March 2002 Newsletter

March, 2002 Volume 14 Number 3

Letter from the President

Dear Bach Friends

“For lo the winter is past”- of course this being Calgary one never knows. All we can do is hope. Where would we be without hope? Concise Oxford dictionary: HOPE : expectation and desire combined e.g. for a certain thing to occur.

What are our hopes and desires?

I will curtail myself by telling you about the hopes that we at the Bach Society have:

Hope that we did not inconvenience too many of you by having postponed our children's concert. We found that we were in conflict with a last minute change on the part of the CPO which scheduled an open rehearsal for young people on the morning of Febr. 2 nd.

Our children’s concert has been rescheduled for May 4 th. in the auditorium of Lord Beaverbrook Senior Highschool, 9019 Fairmount Drive S.E.,. Come one come all - the very popular instruments try-out starting at 1 p.m. Concert to follow at 2. Anna Carnell has written a wonderful script which will keep us all, young and old, enthralled.

For our Bach's Birthday Bash: hope that we may have an even larger audience than we were blessed with for our Advent concert.You are in for a treat: two superb Magnificats, one by father Bach, one, a premiere for Calgary, by son C.P.E. Also on the programme is the Brandenburg Concerto #1 as well as an organ solo. The instrument used for this has been loaned to us by Art Gesell, one of the basses of our choir, and we are most grateful to him.

From this follows that we will hear a double continuo during our concert. Neil Cockburn playing the organ with Christine Azad the harpsichord.

The soloists: well known to us: Betty Hicks, Jorge Aviles, Julie Harris. In her first appearance with the Bach choir Jacqueline Serpas. We are most pleased to welcome back Mel Braun. Mel sang the part of Christus with us during the performance of the St. Matthew Passion two years ago.

Janet is working her magic with the choir, resulting in us being ready and eager to perform for you.

So all that is left is for me to hope that this letter finds you well and that we will see you first on Sunday, March 24 at 3 p.m. at St Matthew's Church and then, for the final concert of this season, on May the 4th. at 1 p.m. at Lord Beaverbrook Highschool.

Maijke van Wijk. President, CBFS

Calendar of Events

Calgary Bach Festival SocietyConcert Season 2001-2002With Calgary Bach Festival Choir, under conductor Janet YoungdahlBach Birthday CelebrationSunday, March 24, 2002 - 3 p.m.St. Matthew's United Church - 2039 26a Street SW

The Bach Children’s ConcertSaturday, May 4, 2002 - 2 p.m.Theatre of Lord Beaverbrook Senior High School - 9019 Fairmount Drive SE

Calendar of Events

Other organizationsEarly Music Voices: Ensemble de la RueMarch 24, 2002 – 7:30 p.m.Christ ChurchPro Musica Amsterdam Loeki Stardust Quartet: March 25, 2002 – 8:00 p.m.University of CalgaryEarly Music Voices: A grand Italian EntertainmentMay 5, 2002 – 8:00 p.m., May 5 2:30 p.m.Christ ChurchEuridice Ensemble: May 5, 2002 – 8:00 p.m.Chinook Forte Piano MuseumRenaissance Singers: “Petrarch”May 11, 12, 2002 – 8:00 p.m.Wesley United Church

Profile - Jacqueline Serpas

by Anna Carnell

Jacqueline Serpas, soprano soloist in the upcoming Bach Birthday Celebration does not remember a time in her life without music. From a musical family, she joined the family singing and playing around the piano as soon as she could carry a tune at age 3, and started lessons at 5 years. At age 7 she decided she was going to be Barbra Streisand! Her own children carry the musical genes. Gabriel (8) sings in the Calgary Boys Choir. Jacqueline knew he was musical when he pitched the vacuum cleaner. Jacob (2) is a great dancer and loves the guitar. It is a little early to know where Jericho’s focus will be. He was only 3 days old when Jacqueline did her interview.

