Ottawa Chamberfest is offering a gift of music to warm up this bleak winter.
The second half of the 2020-21 concert series starts on Jan. 16 with the Montreal baroque quartet Pallade Musica and continues with seven more concerts that will include artists such as Jeremy Dutcher, Alain Lefèvre and the Ironwood String Quartet. All eight concerts will be livestreamed. There will also be limited seating inside the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre as pandemic restrictions allow. (Meanwhile there are still two concerts left from the fall series: Tonight’s show features the True North Brass at 7 p.m. and the second Cheng2Duo concert remembering and reimagining Beethoven is now on Feb. 27 at 7 p.m.)
Here’s the winter lineup:
Pallade Musica
Pallade Musica (Jan. 16)
Montreal’s virtuoso baroque quartet includes Tanya LaPerrière (baroque violin), Elinor Frey (baroque cello), Esteban La Rotta (theorbo) and Mélisande McNabney (harpsichord). The group will expand to add voice in this concert of Bach, Buxtehude, Weckman, Schutz.
Echo Chamber (Feb. 13)
Founded by Canadian violinist and current concertmaster of the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra, Aaron Schwebel, Echo Chamber combines live music and dance in new choreographed works.
Musicians of NACO (March 13)
Chamberfest collaborates with musicians from the National Arts Centre Orchestra. “This concert is a great opportunity for our audience to get to know their NACO neighbours at a deeper level. Of course, many folks are familiar with NACO’s principals, but the orchestra is full of talent and special musicians. This concert introduces us to Anna Petersen, who plays 2nd oboe in NACO, plus some other familiar faces to Ottawa audiences,” says Chamberfest interim artistic director and NACO violinist Carissa Klopoushak.
Jeremy Dutcher (March 22)
Maliseet (Wolastoq) composer and tenor Jeremy Dutcher will celebrate the culture and language of his people, with works from his Polaris Prize winning album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa.
Alain Lefèvre (April 6)
Ottawa audiences will know the internationally acclaimed pianist, Alain Lefèvre, most recently for his work with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in concert and on the JUNO nominated recording The Bound Of Our Dreams, on which he performed the demanding Le Concerto de l’asile, by the Quebec composer and impresario Walter Boudreau.
Collectif9 (April 19)
Montreal’s self-described “classical string band” presents Rituæls, which is a 60-minute feature-length film that brings together works from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. The film is the first in a series that will feature musical performances in a variety of “multidisciplinary universes”. Collectif9 is: Thibault Bertin-Maghit, double bass; Chloe Chabanole, violin; Scott Chancey, viola; Jérémie Cloutier, cello; John Corban, violin; Yubin Kim, violin; Xavier Lepage Brault, viola; Robert Margaryan, violin; Elizabeth Skinner, violin and Andrea Stewart, cello.
Ironwood String Quartet (May 10)
Ironwood features four member of NACO: Jessica Linnebach, Carissa Klopoushak, David Marks, and Julia MacLaine. “Really, for me, this concert is a chance to introduce the Chamberfest family to one of my personal projects,” Klopoushak said. “Ironwood brings something different to the quartet sphere. We play core repertoire, new music, and experiment with different forms and genres. In this concert, the central concept is personal stories, and we’ll anchor the program with Smetana’s Quartet “From My Life.”
Chambersphere (May 31)
This concert remains a bit mysterious. The organizers say it will be “an integrated, immersive experience designed to challenge the boundaries of the small ensemble.” All eight concerts will be broadcast live from Dominion-Chalmers. Each performance will be 60-75 minutes followed by a Q&A session with the artists.
Tickets go on sale Tuesday. For more please see chamberfest.com
