Ode to St. Cecilia
St. Cecilia, a holy martyr of the Catholic church, is venerated as the patron saint of musicians because she heard heavenly music in her heart as an answer to her prayers. Her feast day falls each year on November 22nd.
St. Augustine Series is proud to present a concert of sacred music by women composers from the Baroque era in honour of the patron of all music!
The concert program will include works by:
Isabella Leonarda
Claudia Francesca Rusca
Marieta Priuli
Chiara Margarita Cozzolani
Bianca Maria Meda.
About the Musicians:
Jane Long: Soprano - featured soloist
Hailed as a “clear, agile soprano” (The Georgia Straight), Vancouver, Canada, native Jane Long performs as a chamber singer, concert soloist, and recitalist. As a soloist, Jane has performed with the Victoria Symphony, Pacific Musicworks, Symphony Nova Scotia, and recitals with Juno nominated pianist, Jane Coop. Jane has had the honor of studying with renowned musicians including Emma Kirkby, Andreas Scholl, Richard Egarr, and Ellen Hargis, and performing alongside accomplished artists like Suzie Leblanc, Sarah Connolly, Marc Destrubé, Laura Pudwell, and Charles Daniels. Some of her highlights include a staged performance of 17thCentury Italian song with Stephen Stubbs and Pacific Musicworks, a cross Canada tour of an innovative new and early music program with Arkora music collective, and performances as a soprano soloist in Early Music Vancouver’s all-women tour of Vivaldi Gloria and Magnificat, led by Monica Huggett. She sings with ensembles such as Seraphic Fire (Miami, Florida), True Concord (Tucson, Arizona), Spire (Kansas City, Missouri), Arkora (Vancouver, BC) and Vancouver Chamber Choir as an ensemble singer. Jane received her Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of British Columbia and her Masters of Music in Vocal Performance from the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London, England. She now works as a free-lance artist and lives in Washington State with her husband and three young children. During the COVID-19 crisis, she enjoyed staying home with family, pottery, and gardening.
Nancy DiNovo: Baroque Violin
A former member of the St. Louis, Toronto and Boston Symphony Orchestras and founding concertmaster of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, violinist Nancy DiNovo has performed in the world’s major concert halls on three continents. Her playing has been described as “stunning – a superlative mix of virtuosity and earthy vigour” (Victoria Times Colonist), and “simply astonishing……her sheer joy of reveling in the music left me dazzled.” (Hamilton Spectator). An avid chamber musician and director of the “DiNovo and Friends” chamber music series, Nancy performs solo and chamber music recitals in styles ranging from period instrument to contemporary. She has premièred a number of works written especially for her, including the Barnes Violin Concerto with Neville Marriner on the podium. Nancy has been concertmaster with a myriad of ensembles across Canada including the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, CBC Radio Orchestra and Pacific Opera Victoria.
Highlights of Ms DiNovo’s 2018/19 season include performances of concerti by Walton, Dvorak, and Tchaikovsky. Ms. DiNovo plays on a J.B. Guadagnini made in 1770.
Majka Demcak: Baroque Violin
As a classically trained violinist with a strong traditional folk background from her Slovak heritage, Majka Demcak performs music from the Baroque and Classical eras with zest and an improvisational freedom, compelled by a search for enchantment and magic in all of her performances. She recently graduated with a master’s degree from The Juilliard School’s Historical Performance program where she trained and performed on stages from Paris to New Zealand with world renowned musicians and directors. As one of the founding members of Quartet Salonnieres, Majka Demcak is passionate about bringing a reinvigorated approach and sound to the classical repertoire of string quartet playing, highlighting the voices of the lesser-known contemporaries of Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn. In New York City, she has performed in Alice Tully Hall, recorded concerts for Gotham Early Music Scene and performed with The Little OPERA Theatre of New York. Back in her home country, Canada, Majka Demcak is a founding member of the baroque ensemble Gallo Chamber Players, performs with Pacific Baroque Orchestra, and was featured as an emerging artist in the Vancouver Bach Festival. She is proudly a member/muse of the Alberta-based Mount Parnassus Foundation where she has recently recorded a Handel project and is a member of the ensemble, Ourania. Majka Demcak is founder and artistic director of the St. Augustine Series based in Vancouver, BC.
