An Ode to Love and Poetry by Schumann

Bourgie Hall presents

An Ode to Love and Poetry

Vocal Music
An ode to femininity, love, and poetry, this concert features two sumptuous lieder cycles composed by Schumann, setting poems which express the different stages of love. Also on the program, Schumann’s Kinderszenen for piano, which evoke the great love he shared with Clara Wieck.

Artists
Jana Miller, soprano

Raised in Nova Scotia, Canada, Jana Miller is a Berlin-based soprano with a repertoire spanning from early to contemporary. Jana’s musicality and vocal flexibility have allowed her to excel as both a soloist and ensemble singer.

In 2019/20, Jana will be part of the world premiere of Chaya Czernowin’s Heart Chamber at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Jana continues her work with the world renowned RIAS Kammerchor, and returns to Toronto to join Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra as the soprano soloist for Bach’s Johannes-Passion.

Jana has been praised as a singer of “technical polish and refined musicality” (Calgary Herald). Career highlights include a Carnegie Hall debut in Messiah (Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra), Fauré’s Requiem (Montreal Symphony Orchestra), St. John Passion and Mass in B Minor (Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul), Messiah (Symphony Nova Scotia), Christmas Oratorio, Magnificat (Tafelmusik), and several concerts with the Carmel Bach Festival. She has been engaged as a soloist across Canada and the USA by organisations such as Deutsche Oper Berlin, RIAS kammerchor, Ensemble Caprice, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Jeunesses Musicales du Canada, i Musici, and Symphony Nova Scotia.

Trained at McGill University, the Banff Centre and the Franz Schubert Institut in Austria, Jana has received prizes from Canada Council for the Arts, SSHRC, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, and the Austrian Society of Montreal. Influential teachers include Marie Daveluy, Sanford Sylvan, Michael McMahon, and Jan Simons.

Philippe Sly, bass-baritone

French-Canadian bass-baritone Philippe Sly has gained international recognition for his “beautiful, blooming tone and magnetic stage presence” (San Francisco Chronicle). Mr. Sly is the first prize winner of the prestigious Concours Musical International de Montréal and a grand prize winner Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions singing the varied repertoire of Mozart, Bach, Handel, Stravinsky and Wagner. Recently, he was awarded Concert of the Year in Romantic, Post-Romantic and Impressionist Music at the 16th annual ceremony of the Prix Opus in Québec.

In the 2018-2019 season, Philippe Sly has returned to the Paris Opera for his first performances of Leporello in a new production of Don Giovanni conducted by Philippe Jordan. He has been heard in Handel’s Messiah with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and with the Handel & Haydn Society conducted by Bernard Labadie. Additional concert engagements include Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and Mozart’s Requiem with Orchestra of St. Luke’s and Labadie, as well as Bach Matthäus-Passion with the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. In recital, he performed Winterreise with pianist Michael McMahon in Montreal, Vancouver, San Francisco, and others. He has also been seen in special performances with Le Chimera Project of Schubert’s Winterreise arranged for Klezmer quartet.

A native of Montreal, Mr. Sly frequently appears with the Montreal Symphony and Kent Nagano. He has been heard with the OSM in Debussy’s Pelléas et Melisande as Golaud, Honegger’s L’Aiglon (recorded for commercial release), Bach’s Johannes-Passion, Méphistophélès in Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust, and Nielsen’s Symphony No. 3, as well as songs of Rachmaninoff, Grieg, and Sibelius. As a soloist with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, he has sung performances of Mozart’s Mass in C minor and Bach’s Matthäus-Passion, both with the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Bach’s Matthäus-Passion again with Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal. He is featured as Antonio in a recording of Le Nozze di Figaro with Nézet-Séguin at the Baden-Baden Festival on Deutsche Grammophon.

Mr. Sly holds a Bachelor of Music degree in voice performance from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music in Montreal. After winning the MET National Council Auditions, Mr. Sly became a member of the ensemble at the Canadian Opera Company, followed by the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Program and Adler Fellowship. Mr. Sly recently recorded “Phantom on the Dance Floor” and subsequent music video with Canadian singer/songwriter Kiesza. His solo recordings are available on Analekta Records.

Jean Marchand, piano

Program
SCHUMANN
Kinderszenen [Scenes from Childhood], Op. 15
Frauenliebe und -leben [Woman’s Life and Love], Op. 42
Dichterliebe [A Poet’s Love], Op. 48

Live in-person at Bourgie Hall
Saturday, May 29, 2021 at 7:00pm
Sunday, May 30, 2021 at 2:30pm
Covid-19 adapted seating plan and measures in effect

Webcast
June 5, 2021 at 2:30 pm and available online until June 19, 11:00pm

To purchase your Live Bourgie Hall and online concert tickets visit: www.mbam.qc.ca/en/bourgie-hall/