The JUNO award winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) releases its newest album of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Six Motets on the ATMA Classique label. The album features Bach’s stunning motets, including Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV 225; Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227; Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf, BWV 226; Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229; Fürchte dich nicht, ich bin bei dir, BWV 228; and Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden, BWV 230. An expanded baroque continuo accompanies the choir, featuring Jonathan Oldengarm, organ; Jean-Christophe Lizotte, cello; Reuven Rothman, double bass; Matthew Larkin, harpsichord; and Lucas Harris, theorbo.

“Bach’s virtuosic motets are among the greatest achievements of choral polyphony and form the pinnacle of the genre,” says Founder and Artistic Director Lisette Canton. “Written for 4 to 8 voices, the texts, formal construction and textures are drawn from the German motet tradition and brilliantly display the magnificent sound of the choir in this fantastic recording.”

The Ottawa Bach Choir, founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best. The OBC won the 2020 JUNO Award for its album, Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schütz: Motets, in the category Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral, and has just returned from the prestigious international festival, Bachfest Leipzig, this past June 2022. The OBC has toured extensively in Canada, the United States, Europe, and China, and had the honour of being the first Canadian choir ever to be among the performers in Bachfest Leipzig 2014.

For interviews and information, please contact:

Lee-Ann Brodeur, Administrative Manager, leeann.brodeur@ottawabachchoir.ca

Dr. Lisette Canton, Founder and Artistic Director, lisette.canton@ottawabachchoir.ca

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

Lisette Canton, conductor                                                         

Copies are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca, or on all streaming platforms.

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca

The JUNO award-winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the final concert of its 21^st season, Spring Serenade, on Saturday, May 6, 2023, 8:00pm, at Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, in Ottawa. This concert will feature Haydn’s exquisite Mehrstimmige Gesänge (13 Partsongs), as well as works by Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Clara Schumann, Ottawa native Nicholas Piper, Clément Janequin, Claude Le Jeune, and more. Pianist Elaine Keillor joins the choir for this sublime presentation. 

“Join the OBC for a concert celebrating the coing of Spring with Haydn’s rarely heard part-songs, along with exquisite lieder and chansons, including works by Ottawa native Nicholas Piper,” says Founder and Artistic Director, Lisette Canton. “We invite you to immerse yourself in the beauty of the season with this magnificent music.”

The Ottawa Bach Choir, founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods. Audiences will enjoy an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best, through the combining of scholarly and emotional approaches to performances. The OBC won the 2020 JUNO Award for its album, Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schütz: Motets, in the category Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral, and returned from the prestigious international festival, Bachfest Leipzig, in June of 2022. The OBC has toured extensively in Canada, Europe, the United States and China, and had the honour of being the first Canadian choir ever to be among the performers in Bachfest Leipzig 2014. J.S. Bach: Six Motets, the choir’s eighth album, will be released on April 14, 2023 and is now available for pre-order from ATMA Classique.

For interviews and information, please contact:

Lee-Ann Brodeur, Administrative Manager, leeann.brodeur@ottawabachchoir.ca

Dr. Lisette Canton, Founder and Artistic Director, lisette.canton@ottawabachchoir.ca

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

Lisette Canton, conductor                                             

Spring Serenade

with pianist Elaine Keillor

Saturday, May 6, 2023, 8:00pm

Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, Ottawa

Tickets: Reserved $50, Adult $40, Senior $35, Student $20, Children 12 and under free

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca

The JUNO award winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the second concert of its 21^st season, Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, on Saturday, March 11, 2023, 8:00pm. This concert features the chamber version for piano four-hands, arranged by the composer himself, along with works by Telemann and Bach.  Joined by pianists Matthew Larkin and Frédéric Lacroix, and soloists, soprano Jonelle Sills and baritone Geoffrey Sirett, this spectacular concert will be performed at St. Matthew’s Church, in Ottawa, 130 Glebe Avenue. 

