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Suzie LeBlanc Joins Toronto Consort for Carissimi Double-Bill March 3 & 4 TORONTO, February 8, 2006 — The Toronto Consort welcomes soprano Suzie LeBlanc, who returns for a double bill of two oratorios by 17th century composer Giacomo Carissimi on March 3 and 4, 2006 at Trinity St Paul’s Centre. The programme features Carissimi’s two Biblical oratorios, Jephte and Jonah, performed by a group of eight singers and a period ensemble including lute, viola da gamba, violins and organ. Tickets are available through the box office at (416) 964-6337. Though Handel’s Messiah is today’s most popular example of the baroque oratorio, the form was actually introduced almost a century earlier, and on a much more intimate scale by Italian composer Giacomo Carissimi. The most important composer of his day, Carissimi was also known as a great teacher, with such pupils as Alessandro Scarlatti under his wing. His Jepthe, composed around 1649, more closely resembles a chamber work for soloists and instrumentalists. Soprano Suzie LeBlanc, Canada’s own superstar of the period music scene, joins The Toronto Consort to perform the role of Jephte’s daughter, who is sacrificed because of her father’s careless promises. The Carissimi double-bill features another Biblical oratorio, Jonah, which tells the story of the prophet who is swallowed by a whale. Sailors’ interventions, prayers from the belly of the whale and other narrative expressions are performed by six singers, including Suzie LeBlanc, and the Consort’s own Paul Jenkins in the title role. Rounding out the programme is a selection of dramatic sacred motets from late Renaissance composers Orlando di Lasso and Domenico Mazzocchi. Guest soprano Suzie LeBlanc is one of Canada's major stars on the international scene, with a distinguished career in 17th and 18th-century repertoire. She began singing in choirs in her native Acadia and subsequently studied flute, harpsichord, classical voice and ballet. Her busy schedule includes concert and opera performances, festival appearances and recording projects on both cd and video, with engagements at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with director Jonathan Miller, Netherlandse Opera, Opéra de Montréal, and Dresden Opera, Festival Montréal Baroque, Boston Early Music Festival, Tanglewood, and festivals in Vancouver, Beaune and Berlin. She sang the role of Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute for the first time in 2003 for Sigiswald Kuijken and La Petite Band, in a production which toured to Belgium and Spain. Her discography includes over 40 recordings ranging from medieval to contemporary music, the most recent being a recording of Mozart lieder accompanied on fortepiano by Yannick Nezet-Séguin. Suzie LeBlanc is founding member and artistic director of the Académie de Musique Baroque de Montréal and teaches voice at the Université de Montréal. Listing information: Media Contact:
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The Toronto Consort
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