; Praetorius Christmas Vespers; The Da Vinci Collection; The Queen: Music for Elizabeth I; the Juno-nominated Full Well She Sang; and All in a Garden Green (a double-CD re-release of Mariners and Milkmaids and O Lusty May). The ensemble has collaborated on a number of film and television projects including Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter and two Showtime series, The Tudors and The Borgias.
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Program Notes Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 is regarded as one of the greatest masterpieces of the early Baroque, and indeed as one of the great sacred works of all time. It was published in 1610 in a volume dedicated to Pope Paul V, entitled “A Mass for six voices to be sung to the most holy Virgin, and Vespers for more voices, with some sacred concertos – works suited to the chapels or chambers of princes.” At the time of the Vespers’ publication, Monteverdi was working in Mantua, mainly as a composer and performer of secular music. His madrigals were highly regarded and three years earlier the first performance of his opera Orfeo had taken place to great acclaim in Mantua. We do not know for what occasion Monteverdi wrote the Vespers, or the mass which accompanies it in the 1610 volume. In fact, Monteverdi had little opportunity to write sacred music in Mantua, and a number of scholars have suggested that the publication of 1610 was intended to show leading ecclesiastics that he could indeed write sacred music. The dedication to Pope Paul V, the conservative style of the mass, and the extensive use of plainchant in the Vespers all suggest that perhaps Monteverdi was hoping to secure an important church post in Rome, and was using this volume as a “job application”. He travelled to Rome in 1610, in part to obtain a place in a Roman seminary for his nine-year-old son Francesco; he also used the trip as a chance to present the dedicatee with a copy of his music, and to meet with a number of important cardinals. Monteverdi was not successful in finding employment in Rome. His dissatisfaction with Mantua grew, and in 1612 he was dismissed. The following year one of Italy’s most important musical posts came available, that of maestro di capella in San Marco, Venice. In the report signalling Monteverdi’s appointment to the position, the procurators commended him as “a most outstanding individual” and stated that they “are further confirmed in this opinion of his quality and virtue both by his works which are found in print and by those which today Their Most Illustrious Lordships have sought to hear.” At the time, the 1610 volume was Monteverdi’s largest collection of printed sacred music, so it appears that the Vespers did indeed help Monteverdi to secure an important post, one in which he would work successfully for the rest of his life. The Vespers service is one of the eight daily services which together form the Divine Office, celebrated (in some churches and monastic orders, since the 6th century) around the clock at intervals of roughly every three hours. Even in medieval times, the Vespers service assumed special significance among the Office Hours, and has been a favourite for musical decoration ever since. The service consists of: an opening versicle and respond; five psalms, each preceded and followed by an antiphon; a short Bible reading; a hymn; another versicle and respond; the Magnificat, also preceded and followed by an antiphon; prayers, and a benediction. Of the elements, some, like the antiphons, change with almost every day of the church year.
Others, like the five psalms, recur frequently and logically so that, for instance, any time Vespers is sung on a feast day related to Mary or a female saint, the same five psalms are sung. In the Vespers of 1610, Monteverdi set the opening versicle and respond (which stays the same throughout the year), the five psalms and the hymn appropriate to Marian feasts (which occur fairly often throughout the year) and the Magnificat (which stays the same throughout the year). He naturally did not set any of the antiphons, prayers or Bible readings. (Since they change every day, he either would have had to set a huge number of texts, or make his Vespers usable on only one day of the year.) We have chosen tonight to provide antiphons to the psalms appropriate to the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25), more to give a feeling for the way the antiphons and psalms would have been coupled than to recreate a liturgy. We will not be singing the Bible reading, the prayers or the benediction. This is a compromise, but one which we hope will give to the evening the aural flavour of the service, without pretending to be something it is not. Together with the music specific to the Vespers service, Monteverdi also added five “sacred concertos” to his publication of 1610. There has been much scholarly debate over the place of these pieces in a performance of the Vespers. Some writers have suggested they do not belong in a Vespers service at all, and were never intended to be performed with the psalms, hymn and Magnificat. This theory does not answer the question of why Monteverdi carefully placed them in between the psalms in his volume. Others have suggested that they are “antiphon substitutes”, sung instead of the antiphon which is to be repeated after each psalm. The best clue probably comes from some travellers’ diaries in 17th-century Italy which note that sacred motets and concerti were played between the antiphon-psalm-antiphon groups. Furthermore, in a 1639 set of rules governing services in Venice it was allowed that sacred motets could be sung between the psalms at Vespers. Most probably Monteverdi knew of these practices, wanted to include his concerti in the publication to further demonstrate his abilities, and placed them carefully to show where they worked to best advantage. A couple of other points might be made about the performance practice choices made in tonight’s performance. The plainchant antiphons are taken from a 1573 antiphonary, and a Directorium Chari of 1604, a reference and instruction book for choirmasters published with the Pope’s authority as part of the reforms undertaken by the Council of Trent. In terms of plainchant performance, these reforms clearly indicate measured renditions of the melodies (as opposed to a free speech-like rhythm), and the antiphonary uses notes of definite duration in its notation. We have retained that metrical clarity, and extended it to the sections of plainchant written by Monteverdi on one chord, in a style known as falsobordone. All these aspects of performance practice and historical research aside, it is the brilliance of the Vespers which has made it so well known and loved. Many listeners have commented on the incredible emotional depth and variety in the work and on how many disparate styles are kept in balance within the work as a whole. Formal polyphony balances Baroque solo-song
