When Suzie LeBlanc performs on the stage of the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium on Friday, March 27, at 7:30 p.m. along with three of her esteemed colleagues, it will be the fulfillment of a long-held wish of mine.
Suzie is one of the finest sopranos that Canada has produced. Her achievements have been recognized with an Order of Canada in 2015 and four honorary doctorates.
LeBlanc began her career based in Europe as a performer and scholar of Baroque music. While there, she was invited to perform for Václav Havel, former president of Czechoslovakia. She has sung on the main stages in Europe and on five continents around the world.
She returned to Montreal in the year 2000, performing with major orchestras in North America. In 2005, she founded Le Nouvel Opéra, a Montreal-based company that produces Baroque opera and contemporary music.
A proud New Brunswick Acadian, Suzie LeBlanc has recorded Acadian folk music and created a multimedia performance uniting the music of composer Jérôme Blais with the words of thirteen contemporary Acadian poets.
LeBlanc now lives in Vancouver where she is the Artistic and Executive Director of Early Music Vancouver.
Suzie will open her performance with the aria from the Prologue of Monteverdi’s Orfeo. Other Baroque arias in the program include the music of Purcell, Bach, Rameau, and Sances. We will also hear an Acadian folk song and a traditional Irish jig.
In addition, the program will feature instrumental music by Alexander Weimann, harpsichord, Chloe Meyers, violin, and Grégoire Jeay, Baroque flute and percussion.
Tickets to this concert are available online at www.valleyconcertsociety.com at $32 for adults and $20 for students. Call 604-289-3377 for more information.
John Wiebe -President
The Valley Concert Society