“For our second concert, we present one of the greatest choral works ever written, Brahms’ German Requiem,” says Founder and Artistic Director, Lisette Canton. “With some of Canada’s finest soloists, coupled with some fabulous German motets by Bach and Telemann, this concert promises to inspire us all. Join us for this moving presentation.”

Founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, the Ottawa Bach Choir offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best. The OBC won the 2020 JUNO Award for its album, Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schütz: Motets, in the category Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral, and has just returned from the prestigious international festival, Bachfest Leipzig, this past June 2022. The OBC has toured extensively in Canada, Europe, the United States and China, and had the honour of being the first Canadian choir ever to be among the performers in Bachfest Leipzig 2014. The OBC will release its 8^th album, J.S. Bach: Six Motets, in April 2023.

For interviews and information, please contact:

Lee-Ann Brodeur, Administrative Manager, leeann.brodeur@ottawabachchoir.ca

Dr. Lisette Canton, Founder and Artistic Director, lisette.canton@ottawabachchoir.ca

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

with pianists Matthew Larkin and Frédéric Lacroix, and soloists, soprano Jonelle Sills and baritone Geoffrey Sirett

Dr. Lisette Canton, conductor                                      

Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem

Saturday, March 11, 2023, 8:00pm

St. Matthew’s Church, 130 Glebe Avenue, Ottawa

Tickets: Reserved $50, Adult $40, Senior $35, Student $20, Children 12 and under free

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca.

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca

The JUNO award winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the first concert of its 21^st season, Baroque Christmas, on Saturday, November 26, 2022, 8:00pm, at Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, 355 Cooper Street, in Ottawa. The concert features Heinrich Schütz’ Historia der Geburt Jesu Christi, SWV 435, in collaboration with Schützfest, as well as festive works by Bach and Buxtehude. The Theatre of Early Music baroque orchestra joins the choir, along with British concert master, Adrian Butterfield, as well as soloists, Daniel Taylor, countertenor, Rufus Müller, tenor, and Ottawa native Matthew Li, bass.

“This concert opens up a glorious 21^st season with music by composers the OBC holds dear to its heart: Schütz, Bach and Buxtehude,” says Founder and Artistic Director, Dr. Lisette Canton  “We are delighted to have the opportunity to be part of Schützfest, the national festival in honour of Heinrich Schütz, and to present such magnificent works from the Baroque period with some of the leading soloists and instrumentalists in this style. Join us for this festive celebration!”

The Ottawa Bach Choir, founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best. The OBC won the 2020 JUNO Award for its album, Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schütz: Motets, in the category Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral, and has just returned from the prestigious international festival, Bachfest Leipzig, this past June 2022. The OBC has toured extensively in Canada, the United States, Europe, and China, and had the honour of being the first Canadian choir ever to be among the performers in Bachfest Leipzig 2014.

For interviews and information, please contact:

Lee-Ann Brodeur, Administrative Manager, leeann.brodeur@ottawabachchoir.ca

Dr. Lisette Canton, Founder and Artistic Director, lisette.canton@ottawabachchoir.ca

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

with Theatre of Early Music baroque orchestra; Daniel Taylor, artistic director

Soloists: countertenor Daniel Taylor, tenor Rufus Müller, bass Matthew Li, violinist and concert master, Adrian Butterfield

Dr. Lisette Canton, conductor                                                   

Baroque Christmas

Saturday, November 26, 2022, 8:00pm

Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, 355 Cooper Street, Ottawa

Tickets: Reserved $50, Adult $40, Senior $35, Student $20, Children 12 and under free

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca.

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca.

Welcome to the 2022-2023 season and the Ottawa Bach Choir’s 21st season of glorious choral music! The professional ensemble has travelled the world, received national and international recognition, and also won a JUNO award in 2020 for Best Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral, for its album Handel: Dixit Dominus, Bach & Schütz: Motets! Fresh from its return from Bachfest Leipzig 2022 this past June, the choir’s second invitation to the prestigious festival, the OBC presents three concerts, including a Baroque Christmas with music by Heinrich Schütz in commemoration of the 350th anniversary of his death in collaboration with Schützfest, Brahms’ glorious Ein deutsches Requiem in the chamber version for piano four-hands, and a beautiful Spring Serenade with secular part-songs by Haydn, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, Ottawa native Nicholas Piper, and more. The choir also releases its 8th album in 2023 on the ATMA Classique label. We are delighted to offer in-person performances, select virtual concerts through our Digital Concert Hall and to share our passion for choral music. Come discover the best that choral music has to offer!