style, extreme ornamentation is coupled with the purest plainchant, and throughout, the aural timbres are manipulated with both virtuoso dexterity and maximum contrast. One of the most remarkable features of the work is that Monteverdi sets himself a very daunting compositional challenge in the Vespers. In a simple rendition of the Vespers service (one celebrated in a modest church without a corps of virtuoso singers and players, for example), the five psalms and the Magnificat are chanted, using the melody of what is known as a reciting tone. Reciting tones are melodically uninteresting, consisting mostly of only one note, together with a few introductory and ending pitches. These are used to allow the psalms to be chanted quickly and Monteverdi uses these plain reciting tones as the basis for his settings of each of the five psalms and the Magnificat. At almost every moment, the reciting tone is heard somewhere in the music, yet Monteverdi’s incredible inventiveness means that the music is always fresh, and one would never suspect that these simple recitation tones are undergirding the music. And despite the strictures of the ever-present plainchant, Monteverdi captures the meaning and drama of the texts (as is to be expected of a composer who was so concerned with dramatic text-setting in his operas and madrigals). So “Dixit Dominus” is suitably warlike, the opening of “Nisi Dominus” indeed sounds like someone building a house, while “Laudate pueri” has an almost boyish happiness. The texts of the motets are mostly non-Biblical, and leave plenty of room for Monteverdi to display his “modern” style of monody, duet and trio writing. One of these motets, “Audi coelum”, has a most remarkable text. It is set as an echo piece, a genre much enjoyed by early Baroque composers. In this case, however, the echo does not repeat the whole of the last word it has heard, but only a portion of it, leading to a genuine conversation between the main singer and his echo. Today’s listeners might also be interested in a theological balance in the Vespers of 1610, namely, the relationship between the divine as masculine and the divine as feminine. Clearly the psalms are masculine in their orientation. The “Lord” is male, and his roles (the warrior in “Dixit Dominus”, the law-giver in “Lauda Ierusalem”) are typically male. By contrast, the concertos (which were chosen by Monteverdi, not dictated by liturgical necessity) are notably feminine. They praise feminine beauty, both from a woman’s and a man’s perspective, tend to employ mystical phraseology, and are, in the words of one of them, “suffused with joy”. The most ecstatic of these concertos, “Audi coelum”, ends with a doxology to “God the Father, Son, and Mother.” It may not be going too far to say that Monteverdi in his choice of texts and style of writing for the concertos intends to “complete the picture.” In any case, the final effect is one of wholeness, to the extent that concepts of masculine and feminine are transcended. (Perhaps that is why a man can sing “Nigra sum” from a woman’s perspective, and two women can sing “Pulchra es” from a man’s perspective). The last two pieces, “Ave maris stella” and the Magnificat, seem to embody as whole a conception of God as we can hope for. David Fallis
Thank You The Toronto Consort gratefully acknowledges the generous ongoing support of Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, our sponsor and foundation partners, our long-time government funders and our many wonderful dedicated volunteers.
Corporate & Community Supporters
Foundation Supporters The J.P. Bickell Foundation, The Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation, The McLean Foundation, The Keith Foundation at the Strategic Charitable Giving Foundation, The F.K. Morrow Foundation, The Catherine & Maxwell Meighen Foundation, The Ed Mirvish Family Foundation, Audrey S. Hellyer Charitable Foundation, The Mary Margaret Webb Foundation
The Toronto Consort Bios David Fallis has been a member of the Toronto Consort since 1979 and its Artistic Director since 1990. He has led the ensemble in many critically-acclaimed programs, including the Praetorius Christmas Vespers, The Play of Daniel, and all three of Monteverdi’s operas in concert, among many others. He has directed the group in its many recordings and tours, and has conceived and scripted many of their most popular programs, such as The Marco Polo Project, Shakespeare’s Songbook, and The Real Man of La Mancha. He is Music Director for Opera Atelier and has conducted major operatic works by Mozart, Monteverdi, Lully, Purcell and Handel in Toronto and on tour to France, Japan, Korea and Singapore. He has conducted for the Luminato Festival, Houston Grand Opera, Cleveland Opera, Wolf Trap Theater, Utah Opera, Festival Vancouver, the Singapore Festival, the Seoul Arts Centre (Korea), the Elora Festival, the Guelph Spring Festival and the Elmer Iseler Singers.
A native of Toronto, soprano Michele DeBoer enjoys a busy performing career in Toronto and surrounding areas. With an affinity for Early Music, she has sung with groups including Tafelmusik, Opera Atelier, Toronto Masque Theatre, Aradia, Les Voix Baroques, Baroque Music Beside the Grange and La Chapelle de Québec. Locally, Michele has appeared as a guest soloist with the Toronto Chamber Choir, Etobicoke Centennial Choir, Grand River Chorus, Durham College Community Choir, Soundstreams Canada and the Tallis Choir. Michele enjoys teaching voice, conducting two choirs at Our Lady of Sorrows Church and spending time with her husband, Esteban, and their two daughters.
Singer Katherine Hill first developed a love for old European text and music here in her native Toronto. With support from the Canada Council for the Arts she was able to study in Europe, where she lived for several years, performing and recording with groups such as the sequentia ensemble for medieval music, Ensemble Elyma (Gabriel Garrido), Scivias and Collegium Vocale Gent. From 2003 to 2008, Katherine sang the role of Humilitas in Scivias’ (Berlin) staged production of Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum. Here in Toronto, Katherine performs regularly with the Toronto Consort, Ensemble Polaris, Toronto Masque Theatre, Scaramella and many other early, traditional and new music groups. Katherine is the Director of Music at St Bartholomew’s Anglican Church, an Anglo-Catholic parish in Regent Park, Toronto.
