With Peace and Joy

Join Early Music Alberta on Friday, May 9, 2025 at 7:30 PM at First Presbyterian Church for an unforgettable evening of Renaissance and Baroque music in With Peace and Joy — a program devoted to the rich, rarely heard world of sacred vocal music and secular viol consort repertoire.

This is a unique opportunity to experience a sound that was once at the heart of European musical life, yet is now almost never heard live in Edmonton. The program brings together five of Canada’s finest early music specialists in a moving concert of expressive depth and historical beauty.

PERFORMERS:

• Jolaine Kerley (Edmonton), soprano
• Roderick Bryce (Edmonton), bass
• Josephine van Lier (Edmonton), treble, tenor, and bass viola da gamba
• Sarah Poon (Vancouver), treble, tenor, and bass viola da gamba
• Elinor Frey (Toronto), tenor and bass viola da gamba

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

• Fantasias for three viols by Tomkins, Coprario, Purcell, and Lupo, showcasing the intricate intimacy of the viol consort
• Hans Leo Hassler​’s radiant Ecce Quam Bonum and Missa V super Ecce Quam Bonum (1599), with three vocal lines performed on viols
• Buxtehude​’s powerful Mit Fried und Freud – Klaglied, written in memory of his father
• The rarely performed Sonata à Tre Viol da Gamba by Johann Michael Nicolai
• The meditative cantata Ich halte es dafür, BuxWV 48 by Buxtehude

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to hear music that once resonated through sacred chapels, royal courts, and private homes — brought vividly to life by some of Canada’s most gifted early music interpreters.