An inspirational concert of skilful artistry and dazzling personal connection
Prepare to be captivated with the Chilliwack Cultural Centre's Classical Music Series! Sarah returns as the host of this series of morning concerts, presenting classical compositions and fantastic musical guests in a series of duets over the course of the year. With complimentary freshly brewed coffee, tea, and sumptuous baked treats, there could be no better way to begin your weekend than with these spectacular concerts. This episode of the Classical Music Series will present Sarah in duet with Benjamin Butterfield, a world-class tenor who is back to invigorate The Centre with his resonant timbre and inspiring voice, in a performance that will prove an exemplary display of skillful artistry, stirring atmospheres, and the pure passion of classical music.
Programme:
Joseph Haydn: Two English Songs
Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe "A Poet's Love"
Beethoven: Adelaide
Benjamin Britten: Selected folksongs
About Benjamin:
Regarded by the Washington Post as a tenor who sings “…with taste, authority and agility…” and having “… a creamily sweet timbre…” (Opera News) Benjamin Butterfield is equally at home in the opera and concert repertoire having performed with companies from New York to San Francisco, Toronto to Vancouver; London, Paris and Rome to Israel and Taiwan.
On the concert stage Mr. Butterfield has performed with the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl in Carmina Burana with Bramwell Tovey and in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Vancouver Symphony under Andrew Grams where he was “…the star amongst the soloists…” (Globe and Mail). In Europe he sang the arias in Bach’s St. John Passion for Jan Willem de Vriend with the Residentie Orkest of the Netherlands and the St. John Passion Evangelist for Choeur Ardito in Switzerland under Nicolas Reymond. Other engagements included Chicago’s Music of the Baroque with Jane Glover and the Ravinia Festival with the Chicago Symphony under James Conlon. Mr. Butterfield returned for Messiah with the San Francisco Symphony, the Calgary Philharmonic with Jean-Marie Zeitouni as well as Beethoven’s Ninth with the Colorado Symphony under Jeffrey Kahane. He also presented the neglected American art song of Randy Newman for Toronto Masque Theater.
Film and TV credits include Dido and Aeneas with the Mark Morris Dance Company and Tafelmusik, Burnt Toast with the Esprit Orchestra, L'enfant et les sortileges with the Montreal Symphony and Charles Dutoit, Handel’s Messiah for ZDF in Halle with the English Concert under Trevor Pinnock and Bach's B minor Mass with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem for PBS. He is also heard regularly on CBC Radio.
Prof. Butterfield teaches voice for the School of Music at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and he also teaches and performs at summer vocal training programs, including Opera Nuova (Edmonton), Opera on the Avalon (St. John’s), Yellow Barn (Vermont) the Amalfi Coast Music Festival (Italy) and VISI (Vancouver).