Paul Jenkins cultivates an eclectic musical career as a keyboardist and tenor. A member of the Toronto Consort since 1990, he also performs regularly with the Aradia Ensemble, and has appeared with some of Canada’s leading baroque and early-music groups, including Tafelmusik, Opera Atelier, Ensemble Anonymus and La Nef. Guest appearances include Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra, the Windsor, Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, Orchestra London, the Toronto Chamber Choir, Esprit Orchestra, I Furiosi, Toronto Masque Theatre, and many music festivals. Paul also enjoys touring, recording and giving recitals.
Toronto-born Alison Melville began her musical life by playing the recorder in a school classroom in London (UK). Her subsequent career on historical flutes of many kinds has taken her across North America and to New Zealand, Iceland, Japan and Europe. Besides making music with the Toronto Consort, she is a member of Ensemble Polaris and Artistic Director of the Bird Project, appears regularly with Tafelmusik, and collaborates in many other varied artistic endeavours. Alison has been heard on CBC/R-C, BBC, RNZ, NPR, Iceland’s RUV, and on over 55 CDs including five critically acclaimed solo recordings. She is currently on faculty at the University of Toronto and Wilfrid Laurier University, and also teaches music appreciation classes for the Royal Conservatory of Music and Ryerson University’s Life Institute.
A native of Annapolis, Maryland, John Pepper sang for many years with Festival Singers of Canada, Tapestry Singers, The Gents, the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, Elora Festival Singers and the Toronto Chamber Choir. He has recorded extensively with most of those organizations and with Canadian Brass, and has taken part in recordings and premières of music by John Beckwith, R. Murray Schafer, Harry Somers, Christopher Butterfield and Arvo Pärt. His work in music theatre includes Huron Country Playhouse, Comus Music Theatre, Rainbow Stage Theatre, Opera Atelier and the Sunshine Festival. John has been a member of the Toronto Consort since 1990.
Grammy-nominated Laura Pudwell has a well-established international profile, with recent engagements in Paris, Salzburg, London, Houston, Boston and Vienna. She has sung with many leading orchestras and opera companies, including Tafelmusik, Les Violons du Roi, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Calgary Opera, Vancouver Opera, Opera Atelier, Symphony Nova Scotia and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. Her range of repertoire is immense, ranging from Hildegard of Bingen, through a recording of Dido and the Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas under Hervé Niquet, to Prokofiev’s Alexander Nevsky, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, and evenings of Stephen Sondheim and Cole Porter. A native of Fort Erie, she lives in Waterloo with her husband and two children.
Thank You Harbord Bakery You make Toronto Consort intermissions delicious! Making and baking good things since 1945. 115 Harbord St. (w. of Spadina) 416-922-5767 harbordbakery.ca
Special Guest Bios Dawn Bailey Canadian soprano Dawn Bailey is a versatile artist, moving fluidly from chamber music to opera, oratorio, and art song. Hailed as “passionate, fiery, and vivacious,” Dawn is especially sought after for her imaginative interpretations of music from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. She recently made her debut singing with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under maestro Masaaki Suzuki, and appears regularly with many of Canada’s leading early music ensembles. Dawn is quickly gaining a reputation as a sensitive and expressive singer among ensembles in Europe and the United States as well, in both opera and oratorio. In addition to her busy performing schedule on both sides of the Atlantic, Dawn can be heard on recordings with the Toronto Consort, Ensemble Caprice, the Theatre of Early Music, Ensemble Seraphina, and Vivavoce. www.dawnbailey.ca Charles Daniels Charles studied at King’s College, Cambridge, and the Royal College of Music in London. His numerous recordings include St John’s Passion (Portland Baroque Orchestra/ATMA), Magnificat, Cantata 110 (Netherlands Bach Society/Channel Classics), Athalia (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi), Saul (EMI), The Beggar’s Opera (Hyperion), Schütz Christmas Story (DG), Bach Easter Oratorio (Taverner Consort/EMI) and over twenty discs of Purcell’s music. Career highlights have included Luigi Nono’s Canti di Vita e Amore (Edinburgh International Festival), Handel’s Esther (sung in Hebrew) in New York, Monteverdi Vespers with the Gabrieli Consort in Venice with Paul McCreesh, Handel’s Belshazzar at the Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris and Messiah at the Musikverein, Vienna with Harnoncourt. Engagements in 2016 include Bach Secular Cantatas with Bach Collegium Japan, St. Matthew Passion with NBV, Vespers with Toronto Consort and Schütz Psalmen Davids with Dresdner Kammerchor, and a programme of Bach Cantatas with Peter Seymour and the Yorkshire Bach Chorus. Bruce Dickey Bruce Dickey is one of a handful of musicians worldwide who have dedicated themselves to reviving the cornetto. For