Early Music Vancouver Announces Annual Summer Festival in Celebration of Women in Music & World Premiere of The Queen of Carthage
(Vancouver, B.C.) – Early Music Vancouver (EMV) announced today the dates for this year’s summer festival along with a new name. The 2023 Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival (previously named Vancouver Bach Festival) will take place July 27 to August 5 at various venues including SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, Christ Church Cathedral, Pyatt Hall, The Orpheum Annex, West Vancouver United Church, and St. James Community Square.
Early Bird tickets will be available from April 3 to May 14 online at www.earlymusic.bc.ca and by phone (Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m.- 4:30 p.m.) at 604-732-1610. Ticket prices for each concert are available online, and Early Bird tickets range in price from $19 to $68.
The theme of the 2023 Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival is WOMENinSIGHT – celebrating women composers, librettists, and performers of the past and present. Inspired by Christine de Pizan (1364-ca.1430) – the revolutionary writer who questioned the centuries-old treatment of women and their prescribed place and role in society – WOMENinSIGHT explores the impact and the role of women throughout history via a musical lens.
“There has not been a broken link in women’s creativity in the past ten centuries and more; only periods in history when patriarchal ruling systems kept the works of women away from the light,” says EMV’s Artistic & Executive Director, Suzie LeBlanc, C.M. “Our role is to shine a light on women’s creative thoughts and works, from the past to the present, in order to close the gaps made by history.”
The world premiere of The Queen of Carthage, co-produced by EMV and re:Naissance Opera, kicks off this year’s Festival on July 27 at 8:00 p.m. at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Featuring Charlotte Siegel (soprano), Marisa Gold (dancer|choreographer), Debi Wong and Stephanie Wong (stage directors), Catalina Vicens (music director) and EMV Festival Players, this interdisciplinary performance is a powerful reclamation of the story of Dido, The Queen of Carthage, and her legacy as a political leader, an empire builder, and a woman of colour.
EMV is also thrilled to welcome award-winning musician Catalina Vicens as this year’s Festival Artist-in-Residence. Born in Chile and currently residing in Italy, Catalina Vicens is recognized by international press as “one of the most interesting musicians in the field of early music.” Her approach to historically-informed performance and musicological research has led her to become one of the most versatile and sought-after historical keyboard performers and teachers of her generation. In 2013, she founded ensemble Servir Antico, with whom she aims to shed light on the lesser-known repertoire and intellectual heritage of the Humanistic Period (13th-16th century), while using the concert stage to share with the audience the voices of these visionaries of the past as well as to amplify new voices. In 2021, Ms. Vicens was named curator of the Tagliavini Collection in Italy, one of the largest historical keyboard collections in Europe, and artistic director of Museo San Colombano in Bologna. She is also harpsichord/research lecturer at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (Belgium) and Visiting Professor of Harpsichord at Oberlin Conservatory (USA), amongst many other prestigious appointments.
The 2023 Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival brings together more than 60 artists from around the globe and includes one special event and 11 concerts, including one by donation concert at St. James Community Square.
