This sensational season, the Choir presented an Ottawa debut performance of the Levin version of Mozart’s Requiem in We Will Remember Them on Remembrance Day, a performance of Baroque music and seasonal favourites at the Museum of Civilization, and a new recording, Jesu, meine Freude, of Bach cantatas BWV 4, 78 and the motet, Jesu, meine Freude, with Agnes Zsigovics, Daniel Taylor, Benjamin Butterfield, Daniel Lichti and baroque orchestra playing on period instruments. The choir also travelled to Almonte for a Christmas Potpourri, to Southern Ontario for concerts and workshops in Toronto and finished the season with masterclasses and a performance at Podium 2008 in Sackville, New Brunswick.

Ottawa (Canada) – The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents its premiere subscription concert in this season of magnificent choral works: ‘Twas But Pure Love, Saturday, November 26th, 2016, 8PM, at St. Matthew’s Church, 130 Glebe Avenue, Ottawa. In addition to the celebration of the CD release for the choir’s 15th anniversary, this concert also features organist Matthew Larkin and harpist Caroline Léonardelli in this grand setting in Ottawa’s Anglican Church in the Glebe. A reception will follow the concert.

“We are thrilled to present the repertoire we recorded this past summer for our new CD, ‘Twas But Pure Love,”  says Founder and Artistic Director Lisette Canton. “It includes festive music for the season from the Renaissance to the Contemporary periods from Spain, Italy, England, Germany, France and Sweden, with an emphasis on Canadian composers, including two Canadian recording premieres by Ottawa composers Kelly-Marie Murphy and Matthew Larkin. We look forward to you joining us for this festive occasion!”

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, 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, 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 in Toronto, in June 2015.

For interviews and information, please contact:

Erin Binks, Managing Director, 613-806-6895, erinbinks@yahoo.ca

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

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

Dr. Lisette Canton, Conductor                                                           

‘Twas But Pure Love

with Matthew Larkin, Organ; Caroline Léonardelli, Harp

Saturday, November 26th, 2016, 8PM

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

Tickets: Reserved $55, Adult $45, Senior $40, Student $25, Children 12 and under are 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 or 613-270-1015

In the spirit of Oktoberfest, the Ottawa Bach Choir, in collaboration with Ars Nova and the German Embassy, presents a concert and special event on Saturday, September, 30, 2017, 7 PM, at St. Bartholomew’s Church, including an evening of beautiful music by Johann Sebastian Bach and his Baroque contemporaries, local beer brewed by Kichesippi Beer Co., German Red Wine, delectable delights by Par Toutatis, hors d’œuvres and sumptuous desserts. Enjoy an evening of delightful company, inspiring music by the OBC and organist Matthew Larkin, along with delicious food and drink. 

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. 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, the Bachfest Leipzig 2014.

The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the first concert of its seventeenth season of glorious choral music, Christmas in Venice, on Saturday, December 1, 2018, 8:00 PM, at St. Matthew’s Church, 130 Glebe Avenue, in Ottawa. Featuring festive repertoire for Christmas inspired by Italian composers working in Venice during the early Baroque period, the concert includes Monteverdi’s Christmas Vespers, polychoral works by Giovanni Gabrieli, as well as works by Bassano, Croce and more. This spectacular presentation celebrates the glory and splendour of the Christmas season, and includes the baroque orchestra Ensemble Caprice, with strings, sackbuts and continuo, as well as soloists.

The OBC’s seventh recording will be released on the ATMA Classique label, with music by Handel, Bach and Schütz, on December 14 at the Rideau Club. The choir has also been invited to return to the world’s most prestigious international Bach festival, Bachfest Leipzig 2020, as one of eighteen ensembles 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                                                  

Christmas in Venice

with Ensemble Caprice baroque orchestra and soloists

Saturday, December 1, 2018, 8 PM: St. Matthew’s Church, 130 Glebe Avenue, Ottawa

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

For its 17th season, the choir presented Christmas in Venice, featuring Monteverdi’s Christmas Vespers, along with works by baroque composers who worked at the prestigious St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, with Ensemble Caprice baroque orchestra and soloists, followed by La Sainte-Chapelle, with works by prominent composers, de Sermisy, Certon, and Charpentier working at La Sainte Chapelle in Paris in the Renaissance and Baroque periods, and finally Mozart Celebration, including masterpieces by Mozart composed while he was in Salzburg. The choir also released its 7th CD, Handel, Bach & Schütz, on the ATMA Classique label.

“O große Lieb,” first chorale from Bach’s Johannes-Passion, BWV 245. Virtual performance recorded March 30-April 3, 2020 with 22 separate videos and produced by Daniel Gillis.

