Virtual BACH – Dona nobis pacem from Mass in B Minor, BWV 232, by J.S. Bach. Peace and hope for the world in a time of uncertainty, recorded April 28-May 3, 2020 by the Ottawa Bach Choir with 29 separate videos.

The JUNO Award-winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) will present the final concert of its 19th glorious season, Bach Motets, postponed to October 2021, in its new Digital Concert Hall. The concert features Bach’s brilliant Six Motets, including Singet dem Herrn, BWV 225; Der Geist hilft, BWV 226; Jesu, meine Freude, BWV 227; Fürchte dich nicht, BWV 228; Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229; and Lobet den Herrn, BWV 230; performed with continuo. The choir will record this music at a later date for its 8th CD, due for release in 2022.

The OBC won the JUNO 2020 Award for its recording, Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schütz: Motets, in the category Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral. Released on the ATMA Classique label, the album has been exclaimed as “staggering and movingly performed” (Gramophone Magazine), “among the very best” (American Record Guide) and “awe-inspiring” (The WholeNote).

The choir has also been invited to return 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) asked to present the entire chorale cantata cycle of Bach, in June 2022.

Founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, the OBC offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods, featuring some of Canada’s top choristers. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best. 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.

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

Dr. Lisette Canton, Conductor                                                   

Bach Motets

October 2021: Digital Concert Hall

Tickets: General $20

Tickets are available online: OBC Digital Concert Hall

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.

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

Soloists, Ottawa Bach Choir, Lisette Canton, conductor (OBC)
January 24, 2009
Two of J.S. Bach’s best known choral cantatas make up this collection, together with the eponymous motet Jesu, meine Freude. Four excellent soloists — soprano Agnes Zsigovics, counter-tenor Daniel Taylor, tenor Benjamin Butterfield and bass Daniel Lichti — make substantial and individual contributions to the enterprise, with Butterfield’s ever-beautiful singing a particular pleasure.

A fine little baroque orchestra was assembled for the project and provides an accompaniment that is historically informed and eminently musical.

Best of all, though, is the choral singing. Its balance of line, precision of ensemble and high quality of intonation combined with conductor Canton’s fine sense of Bach’s idiom make this CD a treasure.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2009

“Join the OBC for a concert celebrating the coming of spring with some of the best madrigals and chansons of the Renaissance period paired with Haydn’s rarely heard part-songs,” 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 was founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton and offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods, featuring some of Canada’s top choristers. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best. 

The Ottawa Bach Choir has toured extensively in Canada, the United States, and Europe. The OBC recently returned from a two-week tour of Venice, Leipzig, Lübeck, Groningen, and Amsterdam. The OBC had the honour of being the first Canadian choir ever to be among the performers in the world’s most prestigious international Bach festival, the Bachfest Leipzig. The choir will participate this June in a performance of Schafer’s Apocalypsis in the Luminato Festival in Toronto.

For interviews and information, please contact:

Nicholas Simpson Read, Administrative Manager, 604 722-2320, nicholas.read@ottawabachchoir.ca 

Dr. Lisette Canton, Founder & Artistic Director, 613 222-1882, lisette.canton@ottawabachchoir.ca

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

Lisette Canton, Conductor

Now is the Month of Maying 

featuring Morley’s Now is the Month of Maying, Janequin’s Le chant des oiseaux, Weelkes’ As Vesta was from Latmos Hill, Passereau’s Il est bel et bon,Monteverdi’s Ecco Mormorar l’onde, Lassus’ Matona mia cara, Haydn’s 13 Part-Songs, and many more.

Saturday, May 2, 2015, 8PM

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

Tickets: Reserved $50, Adult $40, Senior $35, Student & Youth $15

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca, by phone: 613-270-1015, or at the following outlets:

The Leading Note, 370 Elgin Street, Ottawa

Compact Music, 206 & 785 1/2 Bank Street, Ottawa

Information: www.ottawabachchoir.ca or 613-270-1015

The Ottawa Bach Choir’s first season included some of the top works by baroque composers, including the St. Matthew Passion, Six Motets, Magnificat in D and Missa in G minor by Bach, as well as Handel’s Dixit Dominus and the Musikalische Exequien by Schütz.

