Sackville Festival of Early Music will present in-person screenings, home streaming, and a live concert option as part of this year’s event.
After a year of streaming performances, the Sackville Festival of Early Music is slowly getting back to a familiar format. To mark its 17th annual event, organizers have put together a program that combines the best of both worlds with in-person screenings, home streaming, and a live concert option as part of this year’s event. And to welcome audiences back, they’re offering this year’s festival programming free of charge.
“Like many of you, the SFEM Team is challenged by the circumstances COVID-19 has brought to our lives. We missed seeing you in person last year,” said organizers in announcing this year’s festival. “More so than ever, music is important for our well-being. As an artistic medium, music allows us to process, feel, and express complex and sensitive emotions and ideas. It provides healing and comfort in difficult times. To acknowledge the isolation and various struggles of artists, audience members, students and families, and the community at large, we are excited to offer full access to our 17th season at no cost.”
This year’s festival will feature three curated performances.
Listen how I dance: Music to be seen and a dance to be heard (Friday, Sept. 17)
London-based and international touring ensemble Stile Antico (Saturday, Sept. 18)
Canada Concerto delle donne (Sunday, Sept. 19)
Concerts on Friday and Saturday will be available for streaming for 48 hours from the time of their release. The Sunday concert will be available for streaming live, only during the time of the event. To access all three events, audiences can register online.
As an added support to our schools, students, and parents, and as an extension of our educational mission, we are preparing a module-based learning series that will be available free-of-charge to all New Brunswick and Tantramar area middle, high, and home schools.
More info below.
Upcoming Performances:
Listen to How I Dance – Music to be Seen and a Dance to be Heard | Friday September 17, 2021 | 7:30 p.m. | In-person screening (seating is Limited) and Home Streaming available.
Les Jardins chorégraphiques presents Listen to How I Dance, a show where sound and movement become one and eras converge. This visual concert allows audiences to see musical pieces from the Renaissance repertoire performed on period instruments, through choreography where the early and the contemporary merge. The boundaries between disciplines are blurred to make way for a show where dance sets music in motion and music shapes the dance.
Music in Praise of the Virgin Mary – A sumptuous selection of music written in praise of the Virgin Mary | Saturday September 18, 2021 | 7:30 p.m. | In-person screening (seating is Limited) and Home Streaming available.
Stile Antico performs a sumptuous selection of music written in praise of the Virgin Mary, including no fewer than four masterpieces by Josquin, the ‘Father of the Renaissance’, in honour of the quincentenary of his death in 1521. Woven between Josquin’s motets are works by composers from successive generations: the serene Ego flos campi by Clemens non Papa, William Byrd’s exquisite miniature Ave Maria, and the ebullient Gaude Maria Virgo by Peter Phillips.
Concerto delle donne – A live celebration of music by women composers | Sunday September 19, 2021 | 3:00 p.m. | Live concert (seating is limited) and Home Streaming available.
Explore the often neglected yet exquisite musical contributions of women composers as we give voice to womens’ artistic agency and creativity. Women were musically active in their various and diverse roles as nuns, aristocrats, and as courtesans. Their music reflects these diverse life experiences and encompasses chants, sacred motets, secular madrigals, operas, cantatas, and a variety of dazzling instrumental works. We celebrate our return to LIVE music programming by featuring the considerable talents and expertise of established local specialists of early music in this unique concert setting.
Community Outreach
Sackville Festival of Early Music will present video footage from Listen to How I Dance free-of-charge to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia public schools and to the Drew Nursing home and paired with educational materials designed for students.
Learn more at sackvilleearlymusic.com