The video was included in the worldwide performance of the St. John Passion from the Thomaskirche, Leipzig, Germany, on Good Friday, April 10, 2020. Link to the performance here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Zwy1Gi4ob4

The JUNO Award-winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the second concert of its 19th season, The French Renaissance, on Saturday, March 13, 2021, 8 PM, in its new Digital Concert Hall. The second concert highlights rarely performed sacred and secular music by the Franco-Flemish Renaissance composer, Jean Richafort, and more. Repertoire includes his Missa pro defunctis (Requiem), as well as chansons by Orlande de Lassus, Pierre Certon and Claudin de Sermisy, all performed in the beautiful acoustic of St. Paul’s Chapel, Ottawa.

The OBC has 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 2020.

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                                                   

The French Renaissance

Jean Richafort Requiem and chansons by Claudin de Sermisy, Pierre Certon, Orlande de Lassus and Richafort.

Saturday, March 13, 2021, 8 PM: Digital Concert Hall

Tickets: General $20

Tickets are available online: OBC Digital Concert Hall

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca

The JUNO award winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the second concert of its 20^th anniversary season, French Baroque Treasures, on Saturday, March 12, 2022, 8:00 PM, at Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, in Ottawa. Featuring glorious music from the French Baroque period, including Charpentier’s chef d’œuvre, Missa assumpta est Maria and Dominus regnavit by Mondonville, the concert will be performed with organist Matthew Larkin and soloists from the choir.

“We are excited to present this glorious French music from the repertoire of the 18^th century by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, maître de musique at the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, and Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville, maître de musique at the Chapelle Royale of Versailles,” says Founder and Artistic Director Lisette Canton. “This rarely heard music, full of majesty and drama, will be a thrilling discovery for our audiences.”

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 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.

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 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) to present the entire chorale cantata cycle of Bach.

For interviews and information, please contact:

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

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

with organist Matthew Larkin and soloists from the choir

Dr. Lisette Canton, conductor                                                   

French Baroque Treasures

Live In-Person (limited tickets available)

Saturday, March 12, 2022, 8:00 PM

Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, Ottawa

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

Please review our COVID-19 Response for In-Person Concerts on the website.

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca

To view the concert in our Digital Concert Hall, please see the website.

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.

The JUNO award-winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the second concert of its 22^nd season, The Maestro of San Marco, on Saturday, March 2, 2024, 8:00 p.m., at Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, in Ottawa. The concert features sacred and profane music by Claudio Monteverdi, who was Maestro di cappella of San Marco in Venice over the course of 30 years, from 1613-1643. Works include his Messa a quattro voci da cappella and selected Madrigals from Books 1-8, a prolific output of works that marked the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque. The choir is joined by a chamber instrumental ensemble and soloists from the choir.

“We are delighted to present rarely heard music by the Italian Baroque master, Claudio Monteverdi, which traces the journey from the balanced counterpoint of the Renaissance to the dramatic text-inspired music of the Baroque,” says Founder and Artistic Director, Lisette Canton. “Experience this passionate music in both the sacred and profane contexts – you’re sure to be inspired!”

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.

For interviews and information, please contact:

Karen Frank, General Manager, karen.frank@ottawabachchoir.ca

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

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

with chamber ensemble and soloists

Lisette Canton, conductor

The Maestro of San Marco

Saturday, March 2, 2024, 8:00 p.m.

Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar Street, Ottawa

Tickets: Reserved $55, Adult $45, Senior $40, Student $20, Children 12 and under free

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca

Ottawa (Canada) – The JUNO award-winning Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the final concert of the season, Gloria!, on Saturday, May 10, 2025, 7:30 PM, at St. Patrick’s Basilica, in Ottawa. The concert features a selection of Italian-influenced baroque masterpieces, including Vivaldi’s Gloria, RV 589, Handel’s Laudate pueri Dominum, HWV 237, and Chiara Margarita Cozzolani’s Dixit Dominus a 8. Joined by Ensemble Caprice baroque orchestra and spectacular soloists, this concert reflects the vibrant energy and expressive intensity of the Italian baroque style, and closes the season with splendour!

“Prepare to be Immersed in the brilliance of the Italian Baroque with music by Vivaldi, Handel, and the rarely-performed Cozzolani, including compositions written in Venice, Rome and Milan.” says Founder and Artistic Director, Dr. Lisette Canton. “Performed with the distinguished Baroque orchestra Ensemble Caprice and soloists, Ottawa audiences won’t want to miss the passion and grandeur of Italian baroque splendour.”

Founded in 2002 by Dr. Lisette Canton, the Ottawa Bach Choir 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. The choir has garnered acclaim through award-winning recordings and worldwide tours, including in Canada, Europe, the United States, Mexico and China, featuring prestigious appearances at Bachfest Leipzig, Meet in Beijing, Festival Música Santa Fe, Ottawa Chamberfest, Carnegie Hall, and more.

