The voices of the Guelph Chamber Choir will fill the Church of Our Lady in a 2010 recreation of Monteverdi’s masterpiece, Vespers of 1610 as the choir brings its celebratory 30th anniversary season to a climax on May 1, at 8pm.
A work of monumental proportions, the Vespers features eight soloists and demands a choir adept enough to cover to ten simultaneous vocal parts, fully supported by an orchestral array of early Baroque strings, cornetti, sackbuts, recorders, and more.
Immense in scale, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 was the most ambitious work of sacred music before Bach. It bridges the spiritual traditions of Renaissance music with the more humanist values of the Baroque age.
Conductor Gerald Neufeld has drawn from the vocal talents of the community with a line-up of local and national soloists including Daniel Cabena, Rebecca Collett, Chris Fischer, Marcus Kramer, Stephanie Kramer, Neil McLaren, Jennifer Enns Modolo, and Geoffrey Sirett.
Neufeld said, “It is a privilege to perform a work of this magnitude and historical significance the way it might have been performed in San Marco in Venice.
The Church of Our Lady is an ideal venue to recreate a work with so much colour and imagination as a final concert for our 30th anniversary season.”
The Guelph Chamber Choir is presenting the work at the city’s core, the visually and acoustically splendid Church of Our Lady.
When John Galt founded Guelph in 1827, he announced that “on this hill would one day rise a church to rival St. Peter’s in Rome.”
The current building is the third church to stand on this site, whose prominent sight lines across the city are protected by city law. It is Canadian architect Joseph Connolly’s undisputed masterwork, built of local limestone in the Gothic Revival style.
Construction started in 1877, but took more than 50 years to complete.
It is a good venue for the performance of Renaissance art.
Attend a special podium talk on early instruments immediately before the performance at 7pm.
Hear and see how instrumentalists of the 17th century work to produce music with live interactions with the musicians.
Tickets are available through the River Run Centre by calling 519-763-3000, online at riverrun.ca or at the door at Church of Our Lady. Choir and board members will also sell tickets.
Tickets are are $25 each (students and eyeGO: $10 and $5).
To lear more, visit www.guelphchamberchoir.ca or call 519-836-5103.
