Calgary Renaissance Singers & Players  
The Quill  ~ Volume 9 ~ November 2023
In this issue find out about our Winter concert on Dec 3rd, read about our new General Manager, Erin Masleck, in our People Behind The Music profile and more

Winter Mysteries
Sunday, December 3rd at 7:00 PM

Winter is an enigmatic season, and the stories we revisit at this time of the year are often strange and mysterious. 

The Calgary Renaissance Singers & Players explores some delicious winter mysteries in its upcoming concert, with music reaching back to ancient chant and our beloved Renaissance polyphony, then forward to modern music by Ola Gjeilo and John Taverner, and the premiere performance of a new carol by Artistic Director Paul Grindlay:  "To Wonder, Worship and Adore." We will also be reading some of Paul's original poems, including "A Winter Tale", "Aurora Borealis" and "Icicles and Miracles". Guest musician is John Van Leeuwen, a member of CRSP since 1982 who has performed with us numerous times over the years. He is coming out of retirement and will perform 3 recorder pieces by Jacob van Eijck (1590-1657) which is performed with CRSP in his first concert with us in 1982!

The People Behind The Music

Erin Masleck

Meet Erin Masleck - Stay-At-Home Mom, Singer, Musician and now our new General Manager!

A stay-at-home mom to William, 10, and Julia, 7, for 10 years, Erin has bravely stepped into the role of General Manager for CRSP since last Spring. Enthusiasm, talent and a fine work ethic accompanied her as she moved back into the workforce part time. Note her graphic skills on our beautiful poster promoting our December 3rd concert.

Music inspiration:  A deep history of instrumental playing, begun in Junior High, with the challenges of the french horn, trumpet and classical guitar (later), precedes her recent discovery of the splendor of choral music and early music instruments such as the harpsichord and recorder. Besides her work with CRSP as GM and Producer of our upcoming concert, she is the co-founder of Concino Chorus and Collaborative Art Society in Calgary, which performs contemporary and classical music. She is very proud of the fact that her newly found passion is transforming into a professional endeavour.

Erin's eclectic musical discoveries and "Do It" determination reflect a personality which embraces many of the wonders of our world. This photo shows her with her 22 year old Kenyan boa, Mr. SnakeLson . Welcome aboard Erin!

CLICK HERE to view more People Behind The Music

Premiere Performance of a new Carol by
Artistic Director, Paul Grindlay

I am excited to extent to you the opportunity to hear the first public performance of a carol, for which I wrote both the text and the music. Now, I don't harbour (m)any delusions about being either Yeats, Keats, Bach or Mozart, but I am quite happy with how this piece turned out, and I hope you will enjoy it too.

Canadian composter, Marie-Claire Saindon, had asked me if I had any Christmas carol texts, after setting another text of mine in a commissioned work for an Edmonton High School Choir. I told her I did not, but that I would write something specifically for her, and that is how this text came into the world.

Marie-Claire has been too busy since to set it, so I thought I'd have a go at setting it for CRSP, and immediately perceived some possibilities for form and melodic ideas. Buried somewhere at the core of this piece is the "O Magnum Mysterium" text, about how lowly barnyard animals were the first to see the saviour of the world, and how that life-changing moment must have caused all the beings who witnessed it to stop, feel and process that profoundly beautiful experience, and that this was something that occurred more as "kairos" (an opportune and timeless moment) than as "chronos" (a measurable period, particular hour or day).

TO WONDER, WORSHIP & ADORE

Long ago in Bethlehem
when Mary held her new-born son
for loving arms encircled love
for everything and everyone ....
For everything and everyone,
today, tomorrow, evermore,
and blessed Mary paused a while
to wonder, worship and adore.

Gentle Joseph did his duty
long ago in Bethlehem
for he found love, he knew beauty
and he embraced the both of them...
And he embraced the both of them,
that holy night, and evermore ...
he paused in silence for a while
to wonder, worship and adore.

Would that I were at that stable,
lit by radiant starlight,
to see the child and hear the angels
celebrate that holy night,
when heaven and earth united
and every wrong was righted.

There was magic in that manger,
long ago in Bethlehem,
when kings bowed down, angels shone
and shepherds joined to sing with them,
entranced by what they heard and saw,
as all creation paused a while
to wonder, worship and adore.