The Ottawa Bach Choir is pleased to offer three magnificent concerts in its 2022-2023 Season Series:

(1) Baroque Christmas, Saturday, November 26, 2022, 8 PM, Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, 355 Cooper St. & OBC’s Digital Concert Hall

(2) Brahms: Ein deutsches Requiem, Saturday, March 11, 2023, 8 PM, St. Matthew’s Church, 130 Glebe Ave.

(3) Spring Serenade, Saturday, May 6, 2023, 8 PM, Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar St.

We are overjoyed to share our passion for choral music with all patrons. Come discover the best that choral music has to offer!

Lisette Canton, Founder and Artistic Director  

The choir’s 20th anniversary season began with Bach’s Six Motets and 8th recording (postponed from May because of the pandemic), followed by Bach’s masterpiece, Mass in B minor, with Ensemble Caprice baroque orchestra and soloists Meredith Hall, Nicholas Burns, Nils Brown and David Pike. The next concert of French Baroque Treasures included Charpentier’s Missa Assumpta est Maria and Mondonville’s Dominus Regnavit, accompanied by organist Matthew Larkin, followed by Prélude Europe 2022, and the Bach Leipzig Epiphany Cantatas, which included the repertoire the choir would take on its 5th Europen tour, A Bach Pilgrimage, in conjunction with performances at Bachfest Leipzig 2022, with organist Jonathan Oldengarm. All concerts were produced both live and digitally.

For its 19th season, the choir was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and had to reimagine much of its season. It presented digital concerts, beginning with Hodie!, featuring festive repertoire for the season, including Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, and works by Renaissance, Baroque and Contemporary composers with organist Matthew Larkin and harpist Caroline Léonardelli, followed by The French Renaissance, featuring Jean Richafort’s Requiem, as well as chansons by Lassus, Certon and Sermisy. The final concert of Bach’s Six Motets, along with the choir’s 8th recording, had to be postponed because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The OBC won the JUNO 2020 award in the category Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral, for Handel, Bach & Schütz, on the ATMA Classique label.

By Wolfgang Adam

“Then at noon in the Thomas Church a musical surprise. Three superb Bach cantatas (BWV 124, 3, 111) performed by a powerful Canadian choir. This ‘Ottawa Bach Choir’ conducted by Lisette Canton showed us that the choral basses can be dominant in the polyphonic network of voices. Not the choir sopranos, but this time the men offered the powerful voiced basis. In the soloist quartet, the baritone was also the star of the performance for me.”

Rezensionen und News nach Beendigung vom Bachfest Leipzig 2022

Dann In der Mittags-Zeit in der Thomas-Kirche eine musikalische Überraschung. Drei hochkarätige Bach-Kantaten( BWV 124,3,111), aufgeführt von einem machtvollen Chor aus Kanada. Dieser ‘Ottawa-Bach-Chor’ unter Lisette Canton zeigte uns, dass die Chorbässe im polyphonen Geflecht der Stimmen die Dominanz haben können. Nicht der Chor-Sopran, sondern diesmal die Männer boten die stimmgewaltige Grundlage. Im Solistenquartet war auch der Bariton für mich der Star der Darbietung.

