THE KING'S CHORUS

Carl Orff’s

CARMINA BURANA

McNally Theatre Auditorium, Saint Mary’s University, Halifax
November 25, 2012, 7:00 PM
Tickets are $25 each. Tickets are now available by phone at (701) 423-5984 or by email at novascotiayouthorchestra@gmail.com

Featuring:
The King’s Chorus &  Capella Regalis Men and Boys’ Choir
Nick Halley, director
Susan Boddie, soprano
Andrew Pickett, countertenor
Ross Thompson, baritone

Carl Orff’s 1936 masterpiece is a tour de force. Inspired by a Medieval manuscript composed of love songs, drinking songs, and touching on the fleeting nature of life, the piece is just as powerful today as when the verse was written in the 11th and 12th centuries. First performed in 1937, Carmina Burana quickly became a staple of the Classical repertoire. This electric collaboration between the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra, directed by Dinuk Wijeratne, and the King’s Chorus, directed by Nick Halley, promises to be an event of the Autumn not to be missed.

The Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra is a non-profit organization founded in 1977. For over thirty-five years, the NSYO has provided students with educational opportunities not available at any university, public school, or conservatory in the province. The NSYO has been described by renowned professional conductors and musicians as one of the finest in Canada. 85% of its alumni have gone on to jobs in music-related fields.

Capella Regalis Men and Boys Choir was founded in Halifax by Director Nick Halley in 2010, and it is now in its fourth season.  The choir comprises six men and fourteen boys (ages 8 – 14) and is one of only a handful of men and boys choirs in Canada.  Past concerts range from Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the King’s Chapel Choir to the Paul Winter Consort’s Missa Gaia/Earth Masswith the King’s Chorus, to the every-popular annual Christmas concert, To Bethlehem with King’s.

Susan Boddie, soprano

Susan A. Boddie, Soprano is originally from St. John’s, NL. She received her BM degree from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston and her MM degree from the Manhattan School of Music, NYC studying with Ms. Patricia Misslin. While residing in New York, she frequently performed in the genres of Opera, Oratorio, Chamber Music and Musical Theatre. Ms. Boddie is a Doctoral Candidate at the Graduate Division of Educational Research at the University of Calgary. She is part of the Voice Faculty at Acadia University and the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts and has been on the Music Faculties of St. Francis Xavier and Dalhousie Universities. She is a frequent masterclass clinician and voice adjudicator. Ms. Boddie recently performed as Soprano Soloist in a Chamber Music Concert with some members of the Blue Engine String Quartet in Halifax, NS, as well was a member of the cast of “Viva il Canto d’Amore” presented by Opera NS. Other performances include Soprano Soloist for Bach’s “Christmas Oratorio” and “Carmina Burana” presented by Acadia University.
Andrew Pickett, countertenor

Andrew Pickett received his Master of Music in Literature and Performance from the University of Western Ontario, and then spent four years in the UK, earning a graduate diploma at the Royal College of Music and studying with such notable experts in the vocal Baroque as Dame Emma Kirkby, James Bowman, and Michael Chance; while there, he was a Britten-Pears Young Artist and a Brighton Early Music Festival Young Artist. Andrew has performed major roles in operas by Handel, Monteverdi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Hasse, Purcell and Jonathan Dove, and been a soloist in works by Purcell, Charpentier, Handel, Britten, and Bach in the UK, Europe, and Canada. Recent work has included a solo recital of Bach with members of Symphony Nova Scotia, Bernstein Chichester Psalms with the Halifax Camerata Singers, Bach St Matthew Passion and Mass in B Minor with Paul Halley and Ensemble Regale, A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the Halifax Summer Opera Workshop, and Purcell Fairy Queen in the UK. This past Christmas, he made news in Halifax when he stepped in for an ailing alto soloist partway through a performance of Kevin Mallon’s Dublin Messiah with Symphony Nova Scotia. Andrew lives in Halifax where he works as a voice teacher, clinician, and director of The Prince Edward Consort, an early music vocal ensemble.
Ross Thompson, baritone

Ross’s multi-faceted career has included opera, musical theatre performance, choral direction, public school and university teaching, private voice instruction and composing in the musical theatre genre. He trained at the University of Calgary, the Banff School of Fine Arts, the University of Toronto and Acadia University.

He has performed with the Calgary Opera, Edmonton Opera, Vancouver’s Theatre Under the Stars, Winnipeg Opera, the Canadian Opera Company and symphony orchestras across Canada. Most recently he appeared in the Vocalypse world premiere of the opera ‘Trudeau’ by DD Jackson and George Elliot Clark. He is featured with Leslie Lake-Searle and the “Rhapsody Quintet” on the CD “The Melody Lingers On”.

