Our holiday concerts start with a spectacular performance of Handel's Messiah

Our series of Holiday concerts will begin on Friday, November 29 with an evening presentation of Handel’s baroque masterpiece, Messiah. A complete crowd pleaser when it was presented at the centre in 2017, the Early Music Vancouver collaboration is back featuring Pacific Barque Orchestra, Vancouver Cantata Singers, plus international soloists under the direction of Ivars Taurins. Join us for the return of a deeply engaging and revelatory take on Handel’s beloved oratorio.

Performed by 20 period instrumentalists in the Pacific Barque Orchestra, a chorus of 40 singers from Vancouver Cantata Singers, the Messiah also features four international soloists who have extensive experience performing Handel with some of the world’s most respected baroque specialists: Joanne Lunn (soprano), Krisztina Szabó (mezzo-soprano), Thomas Hobbs (tenor), and Peter Harvey (baritone).

Led by Ivars Taurins of the Grammy-winning Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra who is hailed by the Toronto Star as Canada’s “Prince of Messiah.”

Taurins has conducted the work annually for the last 37 years and he appears regularly as a guest conductor of orchestras and choirs across Canada. The Global and Mail has described Taurins reading is as “not merely lean and immaculate, which by now is no surprise to his many admirers, but is also sumptuous, vigorously articulate and profoundly thoughtful.”

The Pacific Baroque Orchestra (PBO) is recognized as one of Canada’s most exciting and innovative ensembles performing “early music for modern ears.” The orchestra brings the music of the past up-to-date by performing with cutting edge style and enthusiasm. Formed in 1990, the orchestra quickly established itself as a force in Vancouver’s burgeoning music scene with the ongoing support of Early Music Vancouver.

Join us on November 29 for this outstanding ode to a classic seasonal favourite.