Les Violons du Roy presents

Fauré et Duruflé, deux Requiem

Conducting the choir and the orchestra, Bernard Labadie will bring out the full splendour of two choral masterpieces. Fauré’s Requiem is steeped in sweet relief and comfort. Profound emotions of serenity reign in Duruflé’s Requiem. Magali Simard-Galdès, Julie Boulianne and Jean-François Lapointe join their voices to those of La Chapelle de Québec to make these requiems unforgettable moments.

This concert will be preceded by a talk at 1:15pm by Kelly Rice, who will share some thoughts and listening tips for the concert’s program.

Artists
Les Violons du Roy
Bernard Labadie, conductor
Magali Simard-Galdès, soprano
Julie Boulianne, mezzo-soprano
Jean-François Lapointe, baritone
Thomas Annand, organ

Thomas Annand has been delighting audiences and critics alike with his multi-faceted talents as organist, harpsichordist, and conductor for over 20 years. After completing studies with John Grew and Hank Knox at McGill University, Annand spent a year in Paris studying with Marie-Claire Alain and researching the works of Widor and Dupré at the Bibliothèque nationale. He was the First Prize Winner in the 1987 RCCO National Organ Competition. In 1992 he was appointed Director of Music at St. Andrew’s Church, Ottawa and became the organist and harpsichordist for the National Arts Centre Orchestra under Trevor Pinnock and Pinchas Zukerman. In addition to the regular Sunday services at St. Andrew’s, Thomas Annand presents a popular noon-hour recital every Tuesday throughout the year and has recently overseen a complete restoration and re-voicing of the organ.

He was the conductor of the Capital BrassWorks for six seasons, recording two critically acclaimed recordings and performing at the RCCO National Convention. He has appeared regularly as a guest conductor of the Thirteen Strings Baroque Orchestra and is a frequent collaborator with Les Violons du Roy. A noted recitalist, he has been invited to perform as a soloist at the Carmel Bach Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival, the International Congress of Organists, and the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival.

Annand’s repertoire covers a wide spectrum of 500 years of keyboard music, but his emphasis has been on the works of J.S. Bach. In 2004 he presented all the harpsichord music of Bach in a series of seven marathon recitals and is currently preparing for a complete performance of the Bach organ works. In 2010-2011 he presented the 10 Widor symphonies in their little-known original versions.

La Chapelle de Québec, choir

La Chapelle de Québec, founded by Bernard Labadie in 1985, is a nationally based chamber choir of professional singers recruited mainly in Québec City, but also throughout Québec and Canada. It assembles for two or three concerts each season to join Les Violons du Roy in major works from the repertory for choir and orchestra, especially from the 18th century. Its performances of cantatas, oratorios, and masses by J.S. Bach, Handel, Mozart, and Haydn have been acclaimed throughout Canada and the United States, thanks to many broadcasts by Radio-Canada, the CBC, and NPR in the United States.

La Chapelle de Québec has performed regularly on tour with Les Violons du Roy, notably in Handel’s Messiah and J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion in Toronto, in an all-Vivaldi program in France, and in Mozart’s Requiem in Toronto and the United States. The choir is often asked to appear with Bernard Labadie in the concerts he conducts with US orchestras, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with which it performed Handel’s Messiah in 2004 and J.S. Bach’s Magnificat in 2006.

La Chapelle de Québec won a JUNO Award for its recording of Mozart’s Requiem, released by Dorian in 2002.

Program
G. FAURÉ, Requiem, op. 48
M. DURUFLÉ, Requiem, op. 9

Maison symphonique
Sunday, February 18, 2024 at 2:00pm

To purchase your tickets visit: www.placedesarts.com