Academy Chamber Choir & Megan Skidmore, soprano
Don James, conductor
"...an evening of exhilerating vocal music from the grand classics to 'songs of love'..."
Saturday, November 7 at 8 PM ~ Academy Hall
[Program]
Admission $20 -
STUDENTS: 18 & under free with student ticket voucher (excluding Carols by Candlelight)
Tickets are available at the
Academy Box Office 7280 Kemano Street, Monday – Thursday 9:30 - 4:30
Tel 604 485 9633
And at the door 30 minutes before the concert
Soprano Megan Skidmore is a dedicated and versatile teacher and performer. Her performance credits include opera, musical theatre, oratorio and recital work in settings as diverse as Vancouver Island, Montreal and Austria. She received both her Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in Voice Performance from McGill University. She has studied at the Wiener Meisterkurze in Vienna, the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Franz Schubert Institut in Baden bei Wien.
Ms. Skidmore performed the roles of Feu and Rossignol in L’Enfant et les Sortilèges, Cunegonde in Candide and Sara Riel in Louis Riel with Opera McGill and the title role in Princess Ida and Josephine in HMS Pinafore with McGill’s Savoy Society. She has performed with Pacific Opera Victoria as Annina in La Traviata and in the opera chorus in Erewhon and Il Trovatore. Ms. Skidmore was heard last May in Powell River at the BC Chorfest as the soprano soloist in Ralph Vaughn Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem.
Ms. Skidmore recently joined the Powell River Academy of Music faculty as a voice teacher and music director for the new Musical Theatre class. She also maintains a busy voice studio in Comox where last fall she was music director forLight Fantastic Productions presentation of The Producers.
Ms Skidmore and Ms. Hagen have been collaborating for many years both on Vancouver Island and in Montreal. Their performances are noted for their artistry and are not without musical surprises.
Pianist Sarah Hagen is a sought-after soloist and chamber musician, performing in concerts across Canada as well as in the United States, France, Italy, Germany and Sweden. She currently makes her home and studio in a beach front cottage on Vancouver Island. Her primary teachers and mentors were Glen Montgomery, Jamie Parker, Gregory Chaverdian and Christine Purvis. At the world-renowned Banff Centre for the Arts, Sarah has completed numerous residencies and held the position of collaborative pianist. She is an educator and performer at the internationally acclaimed Comox Valley Youth Music Centre and in 2006 was awarded as Comox Valley’s Cultural Ambassador of the Year. Sarah has been heard on Swedish Radio 2, CBC’s Westcoast Performance, Alberta CBC’s Sunday Arts Programme, CKUA (Edmonton), WKAR (Michigan), WITF FM Pennsylvania), and has appeared on Bravo Television. Her solo album, Glass House Dancing, was nominated for a 2009 Western Canadian Music Award in the category of Classical Recording of the Year. Sarah's upcoming performances are conceptually innovative involving photography, fashion, and theatre. Her motivation is the belief that music has the power to be a window into our souls regardless of age or knowledge.
The Academy Chamber Choir consists of thirty - two singers from a wide
variety of backgrounds and professions. It is an amateur choir that, since its inception in 1994, has developed into one of Canada’s dynamic chamber choirs,
In its short history the choir has had the privilege of working with such celebrated conductors as the late Elmer Iseler (Canada), Jesper Jorgensen (Denmark), the late Jan Szyrocki (Poland) and Fred Sjoberg (Sweden). The choir has toured in Venezuela, the Czech Republic, Canada, Spain and France.
The Academy Chamber Choir specializes in a cappella music from the Middle Ages to the 20th century and regularly commissionsnew works by Canadian composers. The choir frequently collaborates with soloists, instrumentalist and other choirs in the performance of major choral works such as Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, Francis Poulenc’s Gloria and Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah.
In November the Academy Chamber Choir was the “Choir in Residence” for the Cowichan CoroFest 2003 and in April, 2004 a guest artist for America Cantat IV in Mexico City.
Pianist Maryna Gray holds a Masters Degree in piano pedagogy and accompanying from the Kharkiv State Institute of the Arts, Ukraine. She has 20 years experience as a piano teacher, solo performer and as accompanist for instrumentalists and vocalists.
Ms. Gray joins us from Brandon University where she has completed further studies in piano performance and has been the accompanist for the Brandon University Chorale, student recitals and juries, in addition to teaching piano in the Brandon community.
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SINGLE TICKETS are available through the Academy Box Office and at the door
SAVE 25% with the TEN CONCERT TICKET PACKAGE - $135
STUDENTS: 18 & under free with student ticket voucher (excluding Carols by Candlelight)
Academy Box Office
7280 Kemano Street
Tel 604 485 9633
Monday – Thursday 9:30 am – 4:30 pm
For more information call the Academy of Music at 604.485.9633