Friday February 5, 2021
Knox United Church, Parksville. Concert at 7 pm, doors open at 6:30 pm
Alexander Weimann, Artistic Director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Vancouver and Music Director of Les Voix Baroques, Le Nouvel Opera and Tempo Rubato, brings his internationally acclaimed talents as harpsichordist to Oceanside Classical Concerts. He brings with him an ensemble of outstanding baroque musicians – a recipe sure to reach the highest of heights.
Born in Munich, Germany in 1965, Mr. Weimann’s music studies have included the organ, church music, musicology (with a summa cum laude thesis on Bach’s secco recitatives), theatre, medieval Latin, and jazz piano. His studies were aided by federal scholarships reserved for the extremely talented.
Baroque ensembles and orchestras across Canada have been conducted by Mr. Weimann – the Montreal-based Ensemble Arion, Les Violons du Roy, and, in the United States, the Portland Baroque Orchestra. Regularly, he has been the featured soloist for the Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and is a frequent conductor of the Victoria Symphony and Symphony Nova Scotia (recently, with Handel’s Messiah).
Over 100 CDs feature Alexander Weimann. His North American debut recording was with the ensemble Tragicomedia (Capritio, Harmonia Mundi USA) and his 2001 recording of Handel’s Gloria (ATMA Classique) brought acclaim from critics worldwide. In 2005, Weimann released recordings of the complete works by Alessandro Scarlatti; again, he received unanimous praise. The Scarlatti recording was nominated for an Opus Prize as best Canadian early music recording in 2006. Soprano Karina Gauvin and Montreal-based ensemble Tempo Rubato were featured with Weimann on a recording of Bach’s St. John’s Passion (won the Opus award). He received a Juno award in 2013 for his recording with Karina Gauvin and Arion Baroque Orchestra (Prima Donna). Also in 2013, a complete recording of Handel’s Orlando was released to high acclaim.
A further music interest for Weiman, as a grounding in the roots of western music, is Gregorian Chant. In addition to his studies, he attends and offers numerous master classes in harpsichord and historical music performance.
Written by Mary Leigh Warden
Source: Alexander Weimann website