Press Release
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Fall tour: The Louisbourg Choir accompanied by seven musicians
The Louisbourg Choir with artistic director Monique Richard (Photo : Jean-Marie Thériault)
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This coming October, the Louisbourg Choir, under the direction of Monique Richard, will embark on a tour with stops in four regions in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Building on the success it experienced during its last spring tour, its first since the pandemic, the choir is preparing one of the most ambitious concerts in its history regarding both the choice of repertoire and the size of the instrumental ensemble that will accompany it. The program will be devoted to the sacred music of the 18th century, namely that of Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679 1745), a little-known Czech composer whose genius has only begun to be rediscovered, along with with that of two of his contemporaries, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681 1767) and Johann Adolf Hasse (1699 1783).
Although all three composers were quickly forgotten after their death—a fate reserved for many Baroque composers despite the great notoriety they might have known during their lifetime—, Hasse and Telemann are generally better known to current music lovers, given that their works have enjoyed some sort of revival throughout the last century. As for Zelenka, his music has only enjoyed the same revival during the course of the last few decades. Yet, he aroused the admiration of many of his renowned contemporaries, including J. S. Bach., by demonstrating great contrapuntal mastery and a rich harmonic audacity in his writing — moreover, he has been considered to be Bach's Catholic counterpart. Influenced by Czech folk music, his works are often virtuosic and difficult to interpret, but always fresh and surprising, with sudden harmonic twists and turns.
The Chœur Louisbourg will include among its ranks four students from the Université de Moncton Music Department thanks to the Experiential Learning Fund for Students (Fonds d’apprentissage expérientiel pour personnes étudiantes — FAEPE), bringing the total number of choristers from sixteen to twenty. This in turn will allow the Choir to perform the sublime Da pacem Domine by Zelenka, a work for double choir and orchestra.
Faithful to its quest for authenticity in the interpretation of ancient repertoire, the Choir will be accompanied by a group of musical experts on period instruments: Jacques-André Houle and Sari Tsuji, violins; Peter Lekx, viola; Andrea Stewart, cello; Lawrence O'Hearn, flute and oboe; Karim Nasr, flute, oboe and bassoon; and Jonathan Addleman, organ.
The concerts will take place on the following dates and locations:
- Friday, October 14, 7:30 p.m., at Trinity-St. Stephen’s United Church in Amherst as part of the Music at Trinity lineup;
- Saturday, October 15, 7:30 p.m., at Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church in Dalhousie;
- Sunday, October 16, 2:00 p.m., at Saint-Joachim Church in Bertrand, as part of the Musique Saint-Joachim program; and
- Monday, October 17, 7:30 p.m., at St. John’s United Church in Moncton.
For concerts in NB, tickets, costing $30.00, will be on sale at the door. Admission is free for students.
For admission to the concert in Amherst, please visit the Music at Trinity page for more details.
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