The JUNO award winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) has been invited to the world’s most prestigious international Bach festival, Bachfest Leipzig 2022, as one of a select number of ensembles worldwide—and the only Canadian ensemble—to present the entire chorale cantata cycle of Bach, performing with the Pauliner Baroque Ensemble. As part of its fifth European tour this June, the choir also embarks on  A Bach Pilgrimage, following its two performances at Bachfest Leipzig, to the places where Bach lived and worked, including Eisenach, Arnstadt, Mühlhausen, Weimar, and other influential venues in Wittenberg, Halle and Berlin. Canadian soloists, soprano Jana Miller, countertenor Nicholas Burns, tenor Nils Brown and baritone David John Pike, along with organist Jonathan Oldengarm, join the choir on this historic tour.

In preparation for the tour, the OBC presents this repertoire to Ottawa audiences as part of the final concert of its 20^th anniversary season, Prelude-Europe 2022, on Saturday, May 7, 2022, 8 PM, at St. Matthew’s Church, 130 Glebe Avenue, in Ottawa. The music includes works by German baroque masters, Bach, Schütz, Telemann, Pachelbel, and others, Renaissance masters, as well as Contemporary gems by Mealor, Ottawa composer Kelly-Marie Murphy, and more. Canadian organist Jonathan Oldengarm joins the choir for this thrilling concert.

“We are honoured to be invited to return to Bachfest Leipzig, performing in the Thomaskirche, where Bach was   employed for 27 years, in the worldwide presentation of his second cycle of chorale cantatas,” says Founder and  Artistic Director, Lisette Canton. As part of our Bach Pilgrimage Tour throughout Germany, performing in the very places where Bach lived and worked and other prestigious venues, we present this exciting repertoire for Ottawa audiences. Join us for this spectacular evening of music!”

The Ottawa Bach Choir, founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best. The OBC won the 2020 JUNO Award for its album, Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schütz: Motets, in the category “Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral”. The professional ensemble has toured extensively in Canada, the United States, Europe, and China.

For interviews and information, please contact:

Dr. Lisette Canton, Founder and Artistic Director, lisette.canton@ottawabachchoir.ca

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

with organist Jonathan Oldengarm

Lisette Canton, conductor                                             

Prelude-Europe 2022

Live In-Person

Saturday, May 7, 2022, 8:00 PM

St. Matthew’s Church, 130 Glebe Avenue, Ottawa

Tickets: Reserved $50, Adult $40, Senior $35, Student $20, Children 12 and under free

Tickets are available online or by phone. To view the concert in our Digital Concert Hall, please see the website www.ottawabachchoir.ca.

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca

TAKE US BACH

by Rachel Williams

On March 12, the rehearsal room at Knox Presbyterian Church was filled with a flurry of excitement before showtime. With COVID-19 restrictions lifted, the Ottawa Bach choir was finally able to host in-person concerts again. Before, the Juno Award winning Ottawa Bach choir had to settle for virtual shows and pre-recorded events.

“We are overjoyed to be back,” said Lisette Canton, the founder, artistic director, and conductor of the choir.

“There is no other way to perform music… This is the art of live music and live performance.”

Contrary to its name, the Ottawa Bach Choir does not just perform in the Ottawa region but

is internationally renowned. They have toured in the United States, Germany, China, and several other countries. One of their highest achievements is performing at the Bachfest Leipzig in Germany, the home of the famous baroque composer.

“It’s an honour because we’ve been asked to tour and perform in some festivals in Bachfest

Leipzig. We are the only Canadian group to ever go, and we are going back for a second time in June this year. It’s wonderful, it’s exhilarating but it’s also a lot of work,” said choral singer Kathleen Radke.

“To be singing in the choir [at the church] where Johann Bach is actually buried. It’s a great honour and it means a lot to us. It’s a very moving experience.”

The lights dimmed and the angelic singing began. The choir sang a medley of French baroque classics. Though named the Bach choir, the group performs works of other classic and even contemporary composers.

My favourite piece in the set was the credo, sung beautifully in Latin. During the intermission, multiple attendees remarked on the transcendent feel of the performance. The musical talents of the guest organist, Matthew Larkin, paired wonderfully with the choir.

The Ottawa Bach Choir will be representing Canada at the Bachfest Leipzig again this June.

Learn more about the Ottawa Bach Choir on their website.