2023 2024 Season
Our 53rd season was an enjoyable one. We welcomed Paul Grindlay as our Artistic Director and performed two live concerts, as well as participated in a commemorative concert for our beloved late Artistic Director Jane Perry. We also produced a new CRSP Presents concert - the first one since 2020.
In this concert we explored some delicious winter mysteries with music reaching back to ancient chant and our beloved Renaissance polyphony, then forward to modern music by Ola Gjeilo and John Tavener, and the premiere performance of a new carol by artistic director, Paul Grindlay: "To Wonder, Worship and Adore." We read some of Paul's original poems, including "A Winter Tale," "Aurora Borealis" and "Icicles and Miracles." The guest musician was John van Leeuwen, a member of CRSP since 1982 who has performed with us numerous times over the years. He came out of retirement and performed 3 recorder pieces by Jacob van Eijck (1590-1657) which he performed with CRSP in his first concert with us in 1982!
CRSP Presents …..
On January 20, 2024, we were very pleased to resume our CRSP Presents concert series wherein we present works by other Calgary-based Early Music Groups
Performed by UCalgary's Collegium Musicum
Music composed by John Blow (c. 1649-1708)
Libretto by Anne Kingsmill/Anne Killigrew
Additional music by Henry Purcell (c. 1659-1695)
Additional lyrics by Theocritus, Thomas Shadwell, Thomas Betterton, et al
Conducted by Julie Harris
Concert Version
Music Director's Notes:
Collegium Musicum presented a concert version of John Blow's Venus & Adonis, with the addition of pieces by Blow's friend and younger colleague, Henry Purcell. There is plenty of precedent in the history of opera for inserting extra arias to create opportunities for specific singers and this approach allowed us to offer more solo opportunities for our student talent, creating a unique and expanded story in the process: Venus & Adonis... and the Rest of Us.
English baroque composers like Purcell and Blow didn't write very many operas, primarily composing music to be inserted into staged plays because that is what the English public wanted to see; they wrote for their time and place. It has been a delightful challenge to create something for our own time and place by combining the work of these two composers. It has also been an honour to work with the students, who come from the music division of the School of Creative and Performing Arts at UCalgary and also from various other programs across the campus. I would also like to thank the head of the UCalgary Voice Area, Dr. Laura Hynes for her vision and for making this project a reality.
Julie Harris
On April 28th, we presented "Children of the Earth" . Guest artists for the concert included singers from the Niitsitapi Learning Centre, Walter MacDonald White Bear, oboe player, David Sussman and soprano, Katie Partridge. Our performance opened with our guest, Cheryle Chagnon-Greyeyes.
Our program celebrated the diversity of creation and many wonders of nature in songs by Thomas Weelkes, Orlando Gibbons, and Cree composers Sherryl Sewepagaham and Andrew Balfour, among others. With our prayers for peace, harmony and cooperation between all nations and cultures, we sang "Hope for Resolution," a work originally written for Frederik Willem de Klerk and Nelson Mandela. We also offered a musical tribute to beloved former Artistic Director, Jane Perry, who passed away in January 2024, but continues to inspire us all. We sang Palestrina's "Sicut Cervus," one of Jane's favourite pieces, and performed the premier performance of Peter Anthony Togni's "Magnificat," which Jane commissioned, plus her own "All Shall be Well."
Jane was our Artistic Director from 2011 to 2022. CRSP was one of the choirs at this commemorative concert celebrating the musical spirit of Jane Perry. We were very pleased to be part of this collaborative tribute to Jane’s legacy. We will always remember Jane's joy, musical taste, world-class skill, and kindness. Featuring the wonderful Melissa Ko on piano, along with One Voice Chorus, the Calgary Renaissance Singers and Players, UUphonia, and many more.