Back in the spring, a unique tri-choir collaboration, exploring and indulging in the breathtaking music of the baroque, was derailed by a late winter wallop.
Now, with another season come and gone, the Winnipeg Baroque Festival (WBF) returns for an overdue, highly anticipated final performance in their inaugural year: Bach’s St. John Passion.
“We’re so excited to be finally putting this together,” says conductor Kathleen Allan.
Featuring a lauded cast of local and international soloists, a made-in-Manitoba choral supergroup with members of the three participating choirs (Canzona, Dead of Winter and Polycoro), and the playing of the renowned Pacific Baroque Orchestra out of Vancouver, the performance of the St. John Passion was to be the capstone in the weeklong festival.
“The biggest and most momentous event of that festival, unfortunately, could not happen as scheduled,” explains Allan, who notes that much was still achieved in presenting three-of-the-four planned concerts.
Given the scope of the project, WBF organizers “lucked out” when nearly all of the planned participants in the passion performance could reschedule for a few months later.
On Sunday, October 2 at Crescent Fort Rouge United Church, the Winnipeg Baroque Festival presents the St. John Passion by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Conducted by Kathleen Allan, and including soloists Jane Fingler, Vicki St. Pierre, Haitham Haidar, Jonathon Adams, Mel Braun, Paul Bruch-Wiens, and Justin Odwak; combined choirs of Canzona, Dead of Winter, and Polycoro; and members of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra.
Tickets are $40 plus fees. Those who bought tickets or festival passes in the spring should have been contacted ahead of the delayed performance.
The concert begins at 3 p.m.