his achievements the Historic Brass Society awarded him in 2000 the prestigious Christopher Monk Award for “his monumental work in cornetto performance, historical performance practice and musicological scholarship.” In 2007 he was honoured by British conductor and musicologist Andrew Parrott with a “Taverner Award” as one of 14 musicians whose “significant contributions to musical understanding have been motivated by neither commerce nor ego.” Bruce Dickey can be heard on countless recordings, both as a soloist and together with Concerto Palatino. His first solo CD, Quel lascivissimo cornetto, on Accent with the ensemble Tragicomedia, was awarded the Diapason d’or. His newly released one, La bella minuta, has been called “simply a brilliant recording”. In addition to performing, Bruce Dickey is much in demand as a teacher, both of the cornetto and of seventeenthcentury performance practice. In addition to his regular class at the Schola Cantorum he has taught at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague, the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, and the Early Music Institute at Indiana University, as well as master classes in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. He is also active in research on performance practice, and has published, together with Michael Collver, a catalog of the surviving cornetto repertoire, and, together
with trumpeter Edward Tarr, a book on historical wind articulation. In 1997, together with his wife Candace Smith, he founded Artemisia Editions, a small publishing house which produces editions of music from 17th-century Italian convents. In 1981, Bruce Dickey moved to Italy, partly to be closer to the origins and source materials for his instrument and its music. Paul Oros Hailing from Toronto, Paul Oros nurtured his vocal talents at St. Michael’s Choir School and the Royal Conservatory of Music, and as a member of the Toronto Mendelssohn Youth Choir and Ontario Youth Choir. His previous and current musical mainstays include the Canadian Opera Company, National Ballet of Canada, Tafelmusik Chamber Choir, Opera Atelier, Opera in Concert, Opera Hamilton, Toronto Operetta Theatre, The Assembly of Voices, Sine Nomine, Critical Mass, Bach Consort, Soundstreams’ Choir 21 and guest appearances with the Pax Christi Chorale, Toronto Chamber Choir and the Toronto Consort. He can also be heard on the soundtracks for the television series The Tudors and The Borgias . Performance highlights include singing the High Mass at St. Mark’s Basilica during a sojourn in Venice, and as part of the permanent recorded soundscape installation “A Time to Hear for Here” in the Spirit House of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal at the Royal Ontario Museum. Bud Roach Described by the Toronto Star as a “must-hear lyric tenor”, Bud Roach has performed frequently with many of Canada’s finest ensembles. He has consistently produced highly regarded programmes with his ensemble Capella Intima, performing on both the baroque guitar and theorbo. Recent concert highlights include a programme entitled Canzonettas from the House of Vincenti at the Venice Opera Project and Cavalli opera performances in Venice, as well as appearances with the Toronto Consort, Messiah with the Guelph Chamber Choir and Choralis Camerata, Bach’s Magnificat with the Oakville Masterworks Chorale; a series of Fringe recitals at the 2013 Boston Early Music Festival (“revelatory concerts” – Early Music America), programmes of Noel Coward and Cole Porter with the Talisker Players, and a Capella Intima collaboration with the Toronto Continuo Collective to present Marco da Gagliano’s La Dafne. In 2013 Musica Omnia released Bud’s first solo CD, Sospiro, the complete arias from 1626 of Alessandro Grandi. “Roach is marvellous throughout... Five stars” – Early Music Today, UK. His second CD, of arias by Sances from 1636, was released in October, 2014. In the 2014-2015 season Bud also started a new, monthly early music concert series in Hamilton, called Hammer Baroque, presenting some of the finest musicians from Ontario and beyond. www.budroach.com David Roth Toronto based baritone David Roth has recently finished his performance degree at the University of Toronto, where he studied under the direction of Patricia Kern. Mr. Roth is the recipient of several academic awards offered by the Faculty of Music and the Faculty of Arts and Science. A veteran performer, David has sung in Canada, the U.S., and Great Britain as both soloist and chamber musician with such organizations as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Choir, and the Toronto Masque Theatre. David has appeared as a featured soloist with Tafelmusik in the programme Bach in Leipzig, the Durham County Chamber Choir in performance of Fauré’s Requiem and the Kitchener Symphony Orchestra in Kurt Weill’s The Seven Deadly Sins. Some of David’s operatic roles include Polyphemus in Handel’s Acis and Galatea, the debut performance of Gesualdo in Peter Fischer’s O D’Amarti O Morire, Olin Blitch in Floyd’s Susannah, and Lindorff and Dr. Miracle in Offenbach’s Tales of Hoffmann. David is also co-founder and artistic director of Cantores Fabularum, a volunteer choir that raises money for First Stop Woodlawn, a shelter for women administered by the YWCA.
