Skip to content

Brighten your holiday season with Christmas-y Bach tunes

Step away from the holiday hustle and bustle and enjoy the enduring music of J.S. Bach this Christmas.
3897sookeViolin

Step away from the holiday hustle and bustle and enjoy the enduring music of J.S. Bach, performed by the Sooke Philharmonic Chamber Players and the Sooke Philharmonic Chorus this weekend.

This year’s Festive Harmony concerts will be conducted by Choral Director Nicholas Fairbank, who will be presenting Bach’s Magnificat and Parts I and II of his Christmas Oratorio.

Featured soloists are Margaret Lingas, soprano; Tasha Farivar, mezzo-soprano; Adam Dyjach, tenor; Nathan McDonald, baritone.

Margaret Lingas, originally from England, is a University of Victoria student in her fourth year, studying with Benjamin Butterfield. Tasha Farivar appeared in the Pacific Opera production of Simon Boccanegra in October.  Adam Dyjach, from Waterloo, Ontario, also studied with Benjamin Butterfield. Nathan McDonald recently joined the faculty at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat was first performed in Leipzig in 1723 and is based on verses from the Gospel of Luke. Along with his Christmas Oratorio, it is a classic for this time of year.

In the intermission, attendees can also enjoy a variety of holiday-themed baked goods, which will help raise money for the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra.

The concert on Friday (Dec. 2) will take place at the Sooke Community Hall on Shields Road, and begins at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday (Dec. 4) the same works will be presented at Royal Roads University, Quarterdeck Ballroom, at 2:30 p.m.

For tickets, please visit sookephil.ca, or call 250-419-3569.