Victoria Baroque: "Devine" Bach
$30 CAD ($5 CAD student/youth; ages 7-11 free w/adult; ages 6 & under advised not to attend)
- Steven Devine, harpsichord & director
- Jennifer Turner, soprano
- Soile Stratkauskas, flute
- Christi Meyers, violin
- Paul Luchkow, violin
- Elyssa Lefurgey-Smith, violin
- Kathryn Wiebe, violin
- Mieka Michaux, viola
- Amy Laing, cello
- Natalie Mackie, violone
- Katrina Russell, bassoon
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach — Harpsichord Concerto in C major, H. 423, Wq. 20
Johann Sebastian Bach — Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209
Johann Sebastian Bach — Triple Concerto for Flute, Violin, and Keyboard in A minor, BWV 1044
The much-loved British harpsichordist and music director Steven Devine returns to direct Victoria Baroque in a programme of exhilarating works by Johann Sebastian Bach and his son, Carl Philipp Emmanuel.
About Steven Devine, harpsichord & director
Steven Devine enjoys a busy career as a music director and keyboard player working with some of the finest musicians.
He is the Principal Keyboard Player with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and also the principal keyboard player for The Gonzaga Band, The Mozartists, and performs regularly with many other groups around Europe. He has recorded over thirty discs with other artists and ensembles and made six solo recordings. His recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations (Chandos Records) has received critical acclaim – including Gramophone magazine describing it as "among the best." The complete harpsichord works of Rameau (Resonus) has received five-star reviews from BBC Music Magazine. Steven has recently released Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier. ("It’s the one of all I’ve heard in the past ten years that I am happiest to live with." Early Music Review)
He made his London conducting debut in 2002 at the Royal Albert Hall and is now a regular performer there – including making his Proms directing debut in August 2007 with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has conducted the Mozart Festival Orchestra in every major concert hall in the UK and also across Switzerland. Steven is Music Director for New Chamber Opera in Oxford and with them has performed repertoire from Cavalli to Rossini. For the Dartington Festival Opera he has conducted Handel's Orlando and Purcell's Dido and Aeneas. He is currently conductor and Artistic Advisor for the English Haydn Festival in Bridgnorth.
Steven works regularly with the Norwegian Wind Ensemble, Trondheim Barokk, the Victoria Baroque Players (BC, Canada), and Arion Baroque Ensemble (Montreal).
He is Early Keyboard Consultant to the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Royal Welsh Colleges, and teaches fortepiano at the Royal Academy of Music.
Finally, Steven is thrilled to be a member of the ground-breaking Art of Moog: an electronic music group specializing in the performance of Bach.
https://stevendevine.com/About Jennifer Turner, soprano
Jennifer Turner is a Victoria B.C. based soprano known for her expressive singing and powerful, ringing tone. A performer who sings with strong emotional intensity, Jennifer's warm and engaging presence has captivated audiences on the operatic and concert stages alike.
Jennifer is in demand as a concert soloist throughout Western Canada with engagements by Pacific Opera, Victoria Baroque, the Okanagan Festival Singers, the Victoria Philharmonic Choir, Opera Kelowna, Manitoba Underground Opera, the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra, the Salt Spring Chamber Orchestra, and Choir, the Linden Singers, the Victoria Civic Orchestra and the Cowichan Consort. In 2018, Jennifer toured with Canadian baritone, Gino Quilico, along with collaborative pianist Robert Holliston for a lecture concert of opera excerpts representing historical Canadian singers.
Jennifer has performed with Pacific Opera Victoria in recital and on the main stage, making her solo debut in the role of Donna/Siren in Handel's Rinaldo. She has also sung in several productions as a chorus member. Jennifer received extensive operatic training through the Victoria Conservatory of Music Opera Studio including her role debut as Fiordiligi in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte under the stage direction of Glynis Leyshon and Maestro Giuseppe Pietraroia. She also performed the role of Countess in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro with stage director Julie McIsaac and Maestro Timothy Vernon.
Jennifer has been generously supported by the British Columbia Arts Council through an Early Career Development Grant and Professional Development Grants. She was a 2020 recipient of an Early Music Vancouver Scholarship to study with baroque specialist Nancy Argenta. While completing her MA in Cultural Studies at Queens University, she received a prestigious SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship to study the disciplining effects of singing technique on the body. With her academic background, Jennifer has a strong curiosity for bringing critical perspectives into classical music. Moreover, Jennifer is interested in new music having performed avant-garde compositions and premiered works by Canadian composers.
Jennifer holds a M.Mus from the University of Manitoba where she studied with Tracy Dahl, and a Diploma in Music Performance from the Victoria Conservatory of Music where she studied with Ingrid Attrot and Nancy Argenta. Outside of the performance world, Jennifer is an enthusiastic tennis player, cat lover, and aspiring pianist and conductor.
https://jenniferturnersoprano.ca/About Kathryn Wiebe, violin
About Amy Laing, cello
Originally from Nanaimo B.C. Amy earned her Bachelor of Music degree from the HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton Florida, and her Master of Music degree from the Cleveland Institute of Music.
Prior to the arrival of COVID, Amy was delighted to be in her first season as Principal cellist in the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. She played regularly with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, as well as with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Canadian Opera Company, the Windsor Symphony, Niagara Symphony, Thunder Bay Symphony, and also held a six-month contract with Symphony Nova Scotia in Halifax.
In 2011/12 Amy served as acting principal cello in the Victoria Symphony and taught at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and again joined the orchestra playing principal cello for the second part of their 2016 season. Amy is an active chamber musician, and was a member of the Madawaska String Quartet, specializing in the performance and cultivation of contemporary works. Amy has also been the solo cellist in numerous major musical theatre productions, most recently “Hamilton”.
Beyond the strictly classical music genre Amy has worked with Toronto’s Art of Time Ensemble, SoulPepper Theatre Company, Toronto Dance Theatre, the Stratford Festival and Music in the Barns. She has performed or recorded with leading artists including Stevie Wonder, Blue Rodeo, Jesse Cook, The Barenaked Ladies, Jim Cuddy, Steven Page, Sarah Slean, Molly Johnson, Royal Wood, Amelia Curran, Donovan Woods, and played a Canadian tour with Blue Rodeo including a performance in the JUNO’s.
Amy has played in music festivals around the world including the Spoleto Festivals in Italy and in Charleston, The National Orchestral Institute, the Banff Arts Festival, Musica Nel Chiostro in Tuscany, Cork Opera Festival Ireland, COSI festival in Italy, the Northern Lights Festival in Ajijic Mexico, Festival of Sound in Parry Sound, the Phil Dywer Music Festival in Qualicum BC, Salt Spring Chamber Music Festival, Tafelmusik’s Winter Institute, and also toured China with her cello quartet.
On the positive side of the reconfiguration this pandemic has caused in her life, Amy is now happy to call Vancouver Island home once again and is thrilled to be joining Victoria Baroque this season. Amy plays on a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume cello.
https://victoria-baroque.com/amy-laing-cello/