Kevin Skelton Kevin Skelton has a multifaceted career as a performer, director, choreographer, teacher, and scholar. Equally at home on the concert and operatic stage, Kevin specializes in seventeenthcentury music, the Bach Evangelist roles, and experimental music theatre. Kevin has performed with some of the world’s finest early music ensembles including Collegium Vocale Gent, L’Arpeggiata, and Concerto Palatino and in numerous theatres and festivals throughout the world including Teatro La Fenice, La Monnaie, Aix-en-Provence, and the early music festivals in Boston and Utrecht. On the opera stage Kevin recently performed in Monteverdi’s Orfeo at the Bergen International Festival, The Play of Daniel with the Toronto Consort, and Caldara’s Dafne at Teatro La Fenice. Upcoming and recent concert appearances include the Budapest Festival Orchestra, Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, Utrecht Early Music Festival, Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers with the Toronto Consort (David Fallis), and several projects with BachPlus (Bart Naessens) and the Nederlandse Bachvereniging (Jos van Veldhoven) in Belgium and the Netherlands. www.kevinskelton.com Jessica Wright Based in Toronto, Jessica Wright is an alto with a vested interest in the performance and study of early music and historical performance practices. Jessica has been fortunate to have performed with many early music ensembles as both a chorister and a soloist, including Tafelmusik, the Theatre of Early Music, Toronto Masque Theatre, and Opera Atelier. She has sung as a soloist in performances of Bach cantatas with the Theatre of Early Music, the Toronto Chamber Choir and the Talisker Players, as well as in performances of major concert works including Mozart’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, the Vivaldi Gloria, and the Duruflé Requiem. Operatic performances include the role of the Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, Amor in Cavalli’s Gli Amori d’Apollo e di Dafne, and Bradamante in Handel’s Alcina. La Rose des Vents Montreal ensemble La Rose des Vents was founded by historical trombonist Catherine Motuz and cornettist Matthew Jennejohn in 2009. The trombone and cornetto were both renowned in the Renaissance for their ability to imitate the human voice. Reflecting this, the ensemble seeks to introduce audiences to the rich repertoire of vocal music with winds from the 16th and 17th centuries. They have accomplished this through collaborations with vocal ensembles across Canada, including Les Voix Baroques, Le Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, the Ottawa Bach Choir, Spiritus Chamber Choir (Calgary), and Camerata Singers (Winnipeg) and at the Ottawa International Chamber Music and Vancouver Early Music festivals, as well as around Quebec and in Victoria, British Columbia. Their instrumental programmes show the versatility of early instruments, reaching beyond the ceremonial pomp of the Renaissance wind band to deliver both the solemn intimacy of Baroque monody and the lavish splendour of the Italian and German chapels. The name “La Rose des Vents” – ”The Compass Rose” – reflects the spirit of exploration inherent to the Early Music movement. Building on the traditional exploration of the last half-century – digging up early repertoire and refining our understanding of early instruments and techniques – La Rose des Vents pushes this spirit of discovery further into the twenty-first century, investigating historical approaches to music-making by integrating new ideas about improvisation and rhetoric.
Deus in adiutorium Deus in adiutorium meum intende.
Make haste, 0 God, to deliver me.
Domine in adiuvandum Domine in adiuvandum me festina. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Alleluia.
Make haste to help me, 0 Lord. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Alleluia.
Missus est angelus Gabriel Missus est angelus Gabriel ad Mariam virginem desponsatam Ioseph.
The angel Gabriel was sent unto the virgin Mary, who was espoused to Joseph.
Psalm I09: Dixit Dominus Dixit Dominus domino meo: sede a dextris meis: donec ponam inimicos tuos, scabellum pedum tuorum. Virgam virtutis tuae emittet Dominus ex Sion: dominare in medio inimicorum tuorum. Tecum principium in die virtutis tuae in splendoribus sanctorum, ex utero ante luciferum genui te. Iuravit Dominus, et non poenitebit eum: tu es sacerdos in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchisedech. Dominus a dextris tuis, confregit in die irae suae reges. ludicabit in nationibus,
The Lord said to my lord: sit thou at my right hand: until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power: among the splendour of the saints: from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings on the day of his wrath. He shall judge among nations,
implebit ruinas, conquassabit capita in terra multorum. De torrente in via bibet: propterea exaltabit caput. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
he shall fill ruins: he shall wound the heads over many countries. He shall drink of the torrent in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Nigra sum Nigra sum, sed formosa, filiae Ierusalem. Ideo dilexit me rex et introduxit me in cubiculum suum et dixit mihi: Surge, arnica mea, et veni. lam hiems transiit, imber abiit, et recessit, flores apparuerunt in terra nostra, tempus putationis advenit.
I am black but comely, 0 ye daughters of Jerusalem. Therefore the king loved me and brought me to his chamber, and said unto me: Rise up, my love, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear in our land, the time of pruning has come.
Ave Maria Ave Maria gratia plena, Dominus tecum: benedicta tu in mulieribus.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Psalm 112: Laudate pueri Laudate pueri Dominum, laudate nomen Domini. Sit nomen Domini benedictum, ex hoc nunc, et usque in saeculum. A solis ortu usque ad occasum laudabile nomen Domini. Excelsus super omnes gentes Dominus et super coelos gloria eius. Quis sicut Dominus Deus noster, qui in altis habitat, et humilia respicit in coelo et in terra? Suscitans a terra inopem,
Praise 0 ye servants of the Lord: praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord, from this time forth and for evermore. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same: the Lord’s name is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations: and his glory above the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high: who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and earth? He raiseth up the poor from the dust:
et de stercore erigens pauperem; ut collocet eum cum principibus, cum principibus populi sui. Qui habitare facit sterilem in domo, matrem filiorum laetantem. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill. That he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. He maketh the barren woman to keep house, a joyful mother of children. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Pulchra es Pulchra es, amica mea, suavis et decora, filia lerusalem. Pulchra es, amica mea, suavis et decora sicut Ierusalem, terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata. Averte oculos tuos a me, quia ipsi me avolare fecerunt.
Thou art beautiful, my love, fair and lovely, 0 daughter of Jerusalem. Thou art beautiful, my love, fair and lovely as Jerusalem, terrible as an army with banners. Tum away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me.
Ne timeas Maria Ne timeas Maria: invenisti gratiam apud Dominum: ecce concipies et paries filium.
Fear not, Mary: thou hast found favour with the Lord: behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son.