After years of performance in Kiwanis Festival Jacqueline earned her Bachelors in performance from the University of Calgary and her Masters from McGill. She credits some excellent teachers and voice technicians, Philip May and Goffredo Riccie among them, for helping her put together all the pieces of the puzzle that is the human voice. It is a question of posture, breath and finding the place where the sound is at its best. Jacqueline has performed in many solo concerts, and had one of her recitals aired on CBC radio. Operatic performances in Calgary include the role of Sally in Die Fledermaus. She prefers opera and classical art songs, Strauss in particular, but does not deny herself the light-hearted fun of doing a Marilyn Monroe singing gig at the Coleman Theatre, where she temporarily turfed her classical technique singing Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend. Another unique project was the formation of the Calgary Singers in 1998, where a core ensemble of singers presented, with guests, a series of vocal recitals.

When Jacqueline is not singing, she runs the Allegro Music Store in Calgary, more than a music store, in fact. It is really an educational store which stocks instruments and music to support the 415 students studying in the studio part of the enterprise. The students have an inspiring director and it keeps Jacqueline in the music business when she is not singing.

Profile - Mel Braun

by Anna Carnell

Mel Braun will be the baritone soloist in the upcoming Bach Birthday Celebration. He has a special affinity for Bach and likes nothing better than digging through the cantatas for hidden gems. He is a multi-faceted performer although he likens muscians to athletes in that each voice has a quality, range and colour that makes it especially suited to a particular repertoire, as in the operatic fach system.

Mel made his start with oratorio repertoire at the Canadian Mennonite University where he earned his Bachelor of Church Music. He took his Masters in Performance at the University of Toronto where he branched into early opera with the Opera Atelier.

He lives now and teaches at the School of Music at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, new music capital of Canada. Mel has sung with several of the opera groups including the Manitoba Opera, Chamber Opera West and Groundswell and was the Artistic co-director of the Winnipeg singers. He now directs the Cantata singers, a small group singing multiple parts, one voice per part.

Mel is primarily a performer but loves conducting and teaching as well. Singing is one of the few musical disciplines where performers discover their vocal strength relatively late in life. Talent is a key element but Mel insists that discipline and ambition are critical. Then he adds, “you must simply love music.”Mel also dabbles in composition. With the West End Quartet he relaxes into jazz and pop as well as madrigals and classical music. For a recent West End gig, Mel found a collection of Cowgirl poems, about cowboys of course, for which he wrote the music in an a cappella arrangement. It is on his wish list for recordings, as are a Bach CD and a series of Art Songs by Chester Duncan.

Mel has made recordings with Tafelmusik, the Winnipeg Singers and recitals for the CBC. He is in demand across the country and has been to the Banff Centre a number of years as participant and assistant faculty member.

Editor's Website Picks

Interested in contacting other choral groups in Calgary? You will find the Calgary Region Arts Foundation client list at http://www.craf.org/clients4.htmlThe Academy of Ancient Music at http://www.aam.co.uk/ has program notes on works and shows pictures of artists, such as Bach. To find these, click on News and Features.A little embarrassed that you don’t know some musical term like appoggiatura? You won’t be if you check out the Glossary page of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem at http://www.bach.org/bach101/suites/glossary.htmlThe Denton Bach Socety revisits Bach’s first Leipzig Christmas at http://www.dentonbach.com/archive/magnificat9.htm where you can find program notes, commentaries, pictures and the full texts of the Magnificat in Latin and English.Don’t forget our own http://www.bachcalgary.org with newsletters back to September 2000, pictures of the choir and orchestra and profiles of our conductors.

Membership Information

The Calgary Bach Festival Society has a large library of cantatas which can be rented. If interested, please contact us at 282-8525 or e-mail Bill Zdep tcprint@cadvision.com.

Volunteers are welcome and needed for several positions and projects. If interested, please contact us at 282-8525 or e-mail Bill Zdep tcprint@cadvision.com.