The Choir expanded it scope this season by including a Subscription Series of German, French and Italian motets and cantatas inBaroque Masters, Monteverdi – Sacred and Profane and Buxtehude & Bach. The Choir also introduced the very popular Intimate Concert Series and traveled to Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto, Redpath Hall in Montreal, and New York City where it had been invited to make its debut at Carnegie Hall in Weill Recital Hall. Other performances were held at the Consulate General of France in New York and the “Arts at the Park” Series at Park Avenue Christian Church in Manhattan.

The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) would like to invite you to one of the magnificent events in its Intimate Concert Series, Bach on the Water, on Sunday, June 4th, 2017, 2:30-4:30 PM. Patrons Shirley Fulton-Deugo and Al Potvin host this glorious afternoon in their stylish home, at 38 Carss Street, just downstream from Almonte, built on the crest of a hill 22 meters above the Mississippi River with a spectacular view! Enjoy delightful company and inspiring music by the Ottawa Bach Choir, with delicious food catered by Jessica’s Syrian Food from Almonte (jessicassyrianfood.com), mouth-watering maple treats from Fulton’s, wine and soft drinks.

Founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, the Ottawa Bach Choir offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods, featuring some of Canada’s top choristers. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best. Now completing its fifteenth season, the professional ensemble has travelled the world and received national and international recognition. Last year, the choir journeyed to China, where it was invited to perform as Canada’s choral representative in the international festival, Meet in Beijing 2016, in Beijing and Shanghai. In 2014, the OBC was the first Canadian choir to perform at the prestigious annual Bach festival in Leipzig, Germany, Bachfest Leipzig 2014.

The OBC recently celebrated the release of its 6th CD, ‘Twas But Pure Love, in honour of the choir’s 15th anniversary. It features ethereal music from the Renaissance to the Contemporary periods from Italy, Spain, England, Germany, Sweden and Canada, with two Canadian recording premieres by Kelly-Marie Murphy and Matthew Larkin.

Tickets for Bach on the Water are $75 (a $50 tax receipt is available upon request). Parking is available on the driveway or on the street. Attendance will be limited to 30 guests, so get your tickets fast!

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the website at www.ottawabachchoir.ca, or contact the Ottawa Bach Choir at info@ottawabachchoir.ca, or 613-270-1015.

Ottawa (Canada) – The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the second concert of its sixteenth season of magnificent choral music: Victoria: Officium Defunctorum, on Saturday, March 10, 2018, 8 PM, at Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, Ottawa. This outstanding program highlights Victoria’s chef-d’œuvre, the Requiem of 1605, along with beautiful motets for the season by Renaissance and Baroque masters, including Allegri’s Miserere, and works by Palestrina, Lotti, and more, as well as some exquisite Contemporary contributions by Sanders and Pärt.

“This deeply moving repertoire will give Ottawa audiences a chance to experience some of the most beautiful a cappella choral music ever written,” says Founder and Artistic Director, Dr. Lisette Canton. “The composers of these inspirational works express the pathos of this universal theme and speak to modern listeners in a timeless musical language.”

The OBC recently celebrated the release of its new CD, ‘Twas But Pure Love, for the choir’s 15th anniversary, featuring two Canadian recording premieres by Ottawa composers Kelly-Marie Murphy and Matthew Larkin, with harpist Caroline Léonardelli and organist Jonathan Oldengarm. It includes ethereal music from the Renaissance to the Contemporary periods from Spain, Italy, England, Germany, France and Sweden.

Founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, the OBC offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods, featuring some of Canada’s top choristers. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best.

The OBC has toured extensively in Canada, the United States, and Europe, and was invited to perform as Canada’s choral representative in the prestigious Meet in Beijing arts festival in Beijing, China, in April 2016. In 2014, the choir completed a two-week tour of Venice, Leipzig, Lübeck, Groningen, and Amsterdam, and had the honour of being the first Canadian choir ever to be among the performers in the world’s most prestigious international Bach festival, Bachfest Leipzig 2014.

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

Dr. Lisette Canton, Conductor                                   

Victoria: Officium Defunctorum

Victoria’s Requiem of 1605, Allegri’s Miserere mei, Deus, Palestrina’s Vexilla Regis, Sanders’ The Reproaches, Pârt’s The Deer’s Cry, and motets by Byrd, Lotti, and more, performed a cappella.