For interviews and information, please contact:

Hannah Lim, General Manager, hannah.lim@ottawabachchoir.ca

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

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

Vivaldi: Gloria, Handel: Laudate pueri Dominum, and Cozzolani: Dixit Dominus a 8

with Ensemble Caprice baroque orchestra and soloists

Lisette Canton, Conductor

Gloria!

Saturday, May 10, 2025, 7:30 p.m.

St. Patrick’s Basilica, 220 Kent Street, Ottawa

Tickets: Reserved $55, Adult $45, Senior $40, Student $20, Children 12 and under free

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca

Information: info@ottawabachchoir.ca

Ottawa Bach Choir, Lisette Canton, conductor (OBC)

The Ottawa Bach Choir has been delighting local and international audiences for most of its barely three-year existence, and has now released its first CD.

It includes major works by Bach and Schutz and shorter ones by Telemann and Buxtehude. The most interesting of the lot is undoubtedly the Schutz German requiem, entitled Musikalische Exequien. Conductor Lisette Canton leads the choir and a select ensemble of baroque instrumentalists in a gravely beautiful performance.

Bach’s cantata Nach dir, Herr, verlanget mich, BWV 150, far more familiar and no less wonderful, is rendered equally well as are the shorter pieces. In every case such soloists as the score prescribes are rendered beautifully by members of the choir.

© The Ottawa Citizen 2005

OTTAWA — Coming to Leipzig to hear Bach is a pilgrimage, especially during the annual Bachfest in June. And singing in the Thomaskirche, the church from which Bach performed his functions as the city’s music director, is clearly an experience like no other especially for the Ottawa Bach Choir and its founder, Lisette Canon.

The intensity of their rehearsing over the last couple of days has been exhausting for this observer, and I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like for those actually doing it. “You didn’t come all this way to do it almost right” was the leitmotif of Canton’s every-note-counts direction.

The choir came here by way of Venice where they sang Mass in the San Marco Cathedral on Sunday and gave a Monday concert in the San Polo Church. The following day a water taxi, two Air Berlin flights and a two-hour bus ride brought them to a hotel just a few blocks from the Thomaskirche.

The choir had been here before and knew what to expect of the performing space, so the initial rehearsals, energetic though they were, could take place in a hotel conference room. Rehearsals in the church were further inspired by its splendid acoustics.

There are about 35 people on the tour, the musicians and about a dozen groupies. Some of the latter attended other events like one by the resident Thomaschor or the Capella Cracoviensis from Poland. There was even Haydn’s Creation in the Gewandhaus, with its famous orchestra, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki. Some of the OBC singers also attended events like these while others relaxed and enjoyed some of the very numerous galleries, shops and restaurants in the vicinity.

The music the choir sang on Friday was all familiar to Ottawa audiences. It included Gabrieli’s Jubilate Deo, Bach’s motet Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied and works by Schuetz and Buxtehude. They were accompanied by the Leipzig Baroque Consort and Ottawa’s Jennifer Loveless played the continuo organ, all under Canton’s direction. The singing was book-ended by two large-organ performances, a Bach Prelude and a Toccata by Buxtehude.

I wouldn’t want to sugxgest that the OBC does anything less than its very best for the folks back home, not at all. And yet they sounded special indeed on Friday, in a way that one seldom hears in Ottawa or anywhere else.

On Saturday a four-hour bus ride will take the choir and company to Lubeck where they will sing in Buxtehude’s church, thence to Groningen and Amsterdam in the Netherlands and finally home.

Ottawa Bach Choir Sings at Leipzig Bachfest – in Bach’s Church

Ottawa Bach Choir, Lisette Canton, conductor; Jennifer Loveless, continuo organ

With Organists Martin Petzoldt ans Stefan Kiessling and the Leipzig Baroque Consort

Friday in the Thomaskirche, Leipzig

This season, the choir presented Jesu, meine Freude, a challenging concert of all a cappella music and toured to Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto in its second performance in the Choir & Organ Series. The choir also performed with the Orquesta del Nuevo Mundo in Mexico City and toured Europe for the third time. This time, the choir not only participated in the Motette series for the third time at the Thomaskirche, in Leipzig, but also brought well-loved performances at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London as well as Notre Dame Cathedral, Church of the Madeleine and the American Church in Paris.

The Ottawa Bach Choir has launched its 6th and newest CD, ‘Twas But Pure Love, in honour of its 15th anniversary. A superb recording featuring music for Christmas 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. Harpist Caroline Léonardelli and organist Jonathan Oldengarm accompany the choir.

The CD will be available online on the choir’s website, as well as at The Leading Note in Ottawa, and online through CD Baby and iTunes.

