Bourgie Hall presents

Les Idées heureuses – Passiontide Concert

The complete cycle of Christoph Graupner’s nineteen cantatas written specifically for Good Friday continues! This second concert out of six will feature three cantatas by this Baroque-era master regarded by his peers as an exceptional composer.

Artists
Les Idées heureuses
Geneviève Soly, director

A key figure in baroque music in Quebec, Geneviève Soly is known for her talents as a musician – as a musical performer on the organ and harpsichord; as a musicologist, associated with the rediscovery of the music of Christoph Graupner; as a pedagogue and sought-after speaker and lecturer; as an arts administrator sitting on various advisory committees; and director of Les Idées heureuses for nearly 30 years.

Odéi Bilodeau, soprano

Soprano Odéi Bilodeau is a native of Chaudière-Appalaches, now a resident of Mont-Saint-Hilaire. She is distinguished by her round and supple voice which allows her to sing both baroque and classical repertoire as well as more lyrical works.

William Duffy, male alto

Appreciated for his “command of the seemingly impossible high tessitura” (South Florida Classical Review), countertenor William Duffy has established himself as equally comfortable exploring ancient tunes and the compositions of our era. William enjoys regular performances as both a soloist and a member of professional vocal ensembles across North America. Notably, William is sought after for his interpretations of the music of J.S. Bach, having performed over fifty cantatas as soloist and ripienist with historically informed ensembles. The key events in William’s 2023-24 season include singing in several programmes with Seraphic Fire in South Florida; appearing as alto soloist and guest conductor of One Equall Musick for “Divine Liturgy” with compositions by Lusitano, Poulenc, Price and Komitas Vardapet; and participating once more in the series of Christoph Graupner’s complete cycle of nineteen cantatas composed for Good Friday and presented by Geneviève Soly and Les Idées heureuses at Salle Bourgie.

Arthur Tanguay-Labrosse, tenor

Arthur Tanguay-Labrosse is a tenor from Quebec equally at home in early and contemporary music. Particularly involved in modern opera, he has collaborated with Chants Libres (Aziz in L’orangeraie by Zad Moultaka, 2021), and the Ballet-Opéra-Pantomime company (Orphée in Orpheus on Sappho’s Shore, an opératorio by Canadian composer Luna Pearl Woolf). He has also sung the roles of Kaherdin in Le vin herbé by Frank Martin, and First Trader in the Canadian premiere of Nero and The Fall of Lehman Brothers by Jonathan Dawe. He has performed as a soloist with several Baroque ensembles, notably with Ensemble Caprice (Vêpres de la Vierge by Monteverdi, as Don Quixote in Don Quichotte chez la duchesse by Boismortier, and in Bach’s Easter Oratorio), and Les Idées heureuses (Cantatas by Bach and Graupner). He regularly sings in the best professional choirs in Quebec, including La Chapelle de Québec, the OSM Chorus, Voces Boreales, the Ensemble ArtChoral, and the Choir of the Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul.

Dion Mazerolle, baritone

Acadian baritone Dion Mazerolle has forged a solid reputation in Canada and Europe as an artist of the highest calibre. A former member of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, he is acclaimed for his musical finesse and strong stage presence, both in opera and in concert. Dion recently made his debut as Golaud in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, created by the Barbe & Doucet design team at the Teatri di Piacenza in Italy, and debuted as le Roi de Trèfle in Prokofiev’s surreal opera L’Amour des trois oranges with Opera National de Lorraine in Nancy, France. A frequent performer with Toronto’s Voicebox: Opera in Concert, Dion sang Ophémon in Bologne’s L’Amant Anonyme.

Hélène Plouffe, violin
Sari Tsuji, violin
Jacques-André Houle, alto
Amanda Keesmaat, violoncelle
Dominic Girard, double bass
Dorothéa Ventura, organ

Program
GRAUPNER Cantatas GWV 1127/31, 44 & 48
Mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen [My Lord, Why Have You Forsaken Me?], GWV 1127/31
Ist dieser nicht des Menschen Sohn [Is He Not The Son Of Man?], GWV 1127/44
O Traurichkeit, O Herzleid [Oh Sadness! Oh Heartache], GWV 1127/48

Friday, March 29, 2024 at 3:00pm
To purchase your tickets visit: www.mbam.qc.ca/en/bourgie-hall/

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