Saturday, March 10, 2018, 8 PM

Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, Ottawa

Tickets: Reserved $45, Adult $35, Senior $30, Student $15, Children 12 and under Free

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca, by phone: 613-270-1015, or at the following outlets:

The Leading Note, 370 Elgin Street, Ottawa; Compact Music, 206 & 785 1/2 Bank Street, Ottawa

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca

Ottawa (Canada) – The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the final concert of its seventeenth season of glorious choral music, Mozart Celebration, on Saturday, May 4, 2019, 8:00 PM, at St. Jean Baptiste Church, 96 Empress Avenue, in Ottawa. This concert features majestic masterpieces by Mozart composed in the 1770s while he was still in Salzburg. Repertoire includes the Krönungs-Messe (Coronation Mass), K. 317, Vesperae solennes de confessore, K. 339, Regina coeli, K. 276, and more, performed with members of the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and soloists. This concert is sponsored by the generous support of Sunny and Nini Pal.

The OBC’s seventh CD, Handel, Bach & Schütz, has been released on the ATMA Classique label, and is available on the website and on all online platforms. The choir has also been invited to return to the world’s most prestigious international Bach festival, Bachfest Leipzig 2020,as one of 40 ensembles (and the only Canadian ensemble) worldwide asked to present the entire chorale cantata cycle of Bach.

Founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, the OBC offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods, featuring some of Canada’s top choristers. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best.

The OBC has toured extensively in Canada, the United States, and Europe, and was invited to perform as Canada’s choral representative in the prestigious Meet in Beijing arts festival in Beijing, China, in April 2016. In 2014, the choir had the honour of being the first Canadian choir ever to be among the performers in Bachfest Leipzig 2014.

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

Dr. Lisette Canton, Conductor                                                  

Mozart Celebration

with orchestra and soloists

Saturday, May 4, 2019, 8 PM: St. Jean Baptiste Church, 96 Empress Avenue, Ottawa

Tickets: Reserved $45, Adult $35, Senior (65+) $30, Student $15, Children 12 and under are free

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca, or at the following outlets: Compact Music, 206 & 785 1/2 Bank Street, Ottawa

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca

HANDEL: Dixit Dominus BACH & SCHÜTZ: Motets

It seems to have become fairly common nowadays for choruses, some new, some long-established, to issue discs that either show off a particular program or ensemble. Never mind that downloads and sites such as YouTube may be more accessible to the public at large, but the compact disc is not yet on the same path as the dinosaurs in terms of relevancy. These serve an important purpose, in my opinion, as a means of introducing an ensemble to the world at large, as well as providing archival documentation of their talents. The repertory chosen is, for the most part, based upon known works, but occasionally there can be included odds and ends that are not always readily available as repertory pieces. This brings us to this recording of the Ottawa Bach Choir, which has put together a program of sacred works for which it is eminently suited. Handel’s large Dixit Dominus (HWV 232) is the centerpiece, but here we also find a series of four Passion motets by his German predecessor Heinrich Schütz, drawn from the Cantiones sacræ collection of 1625, and concluding with a filler work, Johann Sebastian Bach’s motet Komm, Jesu, Komm (BWV 229). The term used to describe this grouping in the notes is “German roots,” but in reality it seems as if they were chosen as a documentation of works taken on tour. The opening picture of the Bach Choir in Beijing seems to support this, particularly since all of them are readily available individually in the recording repertory; here I am reminded of John Eliot Gardiner’s fine rendition of the Handel as far back as 1992 on Erato, René Jacobs’s recent recording of all of Bach’s motets in 2017 on Harmonia Mundi, and the complete Cantiones sacræ on Carus by the Dresdener Kammerchor about six years ago. Thus there is no lack of fine exemplars of these works, but here, again, it is the choir and its interpretation that is the key to the disc.

