Montreal Region: Readings • 2012-2013
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Location: Vanier College Campus, Main Entrance |
Sunday, September 16, 2012
François A. Ouimet • Mozart: Coronation Mass, KV 317 - chorus and orchestra [flutes, oboes, horns, trumpets, trombones (no clarinets), complete string section]
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François A. Ouimet is a Montreal-based choral conductor. He is musical director of the McGill University Chorus, the College Choir of Vincent d'Indy Music School, the Orchestre Métropolitain Chorus, and les Voix Ferrées, an eclectic community choir. He conducts at CAMMAC every summer since 2001. He is regularly invited across the country to give workshops and conferences on choral music. He composes and arranges for choir, and plays electric guitar in WLOVE, a funk-rock band. He loves to work with people of all ages. In his spare time, he renovates his house and cooks for his wife and three kids.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Peter Willsher • Luigi Cherubini, Requiem Mass in C minor - chorus and piano
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Maestro Willsher has been Artistic Director of the Montreal-based Cantabile Chorale since 1992. Under his leadership, the ensemble has performed most of the classical choral repertoire, including such major works as the Verdi Requiem and the Bach Passions.
Of special interest to Mr. Willsher is the sponsorship of young classical vocalists from McGill University who are on the threshold of their careers. For many of them, it is the first opportunity to perform professionally with a full choir and orchestra. Many of them are now pursuing careers in Europe and North America.
He studied clarinet, piano and conducting in the UK at Trinity College of Music. His post-graduate studies took him to Siena, Italy to study conducting with Maestro Franco Ferrara. Since his arrival in Canada, he has taught in Newfoundland, Cornwall and Ottawa, Ontario, where he also conducted extensively. He now resides in Montréal, Québec.
Increasingly, composing has become a major interest. Peter Willsher writes music that explores the relationship between voice and instrument. Several of his works have been written for and performed by Cantabile Chorale, as well as many choirs around the world. His music has been performed on every continent. In 2009, he was invited to direct one of his works at the famous St. Martin in the Fields church in London, England.
To sample some of his works, go to http://www.youtube.com/user/ClassicalComposer?feature=mhum
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Christopher Jackson • Bach, Christmas Oratorio - chorus and orchestra
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Christopher Jackson has been conducting the CAMMAC Christmas Reading for several years. Christopher is an organist and harpsichordist, is the musical director of the Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, a professor at Concordia University and is internationally recognized as a conductor.
He was a pioneer in the development of early music in Canada. Every summer he conducts the choir at CAMMAC’s Lake MacDonald Music Centre during Early Music Week.
Program for 2013:
January 13, 2013
Conductor - John Wiens
Mendelssohn’s ELIJAH
choristers and all orchestral instruments.
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John Wiens is a classically trained conductor, singer, and violinist. He has participated in many workshops with Christopher Jackson and is known mostly for his work with early music and modern music.
He has conducted St. Matthias Church’s adult choir to great critical acclaim over the last 8 years. Their first CD together, Te Deum Laudamus, has been played on national radio.
John is also the artistic director of Ensemble Bellechose, the Montreal Consort, Choeur Philomela, and is a regular guest conductor/clinician across Canada.
February 17, 2013
Conductor - Betsy MacMillan
Renaissance Workshop - love theme for Valentine’s Day.
Choristers and instruments - all voices and instruments.
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Betsy MacMillan - viola da gamba.
After receiving a Masters degree in performance on the viola da gamba from McGill University, Betsy MacMillan was accepted as a post-graduate guest-student at the Royal Conservatory in the Hague, Holland, where she furthered her studies on the viola da gamba with Wieland Kuijken during the 1982-83 academic year.
Betsy MacMillan is a founding member of Ensemble Arion, formed in 1981, with whom she has performed numerous concerts in Europe, Mexico, Ireland, England, Brazil, the United States, as well as throughout Canada. She is heard regularly on the CBC and Radio Canada networks both as a soloist as well as a chamber musician, and has made more than 25 recordings on the labels of Dorian, Analekta, Atma, Titanic, SRC, and CBC.
Betsy MacMillan freelances with a variety of groups, and is co-coordinator of the Early Music Ensembles at McGill University. She is also invited regularly to teach at many different early music and viola da gamba workshops.
March 24, 2013
Conductor - Bob Bachelor
"An Afternoon of Broadway" THE TITANIC
Choristers with piano - no instruments.
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Bob Bachelor received his early musical training at the renowned St. Michael’s Choir School in Toronto, Ontario, and he continued his musical studies in Montreal and is a graduate of McGill University.
From 1973 to 1990, Bob worked as Musical Director, Pianist and Arranger for more than 40 different musical theatre productions. In 1990, he founded The Lyric Theatre Singers, which have become known as the foremost interpreters of Broadway, jazz, and pop choral music in the Montreal area.
Mr. Bachelor is presently the Artistic Director of The Lyric Theatre. His musical direction has received high praise for such shows as Evita, Fiddler on the Roof, and Guys and Dolls, to name just a few. In June of 2012, he was the Stage Director for Lyric’s production of the Broadway hit, Curtains. He is considered an expert in the area of Musical Theater, as well as Broadway choral singing.
He has worked at St. George’s School of Montreal where he taught music, and produced and directed their annual musical production. He has also taught music at John Abbott College, and École de musique Vincent-d’Indy, CEGEP level.
For several summers now, he has been one of the principal conductors at the CAMMAC Summer Music Camp at Lake MacDonald in the Laurentians.
Mr. Bachelor has served as a member of the jury for the prestigious CBC/Radio Canada National Choral Competition and has worked and studied under both Wayne Riddell and Patrick Wedd.
April 21, 2013
Conductor - Philippe Bourque
Schubert Mass in E flat major.
Choristers and Orchestra. Instruments to be put on website
at a later date.
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Mr. Philippe Bourque, choir and orchestral director, jazz and classical pianist, was appointed conductor of the Vanier College choir in September. Philippe Bourque obtained his master's in Choral Conducting under the direction of Maestro Julian Wachner at McGill University in 2006 after having completed a Bachelor's degree in classical piano. graduating with distinction.
Philippe’s choral experience includes the position of assistant-conductor for McGill University's Concert Choir and Chamber Singers. director of Les Petits-Chanteurs de la Cathédrale Marie Reine du Monde as well as the newly founded Chœur en Jazz ensemble. Currently, Mr. Bourque is the conductor and artistic director of the women's choir Simply Sweetly at McGill University, both the classical and gospel choirs at Vincent-d’lndy College, the Chœur de Musée d'Art de Joliette and he is the artistic director at the Terrebonne Baptist church. In addition, he was the artist-in-residence at FACE High School working with children from all ages and levels including the FACE Young Singers from 2007 to 2010.
Aside from choral conducting, Philippe Bourque's musical interests range from classical piano performances to jazz 'gigs', as well as teaching and arranging music. He has also garnered several musical awards including The Lieutenant Governor's Prize at Vincent-d'lndy Musical College, the Constance Willey Prize at McGill University and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada study bursary on hymnology.