Delicious food, nostalgic movies and sparkling decorations are holiday essentials for most us. But the surest way to tap into the magic of the Christmas season is to immerse yourself in an uplifting live concert that’s jam-packed with soaring, spine-tingling music. Looking for suggestions? This December, one Vancouver show stands out from the crowd like a glittering tree topper.

 

“Christmas is a time for sharing great music with those you love,” says Suzie LeBlanc, acclaimed soprano and the Artistic and Executive Director of Early Music Vancouver (EMV), which specializes in presenting works from the medieval era onwards. “And every year, our Festive Cantatas concerts are like huge holiday parties with a feast of wonderful music.”

 

Bach and Zelenka

 

This year’s show at the Chan Centre on December 22 is no exception, treating the audience to a luscious celebration of two Baroque composers––one who couldn’t be more famous and another who is little known to many modern-day listeners.

 

“We’re featuring the work of Bach as well as Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka,” explains LeBlanc. “In the eighteenth century, they were friends and Bach was a big admirer of Zelenka’s work. But it’s only in the last 20 years or so that Zelenka’s music has been revived––and it’s so full of joy.”

 

In fact, joy runs like a golden thread throughout EMV’s 2024 Festive Cantatas concert. The playbill’s exciting three-movement Bach piece is “Gloria in excelsis Deo cantata BWV 191.” The only church cantata Bach ever set to Latin text, it was first performed in Leipzig on Christmas Day in 1745.

 

It’s paired with Zelenka’s transportive Christmas mass, “Missa Nativitatis Domini (ZWV 8),” written in 1726. “This is a really wonderful piece that is so light, bright and gorgeous,” says LeBlanc, adding that it’s also a “great showcase” for the Vancouver Chamber Choir, who are among the star performers at this year’s concert.

 

Sparkling guests

 

They’ll be joined by a galaxy of guest soloists, including Juno-wining soprano Hélène Brunet; alto Cecilia Duarte, who performed on a recent Grammy-winning album; James Reese, a tenor who LeBlanc describes as an “exciting emerging star” of the classical scene; and William Kraushaar, a Quebec-born composer and highly accomplished self-taught bass singer.

 

LeBlanc––herself a Grammy winner, multiple Opus award-winner and an Order of Canada recipient––is also performing a guest soloist role in the concert. “It’s going to be such an exciting holiday show and I’m really looking forward to being on stage with all of these amazing performers,” she says.

 

Period instruments

 

Conducted by revered maestro Alexander Weimann, the vocalists will be supported by the illustrious Pacific Baroque Orchestra, famous for expertly playing on the kind of period-style instruments Bach and Zelenka wrote for. The orchestra’s string bows, for example, are convex rather than today’s concave, enabling them to authentically project Baroque’s signature elegant rhythms. 

 

That’s the kind of information first-timers might learn at the show’s free pre-show talk, a popular feature of every EMV performance. “We have a highly appreciative core audience that supports all our concerts, but Festive Cantatas always attracts newcomers as well as those who just love coming to our Christmas shows every year,” says LeBlanc. “We always encourage people who have never been before to just dive in and give it a try.”

 

The show’s uniqueness is reason enough to add it to your 2024 festivities. “This is your only chance to hear a real Baroque concert in Vancouver this holiday season,” says LeBlanc. And its proximity to Christmas––just three sleeps before the big day––also creates a warm and embracing ambiance in the auditorium. “You can almost smell the cookies baking at this time of year. And the audience and performers are already celebrating­­––which is such a special feeling.”

 

If you go:

 

Early Music Vancouver’s Festive Cantatas: Bach & Zelenka is on stage at the Chan Centre for Performing Arts on December 22 at 3pm. Tickets are priced from $28.20 to $87.50 (those aged 35 and under receive a 35 percent discount on regular prices, while $10 Student Rush tickets will also be offered on the door). For more information on the show and to book your tickets, visit the concert’s official event page.