Les Violons du Roy presents

Le Gloria de Vivaldi

La Chapelle de Québec in all its glory! Bernard Labadie conducts a selection of baroque works by some of the greatest composers of the time, including Vivaldi’s celebrated and joyful Gloria. With the outstanding choristers of La Chapelle de Québec, this program will delight all choral music lovers.

Artists
Bernard Labadie, conductor

Bernard Labadie is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading conductors of the Baroque and Classical repertoire. He founded Les Violons du Roy and was their Music Director for three decades. He continues to be Music Director of his extraordinary choir, La Chapelle de Québec, which he founded in 1985. In 2018 he became Principal Conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York.

He is a regular guest with all the major North American orchestras and in Europe has recently appeared with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunk Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg and the period instrument ensembles, the Academy of Ancient Music, English Concert and Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.

Myriam Leblanc, soprano

The young coloratura soprano Myriam Leblanc is the recipient of several prizes: first prize and Audience Choice Award at the Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestra Competition, Young Lyric Ambassador 2014 (Québec Bavaria prize), winner of an Audience Choice Award in the Center Stage competition of the Canadian Opera Company, third prize in the Auditions Nouvelles Découvertes competition of the Ottawa Choral Society, winner of the excellence grant awarded annually by the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal and the first prize at the Mathieu Duguay Early Music Competition at the Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival in 2017. Myriam Leblanc is a versatile artist who works as much in the classical world as in the bel canto, as in the baroque. She is recognized for her timbre of great purity, for her supple and warm voice and her great mastery in both technical and musical expressiveness.

Formerly a member of the Atelier lyrique of Montreal Opera, Myriam Leblanc has been a guest soloist of prestigious: Montreal Symphonic Orchestra, Trois-Rivières Symphonic Orchestra, Québec Symphonic Orchestra, Saskatoon Symphonic Orchestra and Metropolitain Orchestra.

Sheila Dietrich, soprano

Canadian soprano Sheila Dietrich is a versatile and in-demand performer whose style and vocal technique shine in both concert and operatic roles. She has appeared as a concert soloist with ensembles across Canada including Les Violons du Roy, the Calgary Philharmonic, The Menno Singers, Nota Bene Baroque Players, The Toronto Classical Singers, The Elora Festival Singers and The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, The Guelph Chamber Choir, and The Bach Elgar Choir.

An Ontario native, Ms. Dietrich received her Bachelor of Music Performance and Opera Diploma from Wilfrid Laurier University where she studied with Victor Martens.

In 2015, Ms. Dietrich made her Carnegie Hall debut as a featured soloist in an evening devoted to the music of Purcell under the direction of Richard Egarr. She was also a finalist in the 2015 New York Oratorio Society Solo Competition and was awarded the Johannes Somary Prize.

Marie-Andrée Mathieu, mezzo-soprano

Quebec mezzo-soprano Marie-Andrée Mathieu delights audiences with her agile voice and great musical expressiveness. Named “Jeune espoir lyrique québécois” by the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques, she has been invited to sing in Germany, China, Slovakia and Italia. She also won the first prize at the Concours d’art lyrique de la Relève musicale de Québec.

Her operatic roles include Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro, Sesto in La clemenza di Tito, Isolier dans Le Comte Ory, Nicklausse in Les contes d’Hoffmann, Orpheus in Gluck’s Orpheus and Eurydice and Zerlina in Don Giovanni.

A native of Quebec City, Marie-Andrée Mathieu holds a master’s degree in classical singing performance from Université Laval, which she obtained with honours.

Philippe Gagné, tenor

Tenor Philippe Gagné is praised for his rich expressivity, refined musical sensitivity, rare vocal agility and the beauty of his timbre. Specializing in the Baroque repertoire, he has performed on many of the world’s great stages and worked with a number of renowned ensembles, including Les Talens Lyriques, Tafelmusik, Les Violons du Roy, Les Voix humaines, Arion Orchestre Baroque, Ensemble Masques , Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Les Délices, Les Boréades, L’Harmonie des saisons, Ensemble Caprice, Le Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, Ex Tempore, La Bande Montréal Baroque, Clavecin en concert, Mannheimer Hofkapelle and Apotheosis Orchestra.

He is recognized as an exceptional interpreter of the French Baroque repertoire, as well as the music of J. S. Bach, which accounts for more than half of his professional engagements. His achievements, his constant presence on the Baroque scene and his many past and future engagements testify to his quality within this community.

Nathaniel Watson, baritone

Nathaniel Watson is a versatile artist who has performed successfully in a wide variety of musical styles. Highlights include Der Freischütz with the New York Philharmonic under Sir Colin Davis, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under Kurt Masur, and in Carnegie Hall with Sir Roger Norrington in the conductor’s debut concert in New York. He appeared in the title role in the Boston Early Music Festival production of Cavalli’s Ercole amante in Boston, at Tanglewood, and at the Utrecht Festival in Holland, and was featured in the Salzburg Festival production of Weill’s Mahagonny.

He has appeared as soloist with the orchestras of Boston, Baltimore, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Tokyo, Seattle, Santiago (Chile), Montréal, Québec, Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto. Recent seasons have included performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with Nicholas McGegan and Philharmonia Baroque, Messiah with the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center, Mendelssohn’s Paulus and Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with L’Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and Handel’s Semele with Pacific Opera Victoria. Performances of Messiah with Tafelmusik in 2015 marked his 21st collaboration with the great Toronto ensemble.

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.

Program
G. CARISSIMI, Historia di Jephte
D. BUXTEHUDE, Jesu meines Lebens Leben, BuxWV 62
A. VIVALDI, Magnificat, RV 610
A. VIVALDI, Gloria, RV 589

Maison symphonique
Saturday, April 13, 2024 at 7:30pm

To purchase your tickets visit: www.placedesarts.com