The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) presents the first concert of its sixteenth season of magnificent choral music: Nativity, on Saturday, December 2, 2017, 8:00PM, at Christ Church Cathedral, 414 Sparks Street, Ottawa. In honour of Canada’s sesquicentennial, the concert features Christmas repertoire from Canada, including a new work by Outaouais composer, Marc Langis, as well as other beloved works by composers from Ottawa, including Nicholas Piper, Kelly-Marie Murphy and Matthew Larkin, and some of the OBC’s favourite works from the Renaissance and Baroque periods for the season. This spectacular and unique presentation also showcases organist Matthew Larkin and harpist Caroline Léonardelli.

“We are thrilled to highlight Canada’s 150th anniversary with beautiful music by some of the Ottawa area’s finest composers, as well as other choral favourites for the Christmas season,” says Founder and Artistic Director Lisette Canton. “This concert spans the gamut, beginning with chant-inspired music right through to Contemporary selections that will inspire, delight, and instill the spirit of Christmas in us all. Come join us for a festive celebration!”

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.

Nativity

with organist Matthew Larkin and harpist Caroline Léonardelli

Saturday, December 2, 2017, 8PM: Christ Church Cathedral, 414 Sparks Street, Ottawa

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

Tickets are available online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca, 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

(The choir will also present the same concert on Friday, December 1, 2017, 8PM, at Saint-Joseph Cathedral, 245 Boulevard Saint-Joseph, Gatineau: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/billets-la-nativite-au-profit-de-centraide-39298652327)

The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) launches its newest recording of music by Handel, Bach & Schütz on the ATMA Classique label at a CD Release Party on Friday, December 14, 2018, 7 PM, at the Rideau Club, 99 Bank Street, in Ottawa. The recording comprises stunning music from the baroque period, including Handel’s thrilling Dixit Dominus, Bach’s beautiful motet, Komm, Jesu, komm, BWV 229, and Schütz’ rarely-heard Passion Motets. The choir is accompanied by the baroque orchestra Ensemble Caprice, organist Matthew Larkin and spectacular soloists, including world renowned countertenor Daniel Taylor.

“The music on this CD showcases works by three of the most important composers of the German Baroque period – Handel, Bach and Schütz,” says Founder and Artistic Director Lisette Canton. “While all three remained faithful to their German roots, they also explore devices from the Italian Baroque, brilliantly displayed in Handel’s virtuosic work, Dixit Dominus, and in the motets by Bach and Schütz. The magnificent sound of the choir, soloists and orchestra come together in this fantastic recording.”

The choir has also been invited to return to the world’s most prestigious international Bach festival, Bachfest Leipzig 2020, as one of eighteen ensembles worldwide asked to present the entire chorale cantata cycle of Bach.

Listing information:

Ottawa Bach Choir

Lisette Canton, Conductor

CD Release Party

Friday, December 14, 2018, 7 PM

Rideau Club, 99 Bank Street, 15th Floor, Ottawa

Tickets: $85 – CD included with ticket ($50 tax receipt available upon request)

Tickets available at:

Online: www.ottawabachchoir.ca

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

The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) would like to welcome you to its eighteenth season of magnificent choral music. Over the past seventeen years, the professional ensemble has travelled the world and received national and international recognition. This season, the choir has been invited to return to the world’s most prestigious international Bach festival, Bachfest Leipzig 2020, as one of a select number of ensembles worldwide (and the only Canadian ensemble) to present the entire chorale cantata cycle of Bach. Last season, the choir released its seventh CD, Handel, Bach & Schütz, on the ATMA Classique label to rave reviews (“…this new one is among the very best,” American Record Guide 2019), and in 2016 the choir toured in China, where it was invited to perform as Canada’s choral representative in the prestigious Meet in Beijing festival. The choir has also performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City, across Canada, in Mexico, and in Europe in Germany, England, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and more.

Performances in the 2019-2020 season include a Subscription Series, several Special Events, as well as a 5^th European tour in June 2020.

The Subscription Series offers three spectacular concerts:

A Bach Christmas – November 30, 2019, 7:30 PM (Toronto); December 1, 2019, 7:30 PM (Ottawa)

The Genius of Josquin – March 7, 2020, 8 PM

Prelude-Europe 2020 – May 2, 2020, 8 PM

The Ottawa Bach Choir is pleased to offer its audiences a subscription series for a limited time only. Get the entire 2019-2020 concert season for less than 10% less than regular ticket prices. This offer ends on November 30, 2019.

Join us and come discover the best that choral music has to offer!

Lisette Canton
Founder and Artistic Director

The OBC recorded the Canadian national anthem, O Canada, for a virtual performance in support of “Stronger Together” and to uplift the spirits of all Canadians at this challenging time. Recorded from April 21-24, 2020 with 22 separate videos.