Octet Victoria: Fire Salmer
Free (donations encouraged)
- Gina Johnson, soprano
- Isolde Roberts-Welby, soprano
- Char Hodgkins, alto & artistic director
- Alana Hayes, alto
- Felix Butterfield, tenor
- Gordon Simmons, tenor
- Nathan David McDonald, bass
- Rowan McWilliams, bass
Anton Bruckner — Selected works
Felix Mendelssohn — Selected works
Jean Sibelius — Selected works
Join us for our upcoming concert centered around Edvard Grieg's Fire Salmer. The programme will include a mix of sacred and secular music, including works by Bruckner, Mendelssohn, and Sibelius. One of the biggest differences between vocal and instrumental music is the inclusion of words and the variety that different languages bring to music! We are excited to share the beautiful Scandinavian and Finnish sounds that bring life and meaning to the notes on the page.
Free admission, but donations are encouraged. More than 75% of the door donations from our concerts go to local Indigenous organizations such as Raven Trust Foundation and the Victoria Native Friendship Centre.
Accessibility: St. John's is wheelchair accessible through the Garden doors on the north side of the building.
About Octet Victoria
Octet Victoria is a fully professional group of eight singers who are committed to creating excellent choral music here in Victoria, BC. Having a mixed choir of eight different voices allows a large amount of flexibility for repertoire, and Octet Victoria has explored music from all time periods spanning Renaissance to modern day. While still a new group, founded by Char Hodgkins in 2022, Octet Victoria has performed some of the richest music from the choral tradition such as motets by J.S. Bach and J. Brahms, as well as a variety of new music including selections by Canadian composers such as Ruth Watson Henderson, Stephanie Martin, and Nathaniel Dett.
Octet Victoria makes music on the unceded ancestral lands of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen), now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt nations. We are grateful for their stewardship of these beautiful lands that nurture, inspire, and sustain us.
https://www.facebook.com/octetvictoria/About Gina Johnson, soprano
About Felix Butterfield, tenor
Tenor Felix Butterfield began his singing in Vancouver, before joining Winchester Cathedral choir, UK, aged 9. Felix holds a degree in History from The University of Victoria. He enjoys bouldering and playing the piano when he is not rehearsing or performing with various choirs around town. Felix is enrolled in the Vocal Collegium program at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and is excited for more solo work in the future.
About Gordon Simmons, tenor
Gordon Simmons is a tenor and theatre manager based in Victoria, BC, Canada.
About Nathan David McDonald, bass
Commanding a repertoire spanning several centuries, from renaissance polyphony to modern opera, Nathan David McDonald, baritone, is often lauded for his vocal versatility. With a diverse musical background, including a degree in trumpet and seven years as a church Music Director, Nathan brings a wealth of experience and musicianship to his craft.
Active as an oratorio singer, Nathan has appeared with a variety of West Coast ensembles such as the Pacific Baroque Festival Orchestra, Victoria Philharmonic Choir, Cowichan Consort, and Vox Humana Chamber Choir. Recent highlights include Handel's Apollo e Dafne with Victoria Baroque led by Steven Divine; Bach's Magnificat with the Sooke Philharmonic and Victoria Choral Society; Bach's Christmas Oratorio with the Okanagan Festival Singers; the World Premiere of two new pieces at a Poetry and Song gala by East Van Opera; and Jean-Joseph de Mondonville's Cantate Domino at the Pacific Baroque Festival.
Nathan has presented recitals in Canada and the United States, and has sung professionally in choirs on 4 continents. A veteran of youth-oriented choral projects, Nathan has sung several times with the National Youth Choir of Canada and World Youth Choir, as well as the Carnegie Hall Chamber Choir (New York, NY), Weimar Bach Cantata Academy (Weimar, Germany), JSB Ensemble (Stuttgart, Germany), and Academia Internacional Teatro del Lago (Chile).
Operatic highlights include Nathan's 2016 mainstage debut with Pacific Opera Victoria (POV) as Fiorello in Rossini's Barber of Seville; solo chorus in the POV's school touring production of Mary's Wedding by Andrew Macdonald; performing the role of Marcello (2018) and Papageno (2017) in POV's Living Opera in schools program; and singing the role of Marcello in Puccini's La Bohème at Edmonton's NUOVA festival. Other operatic roles include Il Conte (Le Nozze di Figaro – Mozart), Dandini (La Cenerentola – Rossini), Don Alfonso (Cosi fan tutte – Mozart), Marco (Gianni Schicchi – Puccini), Colas (Bastien und Bastienne – Mozart), and Mr. Gobineau (The Medium – Menotti).
Nathan is a member of the Voice Faculty at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and the Canadian College of Performing Arts. He serves as Music Director/Kantor at Lutheran Church of the Cross, Victoria, and is mentored by soprano, Nancy Argenta.
https://nathandavidmcdonald.com/en/About Rowan McWilliams, bass
Bass vocalist Rowan McWilliams is an alumnus of the University of Victoria School of Music.