presents
“Rejoice Greatly”
Area audiences will once more be provided with a meaningful start to their
holiday season, when the International Symphony Orchestra presents the most
famous and universally loved Oratorio ever written, The Messiah, by G. F.
Handel
Performances will take place Friday, December 4th,
7:30 p.m., in Colonial Woods Church, Port Huron, and Saturday, December 5th,
7:30 p.m., in Temple Baptist Church, Sarnia.
Under the direction of
Maestro Jerome David Summers, and Dr. David Troiano, the seventy-voice Symphony
Singers, Orchestra and Guest Vocal Soloists will be featured in this popular
seasonal presentation.
Companion works selected for the programme this year, include: excerpts from the
well-loved Vivaldi Gloria; the energetic Winter from Vivaldi’s The
Four Seasons, featuring International Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster, Sander
Kostallari; and the beautiful Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 1.
Praised for her stage presence
and her distinctive vocal tone, Lebanese-Canadian soprano Miriam Khalil
is “one to watch”(Toronto Star). She is described as being “a lush lyric with
spinto overtones” (Opera Canada) and “on the road to future greatness”
(Classical 96.3 FM). A previous member of the prestigious Canadian Opera
Company Ensemble Studio, she sang such roles as Leah in James Rolfe’s world
première of Swoon, Laura
in Luisa Miller, the
confidante in Elektra,
and under the direction of Sir Andrew Porter and the baton of Richard Bradshaw,
Pamina in The Magic Flute.
Miss Khalil is also esteemed for her Concert and Oratorio work. Her most recent
credits include: Ravel’s Shéhérazade,
Mendelssohn’s Elijah,
Bach’s Christ Lag in Todesbanden,
Vivaldi’s Gloria,
Mozart’s Requiem, as
well as Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater.
Laura Pudwell’s
international profile is rapidly developing with recent performances in Paris,
Salzburg, London, Montreux and Vienna. Her rich, mezzo voice is appreciated in
repertoire ranging from early music to modern contemporary works.
Her opera engagements include Monteverdi’s L’Incoronizione di Poppea with
Houston Grand Opera, Mrs. Quickly in Falstaff in Calgary and Marcellina
in Toronto. Her versatility on stage is highlighted in her recent engagements,
which have embraced Early Music, Operetta, and New Works.
Also in demand for oratorio “her alto voice slices straight to the heart”,
Vancouver Sun. She recently sang Honegger’s King David with the Menno
Singers, Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius in Toronto, the St. John Passion
at the Winter Park Bach Festival, and Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the
Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choir. Other recent highlights include
performances with the Cleveland Opera, Calgary Philharmonic, Kitchener-Waterloo
Symphony, Toronto Consort and Symphony Nova Scotia. In Europe, she toured the
demanding dual roles of Dido/Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas with
Le Concert Spirituel under conductor Hervé Niquet.
Tenor,
Eric Shaw,
has established an international reputation through performances at a number of
renowned musical centres. From Wexford to Lincoln Centre to Tanglewood and Genoa
he has been lauded for “singing and acting with fluent ease and charm” (Michael
Kennedy, Sunday Telegraph, London, UK). Heard in New York with Botstein and the
American Symphony Orchestra in Schumann’s das paradies und die peri at
Lincoln Center, he was in Toronto for the World Première of Chan Ka Nin’s The
Weaving Maiden for Soundstreams, and at the Sugar Creek Festival of Song in
the U.S., for Ramiro
in La Cenerentola. He sang the
Evangelist in
Bach’s Matthaus Passion with the Victoria Symphony and
Ramiro in La
Cenerentola at Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania.
Baritone, Bruce
Kelly has been teaching Voice at the Queen's School of Music since 1992. He
enjoys an active career in opera and in concert. He has sung in Strasbourg,
Nice, Avignon, and Moscow. In addition to the Toronto Symphony, he has been
guest soloist for the major orchestras across Canada and has appeared with the
Calgary Opera, Opera Hamilton, Opera Lyra Ottawa, Opera in Concert, and the
Toronto Operetta Theatre. His performance of Rossini with The Aldeburgh
Connection was broadcast on CBC Stereo. He has appeared with the Kingston
Symphony in the concert production of Bizet's Carmen.
Admission to “Rejoice Greatly” is by subscription, or individual tickets,
which may be purchased at
the Symphony Office, 225 Davis Street, Sarnia,
or by calling: (519) 337-7775 or (810) 984-8857.
adult $27, senior $24, student $7
Children under 15 are admitted free of charge if accompanied by an adult.
The International Symphony Orchestra is appreciative of the following
sponsorship support:
Saturday,
December 5th, assisted by
LANXESS
The International Symphony Orchestra is also thankful for the assistance of the Ontario Arts Council for making possible our 2009/20010 Season “Sounds Spectacular”.