Please join us in 2023–24 for
"Music in Flight"
“Music gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and life to everything.” – Attributed to Plato
Join the TCC as we soar on the wings of early music in 2023–24! In October, we lift up England’s most brilliant Renaissance composer in his anniversary year. In December, we take some brilliant young singers from the Bach Children’s Chorus under our wing as we consider the Holy Family as refugees in flight. In March, we will be uplifted by angelic music from an Italian convent. We complete our season in May gliding through the centuries on the words of Shakespeare. And, at our spring fundraiser, we’ll give in to our “impulse to soar” in continuing our research into blind composers.
A Rare Byrd (Kaffeemusik)
Saturday, October 21, 2023, 3:30 pm @ Church of the Redeemer
Travel with the TCC back four hundred years as we celebrate the anniversary year of the death of William Byrd, England’s “Phoenix” and most celebrated Renaissance composer. Byrd himself will make a special appearance at this concert (through the iconic Canadian actor R.H. Thomson) to tell stories of the dangers he faced as an “underground Catholic” in Protestant England.
Christopher Bagan, harpsichord
Lynn Featherstone, & Shane Hanson, vocal soloists
Lucas Harris, lute & conductor
R.H. Thomson, actor
Journey Together
Wednesday, December 13, 2023, 7:30 pm @ Grace Church on-the-Hill
Guest director: Charissa Bagan
The national, award-winning Bach Children’s Chorus soars in song with the Toronto Chamber Choir in a seasonal exploration of the Holy Family in flight, searching for refuge and fleeing persecution in their own land. The sweet sounds of children's voices bring a glorious and poignant tone to the Holy Family's journey through the works of Bingen, Bach and Biebl.
The Muse of Novara
Saturday, March 9, 2024, 7:30 pm @ Calvin Presbyterian Church
This evening will feature motets, masses, and sonatas by the brilliant Isabella Leonarda (1620–1704), whose 400th anniversary year in 2020 was unjustly clouded by the pandemic. Leonarda entered an Ursuline convent at age 16, where she spent the rest of her life. Despite holding various positions of authority in the convent, she became one of the most prolific composers of her time, publishing around 200 works. Unlike other women musicians of the 17th century, whose careers flourished in their youths, Leonarda seems to have flourished in her later life: most of her works were published when she was between the ages of 50 and 80.
The Bard, Reimagined (Kaffeemusik)
Sunday, May 5, 2024, 3:30 pm @ Church of the Redeemer
The TCC explores music inspired by the plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare. The program will begin with composers from Shakespeare’s time and then progress through history to the present day. Along the way, we’ll see how his stories were refashioned through different styles of vocal music. Among the diverse voices we’ll hear is that of the eighteenth-century abolitionist writer Ignatius Sancho. We’ll also create space to reframe The Tempest from a contemporary Indigenous perspective.
Spring fundraiser: An Impulse to Soar
May 2024, date/time/venue TBA
“One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar.” – Helen Keller
In May 2023, the TCC presented its program "Musical Vision" about blind musicians and composers who did not let their visual handicap prevent them from composing and performing great music. Such was the richness of material found on this topic that more of it will be presented in our 2024 fundraiser to support the Toronto Chamber Consort section lead program. Our intimate song evening will feature German lute songs, Austrian lieder, lute solos from Italy and Spain, and even modinhas played on the streets of 19th century Rio de Janiero by the mixed-race Brazilian Joaquim Manoel da Câmara.