The Dixit dates from 1707 as one of Handel’s earliest large-scale works. The accompaniment is limited to strings, albeit with a rather thicker texture, and it consists of various choruses with a few solos and two arias thrown in for good measure. I’ve always liked the first chorus of this work, since it has the restless energy one finds occasionally in Purcell with a steadily marching bass, machine-like strings, and a forceful declamatory statement by the chorus. It is a rousing way of starting off the piece and serves as a nice foil to the more lyrical aria (Virgam virtutis) that follows. This is texturally more sparse, allowing for the alto solo, here capably performed by countertenor Daniel Taylor, to create flowing lines. Elsewhere, the De torrente, which ought to be vivacious and joyous, is a thoughtful and somewhat mysterious duet for two sopranos that requires absolute control of pitch. Happily, soloists Kayla Ruiz and Kathleen Radke accomplish this with serene beauty, beneath which a ghostly chorus enters with occasional commentary. The suspensions are spine-tingling at times. The doxology replicates the opening chorus, with some of the impressive vocal lines for which Handel is famous. They wander and tumble over each other, and the strings and organ follow suit, especially when the harmonically stable cantus firmus enters in the tenors.

The pieces chosen from about a century earlier are quite different, showing that Schütz owed a great deal to the late Renaissance madrigal. For example, the cascading opening lines of Ego sum seem as blatant a statement of “egotistical” madrigalism as one might wish for in their bright and unmistakable effect. As this motet progresses, the harmonies shift fluidly, and there are moments of imitation but no strict polyphony. This seems reserved for Calicem salutaris, where the vocal entrances are scaffolded and the lines weave about each other until coming to a homophonic cadence. These are well-formed works that require close attention to detail in order to be understood.

As ensembles go, the Bach Choir, from which the soloists were drawn, has a nicely transparent sound that reflects this sort of music well. The diction is clear and the intonation is accurate. Conductor Lisette Canton has a fine ensemble to work with, and the period instrument group Caprice functions well as an accompaniment in the Handel without disturbing the vocal dominance. The clarity of the voices alone will give this performance a place in among the other renditions of this repertory. This is one disc that seems to transcend the mundane needs of public exposure, for it shows a disciplined group that is fully at home in the style of music and equal as a competitor for other ensembles. I, for one, am looking forward to their next disc. 

Bertil van Boer

© September/October 2019 Fanfare

The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) has won the Outstanding Choral Recording 2020 Award for its recording, Handel: Dixit Dominus; Bach & Schütz: Motets, from Choral Canada. Featuring soloists, countertenor Daniel Taylor, sopranos Kathleen Radke and Kayla Ruiz, and accompanied by the award- winning Ensemble Caprice baroque orchestra, the recording was released on the ATMA Classique label and exclaimed as “staggering and movingly performed” (Gramophone Magazine), “among the very best” (American Record Guide) and “awe-inspiring” (The WholeNote).

“We are thrilled to have won this prestigious award and honoured to be in the company of such talented choral musicians from across the country,” says Founder and Artistic Director, Lisette Canton. “Congratulations and sincere thanks to the choir, soloists, Ensemble Caprice baroque orchestra, sound engineer Carl Talbot and ATMA Classique!”

Founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, the OBC offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods, featuring some of Canada’s top choristers. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best.

The OBC has toured extensively in Canada, the United States, and Europe, and was invited to perform as Canada’s choral representative in the prestigious Meet in Beijing arts festival in Beijing, China, in April 2016. In 2014, the choir had the honour of being the first Canadian choir ever to be among the performers in Bachfest Leipzig 2014.

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca

DONATE BETWEEN JUNE 1 AND JUNE 30, 2021

The Great Canadian Giving Challenge is a contest sponsored by CanadaHelps that will give the Ottawa Bach Choir a chance to win a $20,000 prize! Every dollar donated between June 1 and June 30 gives the choir another chance at winning the grand prize. All donations will receive a tax receipt issued by CanadaHelps on behalf of the Ottawa Bach Choir.

Please consider giving through this wonderful opportunity so that the OBC can share with you a special 20th anniversary season in 2021-2022. We appreciate your ongoing support during this challenging time and thank you for making the OBC a part of your musical life!

Participate by clicking the link: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-ottawa-bach-choir/

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

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

Ottawa (Canada) – Ottawa Lovers of motets and part-songs are in for a treat! Founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, the Juno Award-winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) will grace the stage with a programme created just for Chamberfest featuring motets by Johann Sebastian Bach and Anton Bruckner (in honour of his 200th birthday), plus works by Isabella Leonarda, Clara Schumann, Monteverdi, Purcell, Pärt, and Taverner. Don’t miss this expert performance of beloved repertoire delivered with OBC’s signature “…bright, clear, and transparent sound, springy feel for rhythm, beautifully shaded dynamics, and exemplary diction…” (Steve Smith, NY Times)

Works include baroque favourites by Bach, Schütz, Purcell, Monteverdi and Isabella Leonarda, along with later motets by Bruckner, Clara Schumann, Canadian Rupert Lang, Pärt and Tavener, and part-songs by Lasso and Saint-Saëns.

