The Nanaimo Chamber Orchestra is concluding its 2018-19 season with a program that showcases vocal music for the first time in 11 years.
In Music in the Air, coming to Malaspina Theatre on June 1, the orchestra will be joined by Nanaimo-based soprano Nadya Blanchette, whose credits include Cirque du Soleil and Pierre Trudeau’s state funeral, and baritone Ben Loyst, a Dover Bay Secondary School graduate who just finished his first year at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
NCO director Karl Rainer said it’s the first time the group is featuring two singers. He said the group was eager to work with Blanchette.
“Our goal is to try to play with local soloists as much as we possibly can, so as soon as she decided to move to town we snatched her up,” Rainer said.
Blanchette will be performing Dido’s Lament by English composer Henry Purcell, Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5 by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos and Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate.
“I invite people to come and discover or rekindle with those beautiful pages of the musical repertoire,” she said.
Loyst was invited after winning the ensemble’s Concerto Competition for Young Musicians. He’ll be performing Dover Beach, Op. 3 by American composer Samuel Barber, based on a poem by English poet Matthew Arnold.
“It’s this deeply emotional, extremely passionate, nihilistic moment in his life,” Loyst said of the piece. “And I was fortunate enough in my year of study to get to study this poem twice in two different classes.”
Loyst said it’s meaningful to return home and perform for the friends and family who have supported him.
“My mother was in this orchestra years ago and I’ve had friends in this orchestra and I think that what this does for classical music in this community is just wonderful,” he said. “And to be able to just be a part of that is such a privilege.”
WHAT’S ON … Music in the Air takes place at Malaspina Theatre, VIU Bldg. 310, on Saturday, June 1 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets $20 for adults, $5 for students. Available at the door (cash only) or online. Free for children 12 and under.
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