Researched and written by Hugh Brewster and narrated by him and Shaw Festival actress, Brigitte Robinson (an accomplished actor who has appeared in theatre, film and television across Canada), Royal Splendour is a multimedia production complemented by a screen show of archival images and video. This programme will feature everything from Mendelssohn’s “Italien” OP 8, No 3 (once performed by the young Queen Victoria for the composer at Windsor Castle), to Paul Mealor’s Kyrie Eleison sung in Welsh by Bryn Terfel at this year’s coronation of King Charles III. It also highlights Canada’s connection to the Crown from the first royal visit in 1860 by the Prince of Wales to the anthem composed by Canadian composer Healey Willan for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

From the music of Gilbert and Sullivan (a piece from one of Queen Victoria’s favorite operettas) to Queen Elizabeth’s best-loved song from Oklahoma, Royal Splendour is a regal production not to be missed!

REGULAR — $45

STUDENTS 18 and under — $25

(Prices include HST)

Please review our Purchasing and COVID-19 policies prior to visiting the “Ticket Store.”

Launch your festive season with this best-loved of all choral works.

Dr. Noel Edison once again draws on years of experience to interpret this magnificent oratorio in a way that is both fresh and powerful. With a splendid choir, outstanding soloists and full orchestra, and performed amid the beauty and acoustic perfection of Guelph’s Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate, this is a Messiah you will never forget!

Please be sure to reserve your seat by 10 pm on the day prior to the performance date or purchase at-door at the venue.

REGULAR — $50

STUDENTS 18 and under — $30

(Prices include HST)

Please review our Purchasing and COVID-19 policies prior to visiting the “Ticket Store.”

Join us for a joyous celebration of the music of Christmas!

“Even though I have been in the choral music business for over 45 years,” says Musical Director and Conductor, Noel Edison, “I still look forward to the month of December with all the concerts and all the wonderful music that is written for the season.

“Christmas is principally about our yesteryears, looking back, hearing and remembering those carols that you’ve heard all your life. The music of Christmas comes in many forms, shapes and emotions. It’s about past gatherings with family and friends, adult memories of good times — and sometimes bad times — but it’s the one time of the year that always conjures up a deep emotion of goodwill towards all. It’s amazing to think that a little newborn would somehow bring so much hope and humanity to our rather fragile world.”

“Yule” want to make this concert a family tradition!

Please be sure to reserve your seat by 10 pm on the day prior to the performance date or purchase at-door at the venue.

REGULAR — $45

STUDENTS 18 and under — $25

(Prices include HST)

Please review our Purchasing and COVID-19 policies prior to visiting the “Ticket Store.”

Many believe that James MacMillan is the most significant composer of our day. Written for string orchestra and choir, Seven Last Words from the Cross is a dramatic powerhouse of brilliant musical writing. It was commissioned by BBC Television and first screened in seven nightly episodes during Holy Week 1994. It was performed by Cappella Nova and the BT Scottish Ensemble under Alan Tavener. The traditional text is based on a compilation from all four gospels to form a sequential presentation of the last seven sentences uttered by Christ.

“ […] highly original conception with the composer’s fertile imagination stamped all over it. […] the work is terse, dark and deeply emotional, yet for all its crude depiction of total suffering, the listener is left with a spiritual fulfillment of intense gratitude and joy. This is music where one must be prepared to suffer in silence if he wants to grasp and appreciate the immense beauty of Macmillan’s stupendous creation.”

— Classical.net

“[Seven Last Words] is probably MacMillan’s masterpiece… the maturity in this composition is astounding: the tonal structure of the seven settings, harmony which can be spare or lush without ever being overwritten, an inexorable sense of the drama in the text, the balance between voice and strings.”

— The Guardian

Please be sure to reserve your seat by 10 pm on the day prior to the performance date or purchase at-door at the venue.

REGULAR — $50

STUDENTS 18 and under — $30

(Prices include HST)

Please review our Purchasing and COVID-19 policies prior to visiting the “Ticket Store.”

Last season’s concert was such a success, that we had to do it again.

Please join us for a heartwarming and intimate performance that celebrates the long traditions of folk music and spirituals, with commentary about the songs, by our singers.

Our concert title Warm Breath of Spring comes from the first verse of the late, great Gordon Lightfoot’s song Pussy willows, Cat-tails:

Pussy willows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses     
Rain pools in the woodland, water to my knees
Shivering, quivering, the warm breath of spring
Pussy willows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses

This soothing song was inspired by Gordon Lightfoot’s upbringing in Orillia, Ontario. In his Complete Greatest Hits liner notes, he called the area “a very idyllic spot,” adding, “it was classic: a river, a pond, and a dam, a stream down below.”

Please be sure to reserve your seat by 10 pm on the day prior to the performance date or purchase at-door at the venue.

REGULAR — $45

STUDENTS 18 and under — $25

(Prices include HST)

Please review our Purchasing and COVID-19 policies prior to visiting the “Ticket Store.”

Sunday December 4, 2022 – 3:30 pm
Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate, 28 Norfolk Street Guelph, ON  N1H 4H8

Join us for Dr. Edison’s personal and joyful musical journey towards Christmas Day:

“Even though I have been in the choral music business for over 45 years, I still look forward to the month of December with all the concerts and all the wonderful music that is written for the season. […]

The music of Christmas comes in many forms, shapes and emotions, but its principal element is one of nostalgia, memories of childhood, past gatherings with family and friends, adult memories of good times — and sometimes bad times — but it’s one that always conjures up a deep emotion of goodwill towards all. It’s amazing to think that a little newborn would somehow bring so much hope and humanity to our rather fragile world.”

Noel Edison

Please be sure to reserve your spot by 10pm of the day prior to the performance date or purchase at-door at the venue.

REGULAR — $45

STUDENTS 18 and under — $25

(Prices include HST)

Please review our Purchasing and COVID-19 policies prior to visiting the “Ticket Store.”

FAURÉ & DURUFLÉ REQUIEMS      These concerts are dedicated to the people of Ukraine

Filled with rich, soulful melodies, Gabriel Fauré’s seven-part Requiem is one of the most moving works in the choral canon. Premiering in 1888 at La Madeleine in Paris, where Fauré was the organist, it was later performed at the composer’s own funeral in 1924.

Another masterpiece of French choral composition is Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem, which was completed in 1947 with musical themes drawn from Gregorian chant. It has been described as “supremely beautiful.”

Together these two soul-stirring works guarantee a powerful listening experience.

Please be sure to reserve your spot by 10pm of the day prior to the performance date or purchase at-door at the venue.

REGULAR — $45

STUDENTS 18 and under — $25

(Prices include HST)

Please review our Purchasing and COVID-19 policies prior to visiting the “Ticket Store.”