Les Violons du Roy present

Le Messie de Handel

A performance of Handel’s Messiah by La Chapelle de Québec and Les Violons du Roy is always a cause for rejoicing. This year, for the very first time, Les Violons du Roy music director Jonathan Cohen will lead the celebrations. And he’s invited an extraordinary quartet of soloists to join him for the event.

Artists
Jonathan Cohen, conductor

Jonathan Cohen has forged a remarkable career as a conductor, cellist, and keyboardist. Well known for his passion and commitment to chamber music, Jonathan is equally at home in such diverse areas as Baroque opera and the Classical symphonic repertoire. He is Artistic Director of Arcangelo, Music Director of Les Violons du Roy, Artistic Director of the Tetbury Music Festival, and Artistic Partner of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Joélle Harvey, soprano

A native of Bolivar, New York, soprano Joélle Harvey has established herself as a noted interpreter of a broad repertoire anchored by Handel, Mozart, and new music.

Her engagements during the 2021–2022 season include debuts at Opernhaus Zürich (Aristea in Pergolesi’s L’Olimpiade), the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915, conducted by Jakub Hrůša), and the University Musical Society at University of Michigan (Handel’s Messiah). She joins Les Violons du Roy for further Messiah performances, returns to the North Carolina Symphony (Mahler’s Symphony No. 4), the Indianapolis Symphony (Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9), and continues her close collaboration with Boston’s Handel & Haydn Society in two appearances: Vivaldi’s Gloria and CPE Bach’s Magnificat, conducted by Jonathan Cohen; and Haydn’s The Creation, led by Harry Christophers in his final performances as H&H Artistic Director.

Allyson McHardy, mezzo-soprano

A unique vocal colour and commanding stage presence are the hallmarks of performances by mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy. Hailed by Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle as “a singer of enormous imagination and versatility,” she has appeared with the Paris Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Chicago Symphony, Toronto Symphony, St. Louis Orchestra, Glyndebourne Festival, San Francisco Opera, Boston Symphony, Canadian Opera Company, Les Violons du Roy, Warsaw Philharmonic, and Théâtre capitole du Toulouse. Adam Fischer, Seiji Ozawa, Jeremy Rohrer, Kent Nagano, Emmanuelle Haim, Bernard Labadie, Trevor Pinnock, Ludovic Morlot, Carlos Kalmar, and Johannes Debus are among the conductors with whom she has collaborated for performances of works such as La clemenza di Tito, L’enfant et les sortilèges, Hippolyte et Aricie, Mozart’s C minor Mass, Matthäus Passion, Das Rheingold, The Dream of Gerontius and Messiah. Ms. McHardy is a Prix Opus winner for Opéra de Montréal’s Dead Man Walking and Opéra de Québec’s Der Fliegende Holländer, and she was nominated for a Juno Award for the Canadian Art Song Project’s disc, Summer Night, featuring the music of Healey Willan.

This coming season, Allyson McHardy looks forward to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Handel’s The Resurrection with Opera Atelier, Messiah with Nicholas Kramer for Music of the Baroque in Chicago, and Riders to the Sea in a co-production with BOP and Opéra de Montréal. In 2019–2020 her schedule included performances of Bach cantatas for Music of the Baroque, Messiah with the Florida Orchestra and Newfoundland Symphony, and Flight for Pacific Opera Victoria.

Andrew Staples, tenor

A prolific concert performer, Andrew Staples has appeared with Berliner and Wiener Philharmoniker, Akademisten Berlin, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with Sir Simon Rattle; Orchestre de Paris, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra with Daniel Harding; Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin; the Gävle Symphony with Robin Ticciati; Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, Orcherstre Métropolitain, and the Philadelphia Orchestra with Yannick Nézet-Séguin; and Accademia Santa Cecilia with Semyon Bychkov.

Andrew Staples made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden as Jacquino (Fidelio), returning for Flamand (Capriccio), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Tichon (Katya Kabanova), and Narraboth (Salome). He has also appeared at the Metropolitan Opera, the National Theatre in Prague. La Monnaie in Brussels, Salzburger Festspiele, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, the Lucerne Festival, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Recent and future engagements include his Metropolitan Opera debut as Andres (Wozzeck), Nicias in concert performances of Thais with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and Das Lied von der Erde with the New York Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and Budapest Festival Orchestra.

Neal Davies, baritone-bass

Neal Davies studied at King’s College, London, and the RAM, and won the Lieder Prize at the 1991 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. He has appeared with the Oslo Philharmonic under Jansons, the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Boulez, the Cleveland and Philharmonia orchestras under Dohnanyi, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under Harnoncourt, the OAE under Brüggen, the English Concert with Harry Bicket, the Gabrieli Consort under McCreesh, the Hallé Orchestra with Elder, Concerto Koeln under Bolton, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with Adam Fischer, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra with Edward Gardner, Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin with David Zinman, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra with Sir Andrew Davis, and the London Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras under Harding. He has been a regular guest of the Edinburgh Festival and BBC Proms.

Recent concert appearances include Shostakovich 14 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Kirill Karabits, a return to Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin for King Arthur, concert performances of Peter Grimes with the Bergen Philharmonic, and Messiah with the Lucerne Symphony. Previous seasons highlights include the Edinburgh Festival with Edward Gardner (Creation) and the BBC Proms (Vaughan Williams’ Dona nobis pacem), as well as concerts with David Afkham and the Spanish National Orchestra, and with Maxime Pascal conducting the Hallé Orchestra. The 2018/19 season saw appearances with Les Violons du Roy and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (Jonathan Cohen), the Bach Collegium Japan (Masaaki Suzuki), Music of the Baroque (Jane Glover), and the Philadelphia Orchestra (Bernard Labadie).

La Chapelle de Québec

Created in 1985 by founding conductor and music director Bernard Labadie, La Chapelle de Québec is one of North America’s premiere voice ensembles. The group is made up exclusively of professional singers who are hand picked from all over Canada. This unique chamber choir specializes in the choral/orchestral repertoire of the 17th and 18th centuries. The choir performs regularly with its other half, chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy, and as a guest choir with some of the finest orchestras in North America. Its  interpretations of the oratorios, requiems, masses, and cantatas of Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Haydn, as well as Fauré and Duruflé, are frequently hailed in the Canadian and international press.

La Chapelle de Québec is heard regularly at Palais Montcalm in Quebec City and Maison symphonique in Montreal, as well as at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at Carnegie Hall with Les Violons du Roy and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and in Ottawa with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. The choir’s concerts are often broadcast by the CBC and Radio-Canada in Canada and by National Public Radio in the United States.

Maison Symphonique
Friday, December 10, 2021 at 7:30pm

To purchase your tickets visit: www.placedesarts.com