The Ottawa Bach Choir, founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, offers audiences a wide range of choral music of the finest quality, performing music from all historical periods while keeping Bach’s choral oeuvre as the focus of its repertoire. 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 returned from the prestigious international festival, Bachfest Leipzig, in 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 choir’s eighth album, Johann Sebastian Bach: Six Motets, on the ATMA Classique label, critically acclaimed as “one of the finest on record” (The WholeNote), is available on all streaming platforms as well as on the choir’s website.

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

with Jonathan Oldengarm, organ; Jean-Christophe Lizotte, cello; Joseph Phillips, double bass

Lisette Canton, conductor

Flights of Angels

Saturday, July 27, 2024, 7:00 p.m.

Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre, 355 Cooper St., Ottawa

Tickets are available online on the Chamberfest website

Information: info@chamberfest.com

Ottawa Bach Choir, Lisette Canton, conductor (Canto)
This season marks the 10th anniversary of the Ottawa Bach Choir and the release of this CD is part of the celebrations. It begins and ends with the music of J.S. Bach, Cantata no. 196 and the motet Der Geist hilft unsrer Schwachheit auf respectively, and includes music by Monteverdi, Buxtehude and Messiaen among others. In addition to authoritative and beautiful accounts of the Bach works, Monteverdi’s Cantate Domino and Messiaen’s O sacrum convivium! are especially enjoyable, but there are no weak performances in this impressive retrospective.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2012

The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents its opening subscription concerts in this season of magnificent choral works: J.S. Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232, Saturday, November 14, 2015, 7:30PM, at Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Road, Toronto; and Sunday, November 15, 2015, 7:30PM, at Dominion-Chalmers United Church, 355 Cooper Street, Ottawa. This concert features the full setting of one of Bach’s last and greatest compositions, completed in 1749, but only first performed in its entirety in 1859. Today it is considered one of the greatest pieces of choral music ever written. The choir is joined by the Baroque orchestra, Ensemble Caprice, Matthias Maute, artistic director; and world-class soloists, including Daniel Taylor, Agnes Zsigovics, Jacques-Olivier Chartier, Geoffrey Sirett, Daniel Lichti, and more.

“Join the OBC and a spectacular cast of instrumentalists and soloists in performances of ‘the greatest musical work of art of all times and people’—Bach’s Mass in B Minor,” says Founder and Artistic Director, Lisette Canton. “It represents a timeless, crowning achievement of Bach’s musical and spiritual profundity, and continues to move listeners, placing it far above any work composed in Western history. We invite you to join us in this incredible musical experience.”

The Ottawa Bach Choir was founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton and offers a wide range of choral music from all historical periods, featuring some of Canada’s top choristers. With the combination of a scholarly and emotional approach, the OBC provides an unforgettable experience of choral music at its best.

The OBC has toured extensively in Canada, the United States, and Europe; most recently returning from a two-week tour of Venice, Leipzig, Lübeck, Groningen, and Amsterdam. The choir had the honour of being the first Canadian choir ever to be among the performers in the world’s most prestigious international Bach festival, the Bachfest Leipzig 2014. The OBC also recently performed in the much-anticipated Apocalypsis by Canada’s own R. Murray Schafer at the Luminato Festival, Toronto in June 2015.

Ottawa Bach Choir

J.S. Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232

Saturday, November 14, 2015, 7:30PM

Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Road, Toronto

Sunday, November 15, 2015, 7:30PM

Dominion-Chalmers United Church, 355 Cooper Street, Ottawa

Tickets: Reserved $50, Adult $40, Senior $35, Student $15

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca, by phone: 613-270-1015 (Ottawa) or 416-736-2100 x70191 (Toronto), or at the following outlets: The Leading Note, 370 Elgin Street, Ottawa; Compact Music, 206 & 785 1/2 Bank Street, Ottawa

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca or 613-270-1015 (Ottawa) or 416-736-2100 x70191 (Toronto)