Laetatus sum Laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus. Stantes erant pedes nostri, in atriis tuis Ierusalem. Ierusalem, quae aedificatur ut civitas: cuius participatio eius in idipsum. Illuc enim ascenderunt tribus, tribus Domini: testimonium Israel ad confitendum nomini Domini. Quia illic sederunt sedes in iudicio, sedes super domum David. Rogate quae ad pacem sunt Ierusalem: et abundantia diligentibus te. Fiat pax in virtute tua: et abundantia in turribus tuis.
I was glad when they said unto me: let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem. Jerusalem is builded as a city, that is compact together. Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls: and prosperity within thy palaces.
Propter fratres meos et proximos meos, loquebar pacem de te. Propter domum Domini Dei nostri, quaesivi bona tibi. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Duo seraphim Duo seraphim clamabant alter ad alterum: Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Plena est omnis terra gloria eius. Tres sunt, qui testimonium dant in coelo: Pater, Verbum et Spiritus Sanctus. Et hi tres unum sunt. Sanctus Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Plena est omnis terra gloria eius.
Two seraphim called to one another: Holy is the Lord God of Hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. There are three that bear record in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one. Holy is the Lord God of Hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory.
Dabit ei Dominus Dabit ei Dominus sedem David patris eius et regnabit in aeternum.
The Lord shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign for ever.
Nisi Dominus Nisi Dominus aedificaverit domum, in vanum laboraverunt qui aedificant eam. Nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem, frustra vigilat qui custodit eam. Vanum est vobis ante lucem surgere: surgite postquam sederitis, qui manducatis panem doloris. Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum: ecce haereditas Domini, filii: merces, fructus ventris. Sicut sagittae in manu potentis, ita filii excussorum. Beatus vir qui implevit desiderium suum ex ipsis: non confundetur cum loquetur inimicis suis in porta.
Except the Lord build the house, their labour is but lost that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is but lost that ye haste to rise up early and so late take rest and eat the bread of toil: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Lo, children and the fruit of the womb are an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord. Like as the arrows in the hand of the giant, even so are the young children. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them. He shall not be afraid to speak with his enemies at the gate.
Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Audi coelum Audi coelum, verba mea, plena desiderio et perfusa gaudio. (Audio!) Dic, quaeso, mihi: Quae est ista, quae consurgens ut aurora rutilat, ut benedicam? (Dicam!) Dic nam ista pulchra ut luna, electa ut sol, replet laetitia terras, coelos, maria. (Maria!) Maria virgo illa dulcis, praedicata de propheta Ezechiel, porta orientalis. (Talis!) Illa sacra et felix porta: per quam mors fuit expulsa, introducta autem vita. (Ita!) Quae semper tutum est medium inter homines et Deum, pro culpis remedium. (Medium!) Omnes hanc ergo sequamur, qua cum gratia mereamur vitam aeternam. Consequamur. (Sequamur!) Praestet nobis Deus, Pater hoc et Filius et Mater, cuius nomen invocamus dulce miseris solamen. (Amen!) Benedicta es, virgo Maria, in saeculorum saecula.
Hear, heaven, hear my word, full of longing and suffused with joy. (I hear!) Tell me, I pray: Who is she who shines like the rising dawn? Tell me so I may bless her. (I shall tell you!) Tell me, for this woman, fair as the moon, favoured as the sun, fills with joy the earth, the skies, and the seas. (Mary!) Mary, that sweet virgin, foretold by the prophet Ezekiel, portal of the sunrise. (Even she!) That sacred and joyful gateway through which death was expelled and life ushered in. (Even so!) She is for ever a sure medium between God and men, a cure for our sins. (A medium!) Let us all therefore follow her by whose grace we may attain eternal life. Let us follow her. (Follow!) May God the Father grant this, and the Son and the Mother, whose sweet name we invoke, a comfort for the afflicted. (Amen) Blessed are you, 0 virgin Mary, world without end.
INTERMISSION Join us in the Gymnasium for Delicious Harbord Bakery Snacks $1/$2 Freshly Brewed Coffee or Cider $2 Enjoy great conversation with friends old and new
Ecce ancilla Ecce ancilla Domini: fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done unto me according to thy word.
Lauda Ierusalem Lauda, Ierusalem, Dominum: lauda Deum tuum, Sion. Quoniam confortavit seras portarum tuarum: benedixit filiis tuis in te. Qui posuit fines tuos pacem: et adipe frumenti satiat te. Qui emittit eloquium suum terrae: velociter currit sermo eius. Qui dat nivem sicut lanam: nebulam sicut cinerem spargit. Mittit crystallum suam sicut bucellas: ante faciem frigoris eius quis sustinebit? Emittet verbum suum, et liquefaciet ea: flabit spiritus eius, et fluent aquae. Qui annuntiat verbum suum Iacob: iustitias et iudicia sua Israel. Non fecit taliter omni nationi: et iudicia sua non manifestavit eis. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
Praise the Lord, 0 Jerusalem: praise thy God, 0 Zion. He has strengthened the bars of thy gate: he hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders: and filleth thee with the finest of wheat. He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: his spirit blows and the waters flow. He sheweth his word unto Jacob: his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Sonata sopra Sancta Maria Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Ave maris stella Ave maris stella, Dei mater alma, atque semper virgo, felix coeli porta. Sumens illud Ave Gabrielis ore, funda nos in pace, mutans Evae nomen. Solve vincla reis, profer lumen caecis, mala nostra pelle, bona cuncta posce.
