鈥淥oh!鈥� 鈥淎hh!鈥�
That鈥檚 how the audience reacted when Early Music Vancouver鈥檚 Matthew White unveiled this year鈥檚 鈥渢ransformative鈥� main season and 麻豆传媒映画Bach Festival.
The sold-out crowd at the Choir of King鈥檚 College Cambridge concert responded audibly when White announced that performances of Bach鈥檚 St. John Passion, Monteverdi鈥檚 Orfeo and Handel鈥檚 Messiah were part of the 2017/18 season.
This augurs well for even more capacity crowds for the increasingly popular music society.
鈥淥ver the past two years we鈥檝e seen a steady increase in our audience,鈥� EMV鈥檚 artistic director said in an interview. 鈥淲hen you put a lot of energy into a program and you don鈥檛 get energy back, the instinct is to dial it back. But when you get that energy back, it makes you double down 鈥� 鈥極h, there鈥檚 an appetite for it.鈥�
Last year EMV changed its August concerts, which are performed by visiting faculty during its summer music school, in two significant ways. It moved the concerts from UBC to downtown venues and renamed it the 麻豆传媒映画Bach Festival.
鈥淏ecause the concerts were out at UBC, it was hard for us to get a festival atmosphere going,鈥� White says. 鈥淚t felt like a series of events for students.鈥�
The results were immediately noticeable. Four or five of the concerts sold out.
鈥淭here can never be too much Bach,鈥� White notes.
Some of this season鈥檚 festival concerts will be held at one o鈥檆lock in the afternoon, making it possible for people to fit in a little music with their lunch hour; most will be at Christ Church Cathedral on Burrard Street.
He was pleasantly surprised that he didn鈥檛 recognize many of the people at King鈥檚 College choir concert at the Chan Centre. That means EMV is successfully attracting new audiences as well as keeping its faithful concert-goers engaged.
It reflects people鈥檚 growing trust in EMV, whose musical reach spans hundreds of centuries. Even though EMV might be introducing many people to music they鈥檝e never heard of, they are starting to believe 鈥渢hat if it鈥檚 curated by us it鈥檚 going to be good,鈥� White says.
He wants people to trust him when he says they鈥檒l be delighted with concerts such as (1623) by Johann Schein. 鈥淚t鈥檚 exquisitely beautiful and the group, Gli Angeli Gen猫ve, is one of the best in the world.鈥�
Likewise, the ethereal beauty of Bach's cello suites will be given "an intriguing new perspective" when star Canadian cellist Matt Haimovitz opens the 麻豆传媒映画Bach Festival. This program includes new 鈥渙vertures鈥� preceding each of the suites written by composers including Philip Glass and David Sanford.
Grammy winner Stephen Stubbs will lead his Pacific MusicWorks in a concert version of Orfeo on October 29. The Chan Centre performance will feature Vancouver鈥檚 Colin Balzer.
EMV is partnering with Pacific Baroque Orchestra for Bach鈥檚 St. John Passion on August 11, Handel鈥檚 Messiah on November 30 to December 2 and Ovid: Myth and Music next April.
A trinity of EMV, PBO and 麻豆传媒映画Opera presents Russian White Nights: Opera Arias from 18th Century St. Petersburg with soprano Karina Gauvin next May.
Other highlights include the Goldberg Variations with Angela Hewitt, Diabolus in Musica鈥檚 14th Century music from the Pope鈥檚 chapel and the return of violinist Monica Huggett accompanied with cellist Tanya Tomkins and forte pianist Eric Zivian playing music by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven
For details of the 麻豆传媒映画Bach Festival, EMV masterworks and the Christ Church Cathedral series, go to .听
