Article written for the North Shore News‘ “Arts Alive” monthly supplement, May 2010:

Spring in Venice:
Laudate Singers journey to the heart of a rich musical heritage

By Melanie Thompson

Imagine: you have just stepped into a Venetian gondola. It glides away down a moonlit canal… transporting you back in time, four hundred years into the past. You alight close to the Piazza San Marco, walk across the square (avoiding the pigeons!), and pass through great bronze doors into the Chiesa d’oro (church of gold), St. Mark’s Basilica. Inside, vaulted ceilings curve into domes high overhead. Brightly coloured mosaics, edged in gold, glint in the candlelight. Shadowy choir lofts overlook the vast central space, and from them singers’ voices rise clear and pure, calling back and forth, weaving together in counterpoint. Even after they fall silent, the echo of the music still shimmers in the air.

It may sound like a dream, but in fact, you can take this magical journey without ever leaving the North Shore. Acclaimed local chamber choir Laudate Singers and artistic director Lars Kaario will be your guides, along with some of Vancouver’s finest early music instrumentalists: Nancy DiNovo and Pat Armstrong (violins), Ariel Barnes (cello), Ray Nurse (theorbo) and Christopher Bagan (organ). On May 14th, this fine ensemble will perform a glorious mosaic of works by Monteverdi, Gabrieli, Lotti and Caldara, composers who lived in Renaissance and Baroque-era Venice, and were closely associated with St. Mark’s Basilica. The sacred choral music they wrote for that unique space was some of the most innovative, expressive and colourful in all of Europe at the time. Its ability to transport and uplift audiences endures to this day. Laudate Singers are proud to bring this music to the North Shore community, and they look forward to seeing you at this, the grand finale of the choir’s 2009-2010 season.

VENETIAN MOSAIC
Friday, May 14, 2010 8pm
St. Andrew’s United Church (10th & St. Georges), North Vancouver
Tickets: $35 Adults / $30 Seniors & Students / Free <18 years
www.laudatesingers.com