Angela Lobato: Baroque Cello
Cellist from Madrid. Trained at the Royal College of Music in London, she then specialised in historical performance at the Munich Conservatory of Music and the Juilliard School in New York. Her professors for modern cello were Natalie Clein, Richard Lester and Eduardo Palao; for baroque, Catherine Rimer, Kristin von der Goltz and Phoebe Carrai. During her studies she has worked with Béatrice Martin, Rachel Podger, Richard Egarr, Florilegium, Jesper Bøje Christensen, Jarosław Thiel and Joseph Crouch, among others.
She currently collaborates with the orchestra Il Pomo d'Oro and has performed with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) and under the baton of great maestros such as Sir András Schiff, Ricardo Kanji, Giovanni Antonini, Masaaki Suzuki, Pablo Heras-Casado, Sir Roger Norrington, Francesco Corti and John Wilson, in concert halls and festivals in Europe, the United States, Canada and Brazil.
With the support of the Mount Parnassus Foundation, based in Canada, Ángela is also dedicated to the research of vocal repertoire in Italian, largely unpublished. These efforts make up the repertoire that her newly created vocal ensemble Thaleia performs in their recordings and concert programmes. Her first recording project with Thaleia, Arie con Istromenti: Maria Antonia Walpurgis e Maria Teresa, includes the "Six Arias" of Princess Maria Antonia Walpurgis of Bavaria (1724-1780) and works by her protégée Maria Teresa Agnesi (1720-1795), all on first record. Thaleia's concert debut took place in the Chapel of the Royal Palace in Madrid, during the International Festival of Sacred Art (FIAS) 2022.
After her experience in pedagogy and workshops on access to music for young people and families with RCM Sparks and as a teacher in the DaLaNota Musicosocial Programme, Ángela became passionate about artistic teaching and has trained in New York as a Teaching Artist and has collaborated in the Education Programme of the OAE. She has been invited to lecture to Early Music students at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP) and the Royal College of Music in London. In 2023 she will attend for the second time as assistant professor of baroque cello at the Festival Música de Santa Catarina FEMUSC, in Jaraguá do Sul (Brazil).
Christina Hutten: Organ & Harpsichord
Organist and harpsichordist Christina Hutten has presented recitals in Canada, the United States, and Europe, including performances in concert series hosted by the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, the Hooglandsekerk in Leiden, Early Music Vancouver, the Universities of British Columbia and Calgary, and others. She performs regularly with Pacific Baroque Orchestra and has appeared as concerto soloist with the Okanagan Symphony, the Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra, and the Arizona State University Chamber Orchestra. Christina is also an enthusiastic teacher. She coaches and helps to coordinate the early music ensembles at the University of British Columbia and has given masterclasses and workshops at institutions including the Victoria Baroque Summer Program, Brandon University, the University of Manitoba, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada’s National Music Centre in Calgary, and the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute. Funded by a generous grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, she pursued organ studies in Europe with Francesco Cera, François Espinasse, and Bernard Winsemius. Christina obtained a master’s degree in Organ Performance from Arizona State University under the direction of Kimberly Marshall and an Advanced Certificate in Harpsichord Performance from the University of Toronto, where she studied with Charlotte Nediger. She is now a doctoral candidate in musicology at UBC.
Support
Show your support by joining Majka Demcak's Patreon community and donate to contribute to events by Gallo Chamber Players, concerts hosted by the St. Augustine Series, future recording projects and so much more!
Concert Info & Contact
St. Augustine's Church
2028 W. 7th Avenue, Vancouver
Majka Demcak - Artisitic Director