As artistic director of the Cantabile Society, Ross is the conductor of the Cantabile Singers of Truro, co-conductor the Cantabile Boys choir and musical director for Spotlight Musical Theatre. He was the founder of the Annapolis Valley Honour Choir. He is a popular workshop and festival clinician throughout the Maritimes.

A great fan of the musical theatre genre, he has created many scores for the “Fezziwig’s Family Christmas Frolic” series. Festival Antigonish presented “Belinda the Bicycle Witch” and “Lost and Found”, musicals created with his sister Shelley Thompson. Here in Truro, he created new music for Spotlight`s production of the “The Bean Tree”, a musical play written by Margot Begin-Gillis of Truro.

Now retired from his public school teaching career, in 2002 he was the recipient of a Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence. His work has been acknowledged in the Nova Scotia legislature. He is currently interim Executive Director at the Marigold Cultural Centre in Truro.

MISSA GAIA

A CONTEMPORARY MASS IN CELEBRATION OF THE EARTH

April 19 – 21, 2012   

The King’s Chorus goes on tour!

Wolfville, April 19      Lunenburg, April 20      Halifax, April 21

Integrating world music with songs from the wild to celebrate the whole earth as a sacred space, the Missa Gaia. The Missa Gaia melds the Paul Winter Consort’s joyous use of rhythm and instrumentation with the sounds of our natural world. The Mass is performed annually on the first Sunday of October in the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York. It was commissioned by the Dean of the Cathedral as a contemporary ecumencial Mass in 1980 and includes arrangements by Paul Halley. Special guest gospel singer,  Theresa Thomason and guest artists Dani Oore on soprano saxophone and Paul Halley on piano and organ.

“[Paul] Winter and company have achieved a distinguished triumph in combining divergent music styles and imaginatively wedding voices, instrumentation and recorded sounds of a tundra wolf, canyon and musical wrens, harp seals, a flight of loons and singing humpback whales.”
(The Boston Globe)

THE MISSA GAIA ATHLACADEMATHON
March 24, 2012

1:30pm

King’s Chorus and

King’s Sustainability Present:

Ath-lak-uh-dem-uh-thon

noun (1) A multi-discipline athletic/academic event within the field of athlacademics. (2) An event supporting the Ecology Action Centre and our own King’s Chorus earthday concert Missa Gaia (take a peek at KingsChorus.com)which aims to engage the hearts, minds and bodies of community members at large. (3) A seriously fun environmental benefit.

The Athlacademathon will consist of several on-campus (meet at the King’s Quad) events (planet ball, ultimate Frisbee, dance competition, tug of war, soccer a group run and an essaywriting contest*) in which registered teams can fundraise for a good cause and compete against one another to achieve overall top scores and win prizes. Each team will consist of 5 people who are committed to the event and are willing to fundraise and seek out pledges from family, businesses, sympathetic community members etc.

The majority of funds raised will go to benefit the Ecology Action Center based alternative transportation advocates: Bike Again. Bike again is a volunteer run community initiative whose mandate is to ensure that everyone has access to a bicycle and to educate and empower the general public concerning bike repair. Check them out online at: http://www.ecologyaction.ca/content/bike-again.

All day long we will be running a barbeque and pumping tasteful music for your delight (so bring your friends!). After the final event, the essays will be graded and overall scores calculated. Winners will be announced and prizes distributed to the top-ranked teams and the team who raised the most money.

Teams will be asked to fundraise a minimum of $50 for the event and there will be a special prize awarded to our most dedicated fundraisers. So get out there and drum up some support!

Step one: Register your team (Forms available at the main desk of the King’s A&A building). Step two: fundraise for a worthy cause. Step three: get lots of fun exercise. Just three easy steps!

*Each team will elect an essay writing champion. This champion will be the only individual from that team who
may participate in the writing. The topic will be announced at the time of the event. Dr. Hankey will be presiding.

view & download the registration forms here: General Information   Pledge Form    Waiver

Hear Paul Halley and Nick Halley in conversation in the King’s College Chapel. They will speak on the Bach B Minor Mass (being performed in Halifax at All Saints Cathedral on April 14, 7.30 PM) and the Missa Gaia (being performed in Halifax at First Baptist Church on April 21 at 2.00 PM).

They will play excerpts on the drums and piano, talk about the the evolution of both masses, and explain the surprising connections between the two.

This event is free and open to the public.

The University of King’s College Chapel, 6350 Coburg Rd, Halifax
Thursday 22 March, 7.30 PM