Hail, star of the sea, mild Mother of God, eternal Virgin, blessed gate of heaven. You who heard that “Ave” from Gabriel’s mouth, preserve us in peace, changing the name of “Eva”. Strike off the chains of the guilty, bring light to the blind; drive out our evil, give us all that is good.
qui pro nobis natus, tulit esse tuus. Virgo singularis, inter omnes mitis, nos culpis solutos, mites fac et castos. Vitam praesta puram, iter para tutum, ut videntes Iesum, semper collaetemur. Sit laus Deos Patri, summa Christo decus, Spiritui Sancto, tribus honor unus. Amen.
Show yourself our Mother, through you may he receive our prayers, he who, born for us, consented to be yours. Virgin past compare, meekest of all women, make us, purged of our sins, meek and chaste. Grant us a pure life, prepare a safe journey for us: that, seeing Jesus, we may rejoice eternally. Praise be to God the Father, glory to Christ on high, and to the Holy Spirit, three in one. Amen.
Spiritus Sanctus Spiritus Sanctus in te descendet Maria, et virtus altissimi obumbrabit tibi.
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, Mary, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.
Magnificat Magnificat anima mea Dominum. Et exultavit spiritus meus in Deo salutari meo. Quia respexit humilitatem ancillae suae: ecce enim ex hoc beatam me dicent omnes generationes. Quia fecit mihi magna qui potens est, et sanctum nomen eius. Et misericordia eius a progenie in progenies timentibus eum. Fecit potentiam in brachio suo: dispersit superbos mente cordis sui. Deposuit potentes de sede, et exaltavit humiles. Esurientes implevit bonis: et divites dimisit inanes. Suscepit Israel puerum suum, recordatus misericordiae suae. Sicut locutus est ad patres nostros, Abraham et semini eius in saecula. Gloria Patri et Filio et Spiritui Sancto, sicut erat in principio et nunc et semper et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my saviour. For he has regarded the lowliness of his servant: for behold, from this time forward all generations will call me blessed. For he who is mighty has done great things to me, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their seats, and raised up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. He has protected his child Israel, being mindful of his mercy. As he spoke to our fathers, Abraham and his seed forever. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Monstra te esse matrem, sumat per te preces,
Toronto Consort Donors 2015-16 Gold Renaissance Circle
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Ann H. Atkinson Greig Dunn & Robert MacLennan Jane & Al Forest Estate of Patricia Hosack John & Maire Percy Vivian E. Pilar Joan E. Robinson
Margaret Ackerman Monica Armour Nellie Austin Sara Blake J. Douglas Bodley Marion Breukelman Miret Kim Condon & Jonathan Barrentine Nancy Conn Stephen & Linda Cook Jayne & Ted Dawson Michael Disney Jean Edwards Elizabeth Ganiatsos Dinah Hoyle & Earl Rosen Eva & Doug Green George Hathaway Jill Humphries D. Kee Grace & Henry Klaassen Robert & Michelle Knight Eric A. Lipka Mary Ella Magill Lynda Newmarch Prof. E.M. Orsten Carol Percy Paul & Elaine Pudwell Harold Shepherd Barbara Tangney Janet Walker Janet Wood
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($2,500 - $4,999) Fred & Ursula Franklin Tiit Kodar, in memory of Jean Kodar
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($500 - $999)
($200 - $499)
Christina Mahler & Jeanne Lamon Pat & Howard Malone Alina Matus Kathleen McMorrow Alec & Joyce Monro Margaret & Reid Morden Sara Morgan & Daniel Philpott Elizabeth Mowat Stephen J. Munro Ed & Cynthia Nowina Toby & Martine O’Brien Selma Odom Christopher Palin Susanne Palmer & Wayne Drewry Valdis Petersons Ruth Pincoe & David Peebles Margaret Proctor David Ptolemy Georgia Quartaro Brenda Rolfe Joan Rosenfield Robert & Dorothy Ross C. Schuh & M. Horn Judy Skinner Donald Smith Lee Smith & Lyle Burton B. Stalbecker-Pountney Paul & Lynne Stott Karen Teasdale Martha Ter Kuile Edward J. Thompson Ross Tilley Patricia & Alasdair Urquhart Ilze Valdmanis Gisela Van Steen & the late Mark Van Steen Catherine & Gary Vivian Imogene Walker Laurie White Morden Yolles Shaunie & Brian Young Anonymous (1)
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($100 - $199) Ellen Anderson Dr. Philip Anisman Cheri & Gregory Barnett Guyszi S. Berki Frances Campbell Sheila Campbell Philippa Campsie & Norman Ball Connie Catalfamo Priscilla Chong Rose Marie Cira Colleen Clark Thomas & Elizabeth Cohen Nancy Conn Douglas Crowe David & Liz Currie Helen Davies Stephanie de Bruijn Beatrice de Montmollin Colin Dobell Judy Dora Lee Emerson Carol Farkas Joyce Ford Frank & Donna Lynne Fraser Brydon Gombay JosĂŠ Gotera, in memory of Consuelo Gotera Ulla Habekost Sylvia Hamilton Richard & Marie Hands Derek & Susan Hayes Gerry & George Helleiner Avril N. Hill Deborah Holdsworth Gail Houston Cheryl L. Huber Marguerite Hunt Susanna Jacob
Nancy Jacobi J. & J. Jimenez Elisabeth Jocz Ludwig W. Kalchauser Ann Karner David Keenleyside John & Betty Jean Klassen Natalie Kuzmich Anne-Louise Lanteigne Claire Lavigna Edward & Margaret Lyons Duncan MacKenzie B. Lesley Mann Gloria Marsh Hugh & Lou Mason Lynne Massey Anne McConnell & Ross Hirning Gary McIntosh in honour of Ross Tilley Matthew & Moira McQueen Sean Miller Paul Muther & Ulla Dagert Paul Nash Derry Neufeld Lorna Novosel G.D. Olds Barbara Obrai Jean Poldosky Anne-Marie Prendiville & John Gillies Tim Reid Jason Roberts David Robertson & Eva MacDonald Elaine Rolfe Bruce Ross Joanne & Walter Ross Janet Rubinoff David Saunders Cathy Schell Erik Schryer Bill Schultz Charlotte Sharkey Jill Shefrin Arthur Smith
Elizabeth Stewart Brian Taylor Ella Taylor-Walsh Dana Tenny Mary Thomas Nagel Roger Townshend William Toye Carol Vine Mary Vise Elaine Waddington Sharon Walker Jeffrey White Paula Wilson Andrea Whitehead Angie Wong Anne Wong Peter & Sharon Wong Beverley Wybrow Sharon Zimmerman Judith Zoltai Anonymous (3)
Listing includes donations received up to April 15, 2016. Please let us know if we have missed you or made an error. Call 416-966-1045.
