In Paradisum Featuring Duruflé’s Requiem Date Sunday, November 3, 2024 Time 3:00pm Location St. Francis of Assisi, 20 Fairmont Avenue, Ottawa Event Details The centrepiece of this concert is Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem for choir, organ, mezzo-soprano and baritone. Composed during the Second World War, it was inspired by Duruflé’s fascination with Gregorian chant and is considered the 20th-century French composer’s masterpiece. Vocal soloists will be Geoffrey Sirett, baritone, and Tessa Fackelmann, mezzo-soprano. Also on the program will be the highly regarded Litanies à la vierge noire. Another French composer of the 20th century, Francis Poulenc wrote this startlingly austere, often ferocious choral setting for organ and choir as an expression of his struggle toward a religious faith. These French classics will be accompanied by several works by Canadian composers, including Katerina Gimon, Stephanie Martin, Kathleen Allan, and Palestinian-Jordanian Canadian Shireen Abu Khader. Matthew Larkin will be the organist. Featured Artists Gabrielle Gaudreault OCS Artistic Director & Conductor Gabrielle Gaudreault is the Artistic Director of the Ottawa Choral Society and the Saint-Lambert Choral Society. She is also an instructor in the Choral Department at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, where she directs the choral ensembles and supervises the graduate students in choral conducting. A sought-after conductor, pedagogue and collaborative pianist, Dr. Gaudreault has previously served as Assistant Conductor to Maestro Kent Nagano at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Associate Conductor of the National Children’s Chorus in Washington, D.C., Artistic Director of the South Shore Children’s Chorus in Saint-Lambert, QC, Music Director of the St-Augustine’s Church Choir in St-Bruno, QC, and Apprentice Conductor of the National Youth Choir of Canada. In 2020, she co-founded CG Music Academy in Arlington, VA with her husband Chris. Gabrielle completed her Doctorate in Choral Conducting at McGill University in spring 2020 and holds an MA in Music Theory and Choral Conducting from Indiana University. Her research focuses on pedagogical approaches to the choral rehearsal and late-20th-century choral works by Québécois composers. Read More Gabrielle Gaudreault OCS Artistic Director & Conductor Read More Tessa Fackelmann Mezzo-Soprano Praised as “hilarious” and “vocally charming”, Mezzo Soprano, Tessa Fackelmann, has been seen on stages performing the works of Handel, Mozart and Rossini. A native of Ottawa, she holds a Bachelor of Arts and an Artist Diploma from the University of Ottawa, as well as a Masters of Music from Rice University. Tessa is an alumna of the Santa Fe Opera Apprentice Program where she made her mainstage debut as The Kitchen Girl in Dvorak’s Rusalka (2023). She returned to the Santa Fe Opera this past summer to cover the role of Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni and to sing the role of Ruth in the world premiere of The Righteous. Tessa sang on the Metropolitan Opera stage as a National Semifinalist in the 2024 Metropolitan Laffont Competition. In 2025, Tessa will make her role and house debut as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro with Sarasota Opera. Read More Tessa Fackelmann Mezzo-Soprano Read More Geoffrey Sirett Baritone Hailed by the Globe and Mail as “a brilliant performer,” “with the kind of magnetism that comes from combining realism with exhaustive extremes,” baritone Geoffrey Sirett won the 2018 Dora Award for Outstanding Opera Performance singing the leading role of Akaky in The Overcoat (Canadian Stage, Tapestry Opera, & Vancouver Opera). Geoffrey’s upcoming and recent engagements include Bach’s Ich habe genug with Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra, Brahms’ Requiem with the Victoria Symphony, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Orchestre philharmonique et Choeur des Mélomanes at Maison Symphonique de Montréal, and Handel’s Brockes Passion with Jonathan Oldengarm at Metropolitan United (Toronto). Other recent highlights include Brahms’ Requiem for the Richard Eaton Singers, Messiah for the Ottawa Choral Society, Arabella with the Canadian Opera Company, H.M.S. Pinafore and The Merry Widow with Edmonton Opera, Weill’s Seven Deadly Sins with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and St. John Passion with the Ottawa Choral Society and the Elora Singers. Winding Violets Copyright 2012 Read More Geoffrey Sirett Baritone Read More Matthew Larkin Organ Organist, conductor, composer, and educator Matthew Larkin has been at the forefront of concert, liturgical, and ensemble choral and keyboard performance in Canada for thirty years. He received his early musical training as a cathedral chorister, and undertook advanced studies at the University of Toronto (as Organ Scholar of Trinity College), and the Royal College of Music. He has since served in a leadership role in the music of several prominent Canadian churches, including St. James Cathedral (Toronto) and Christ Church Cathedral (Ottawa). He has served as Music Director of the Ottawa Choral Society, Canada’s most historic philharmonic choir, and he founded Ottawa’s Caelis Academy Ensemble in 2017, which now stands among Canada’s finest chamber choirs. As organist, pianist, and collaborator, he has performed throughout North America, Europe, and China, and as soloist with several of Canada’s orchestras including that of the National Arts Centre, the Toronto Symphony, and the Vancouver Symphony. His discography is extensive, and he is both a Naxos and ATMA recording artist. Currently, Matthew serves as Custodian of Music at Ottawa’s St. Andrew’s Church, is Resident Conductor of New Opera Lyra, and keeps a very full diary of concert events. Read More Matthew Larkin Organ Read More