The 2023 Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival (previously named Vancouver Bach Festival) will take place July 27 to August 5 at various venues including SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Christ Church Cathedral, Pyatt Hall, The Orpheum Annex, West Vancouver United Church, and St. James Community Square. The theme of the 2023 Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival is WOMENinSIGHT – celebrating women composers, librettists, and performers of the past and present. Inspired by Christine de Pizan (1364-ca.1430) –… more
Early Music Vancouver
- 1254 West 7th Ave.,
- Vancouver, BC V6H 1B6
- Phone: (604) 732-1610
Under the leadership of Artistic/Executive Director, and internationally acclaimed soprano, Suzie LeBlanc, C.M. Early Music Vancouver (EMV) has been a much-loved, and vital contributor to Vancouver’s cultural scene for more than 50 years. EMV presents a packed performance calendar with 40+ live performances and digital concerts a year featuring some of the most renowned artists in the early music genre drawn from all parts of the globe.
In addition, Early Music Vancouver presents an annual week-long Bach festival in the summer (including an artist-in-residence component), produces Notations (a series of informative behind-the-scenes podcasts) and presents online courses. EMV also offers a Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Programme, plus a BC Scholarship Programme for professional-track music students or active professional musicians seeking to develop skills in early music performance.
The Pacific Baroque Orchestra (PBO) is EMV’s ‘house band’. Under the direction of Alexander Weimann, PBO is recognized as one of Canada’s most exciting and innovative early music ensembles. It also tours extensively throughout the Canada and the U.S.
The phrase ‘early music’ often refers to European music from the Medieval Period through to the Baroque (about 1800). At EMV it also encompasses music from outside the western European tradition to that of other cultures within the same period – Tang Dynasty China and the Ottoman and Persian empires for instance. EMV also explores music from the 19th century with historically informed performances on its restored fortepianos – re-creating the original sound of the music as the composer heard it.
EMV concerts offer a platform for cross-cultural dialogue and exploration of diverse perspectives and relationships with the past. Live performances take place at venues such as Christ Church Cathedral, the Chan Centre, St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church and Pacific Spirit United Church.
July 27, 2023
Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival - Opening Concert This concert is the World Premiere of a newly commissioned performance opera - The Queen of Carthage, a collaboration between EMV and re:Naissance Opera. A seamless blend of Baroque and contemporary song and dance, this interdisciplinary performance is a powerful reclamation of the story of Dido, The Queen of Carthage, and her legacy as a political leader, an empire builder and a woman of colour. This operatic performance, created by re:Naissance Opera, features… more
July 28, 2023
Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival Concert Tenor Marco Beasley, a leading figure in Renaissance music, joins Constantinople under the direction of Kiya Tabassian, to immerse us in the audacious, imaginative world of Leonardo da Vinci. In 1502 da Vinci drafted the plans for a bridge in Constantinople (now Istanbul) that was to span the Bosporus, but it was never built. A continuation of their journey tracing the footsteps of great visionaries, this concert celebrates the originality of an artist and scientist who left… more
August 3, 2023
Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival Concert A woman, with all her strengths and vulnerabilities. Timeless, not belonging to the present or the past, with no choice but to face herself. She digs through the layers of her past, present and future to reconcile herself, fragmenting herself to better consolidate all her identities. Atempor/elle is a duet in which music and dance form a single voice—the voice of a soul in an inner quest for coherence. Artists: Stéphanie Brochard, dance; Margaret Little, viola da gamba The… more
August 3, 2023
Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival Concert Milton in Love paints a portrait of the English poet John Milton’s sojourn through Rome where he fraternized with the Illuminati, attended opera and oratorios, and became enamored with the singing of soprano Leonora Baroni. The laments display the sensuality, ecstasy, and eroticism of early Baroque Rome, and the performances by Erin Headley and her ensemble are sure to surprise and delight audiences as well. Together with a chitarrone, triple harp, baroque guitar, lirone and… more
August 4, 2023
Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival Concert By the age of five, harpsichord prodigy Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre could enthrall the court of Louis XIV with her performances; she went on to become one of the greatest composers and music educators of the “Grand Siècle.” In this concert, EMV Next Generation artists and members of the Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Programme explore the music of this brilliant and precocious artist. The programme features excerpts from Céphale et Procris—Elizabeth Jacquet’s only opera and… more
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