Soprano Suzie LeBlanc may be the headliner on Friday, March 27, at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium, but she brings with her three exceptionally talented colleagues.
One of these is the brilliant harpsichordist Alexander Weimann. Weimann lives in the Vancouver area where he is the artistic director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra.
Born in Germany, Weimann has pursued an astonishing number of interests. Besides the harpsichord, he has studied organ, jazz piano, theatre, musicology, medieval Latin, church music, and Gregorian chant.
Alex has performed with orchestras and Baroque ensembles in Europe and North America. He can be heard on some 100 CDs including the Juno Award winning album featuring superstar soprano Karina Gauvin singing with Arion Baroque Ensemble under his leadership.
Weimann’s harpsichord will be ever-present accompanying Suzie LeBlanc and playing in several instrumental works. These include sonatas by Bach, Goldberg, and Merula. Alex will be featured in a vivacious harpsichord solo entitled Ciaccona, by Bernardo Storace, an obscure Italian composer from the 17th century.
The keyboard music of the Renaissance and Baroque eras was composed for the harpsichord, an instrument that predated the piano. The mechanism in a harpsichord plucks the strings with a quill whereas the mechanism in a piano hits the strings with a hammer, allowing for greater variation in soft and loud playing.
We are privileged to have Alexander Weimann, widely regarded as one of Canada’s leading early music artists, along with his colleagues Chloe Meyers, Grégoire Jeay, and Suzie LeBlanc in Abbotsford. There is no one better placed to bring the music of a bygone era to life for us.
Tickets are available online at www.valleyconcertsociety.com at $32 for adults and $20 for students. For more information, call 604-289-3377.
John Wiebe - President
The Valley Concert Society