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($50 - $99) Sandra Alston Ruth Baillie Anton Bakalic Leonie Bedford Stephen Bishop Chris Brownhill Geraldine Campbell Ann Carson Amy Colson Ruth Comfort Sue Cousland John Crozier S. Davidson Hans De Groot Brenda Ellenwood George & Kittie Fells Margaret Furneaux Constance Gardner Barbara Habib Christopher Harris & Mary Shenstone Elke Heidemann & Elsa Miller Gail Houston Marie Howes-Clark Prof. Alexandra F. Johnston Andrea Kinch Tiiu Klein Ronald Leprohon Norma Lundberg Gillian Meecham Ellen Mole Darryl Nakamoto Grace Olds Katherine V. Paterson Manfred & Sylvia Petz Marion Pope Marilyn Richards Mary Richardson
Molly Robbins Marion Scott Arthur Smith Roberta Smith Janet Stern Marilyn Isaac Stewart Keith Strand Mrs. Penelope Sullivan Jackie Taschereau Kaspers Tuters Catherine Ukas Lorna Van Bergen Mary Jane Warner Carol B. Watson Brenda Watts John & June Wevers Susan Q. Wilson Perry Wong Bob Zarichansky Anonymous (1)
St. John Ambulance York Region (Division #0548 York Central) is working together with The Toronto Consort to provide you with superior first aid coverage, delivered with care and class.
We are are looking out for your safety! To become a volunteer, to register for first aid/CPR courses, or to purchase first aid kits and supplies, please call 905-773-3394, or visit us at www.sja-yorkregion.org
IN CONVERSATION
John Pepper Bass John Pepper is in his 26th season with the Consort. In 2014 he retired from the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir after 30 seasons. His hobby is genealogy and family history. TC: When did you get into music? JP: I’m not sure. When I was 4, I used to sing the “Soliloquy” from Carousel, a 5-minute scena, for my parents’ guests. My first quasi-public performance (school kids and parents) was on February 14, 1952. But I was musically illiterate (I remember looking at a score of Verdi’s Anvil Chorus and thinking the whole-rests indicated the hammerstrokes) until I was 12, when my stepmother taught me basic piano and the rudiments of music. My high school’s strong choral programme made me a confident singer and sight-reader by age 16. TC: How about early music? JP: In high school I sang in a madrigal group; along with some bogus material, we sang the great hits of Lassus, Banchieri, Morley, and Gibbons, and I fell in love with that repertoire. In university a friend introduced me to the New York Pro Musica and I quickly acquired as many of their LPs as I could find. Years later I got a chance to sing some of that music with the Festival Singers of Canada, and a lot more of it with The Gents, a male sextet initially directed by Garry Crighton. By the way, I first met David Fallis in that group. TC: What was your first “professional” performance? JP: In 1966 I was in a folk trio, and we were hired to perform at a church social for a total fee of $15. On the day, one of us got sick, the other two hastily rehearsed some new numbers, and I got to pocket $7.50. And my professional career has just gone on from there!! TC: When did you join The Toronto Consort? JP: I auditioned and was accepted in 1990. My first appearance as a regular was in Victoria, B.C., early in January 1991, in a Renaissance English programme called A Day in the Life. TC: Do you have a memorable performance or moment? JP: Too many to be, well, memorable. I’ve especially liked doing anything by Monteverdi with The Consort, notably Lamento d’Arianna, Orfeo, and the 1610 Vespers. TC: What do you like to do before a show to get ready? After a show? JP: Before: eat but not heavily, drink lots of water, and seek strategies to distract myself from my nervousness. After, I like a snack washed down with beer or wine. TC: Where can we find you next outside of The Consort? JP: Occasionally I do concerts with Choir 21 / Soundstreams (most recently with Sir James MacMillan conducting his own music and music by Canadian composers) and chorus with Opera Atelier (most recently Lucio Silla), but right now I have no idea when my next non-Consort gig will be. For several years I’ve been cutting back my professional commitments, in an indecisive step toward actual retirement.
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