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VancouverCDs make classicallygoodcheer
Everything from musica intima's transcendent vocal stylings to Bradshaw Pack's divine operatic explorations promises seasonal bliss
BRADSHAW PACK: PAUMPSEST

Choir's annual Chez Nous holiday
concert, this CD features works
ranging from familiar carols (and
Benjamin Britten's extended A Ceremony
of Carols) to contemporary
Canadian
compositions by the
likes of Jeffrey Enns,
Edward Henderson,
and Robert Buckley,
among others. Special guests including
A Touch of Brass, percussionist
Sal Ferreras, and acoustic
bassist Jody Proznick
lend the album a
home-for-the-holidays
flavour. What it sounds
like: Imagine having
your
closest
friends
and family gathered
around a Yuletide log to
sing holiday favouritesMUSICA INTIMA: INTO UG/ff
in tune. Wrap it up: Give
(ATMA Classique)
Vancouver's •CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL
this to the sullen Scrooge in your
who needs
some help
stellar vocal ensemble musica in- CHOIR: ANGELS FROM HEAVEN ELEKTRA WOMEN'S
CHOIR: life
tima's newest CD offering, named CAME (Independent) This album CHEZ NOUS: CHRISTMAS WITH getting into the holiday spirit.
classical recording of the year at was culled from a 2002 Advent Jes- ELEKTJlA (Independent)
Featur- (Available at elektra.ca!, cdbaby.
the 2010 Western Canadian Music sons and carols service recorded by ing highlights of Elektra Women's com/, and iTunes.)
> BY JESSICA

WERB

Awards, is not strictly a Christmas
album. Nonetheless, its collection
ou've sourced your 100- of hymns and spiritually tinged
mile turkey and farm- works by a variety of contemporfresh sweet potaary Canadian compostoes, staked
ers, including R. Murray
out the craft fairs for
Schafer, Jocelyn Morlock, and Imant Ramlocally made gifts, and
planned your winter
insh, would make for a
stay-cation. Why not
sophisticated December
extend the same devo25 soundtrack. What it
tion to all things local
sounds like: With
to your holiday music?
musica
intima's
Whether you're looking
for last-minute stocking
uncanny ability to crestuffers or some seasonal cheer, the ate a Zenlike state of
following selection of new albums transcendent beauty,
from the Vancouver classical- think of it as the aural
music scene, spanning everything equivalent of a day at
from traditional seasonal fare to the spa. Wrap it up:
thought-provoking
contemporary Get it for the blissedcompositions, is just what your out hatha-yoga devotee
carbon-neutral Santa ordered.
of the family. (Available at music
aintima.org!.)

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STORMTECH
FACTORY

the CBC, and from submissions to
the CBC Choral Competition (in
which the choir placed first in the
biennial amateur division
1998, 2000, 2002, and
2006). Canadian composers including Diane
Loomer, Jonathan Quick,
Healey Willan, Matthew
Larkin, and the choir's
director, Rupert Lang,
composed five of
the 13 works on
the album. What
it sounds like: Featuring
unedited tracks recorded
live in Christ Church Cathedral, this album feels like
a warm and welcoming
clmrch service-without
the long sermon. Wrap it
up: This one's perfect for the lapsed
Anglican in need of a spiritual lift.
(Availableat the cathedral office or on
iTunes and Amazon MP3.)

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(Skylark Music) Local· composer
Bradshaw Pack's exploration of the
divine in music, based on the oldest
surviving opera, Claudio Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, made its debut in
2005 at the hands of Vancouver's
Standing Wave Ensemble, to which
six additional players were added.
An arrangement of works parsed
from Johann Sebastian Bach, Claudio Monteverdi, and Anton Webern, anchored by compositions by
Pack, it's a sprawling piece that
seeks to map the human
relationship to music.
What it sounds like:
There is a quote by the
philosopher Gottfried
Leibniz in the liner
notes of the album
that hints at the intellectual nature of
Pack's project: "Music
is a secret arithmetic of the soul
unknowing of the fact that it is
counting." Wrap it up: Got an agnostic philosophy major on your
list? This'll do nicely. (Available at
canadacd.ca/.) ◊

·ta

Santa arriveseSaturday, December 4 for daily visits up to and including
December 24. (With the exception of Dec. 12, 18, 19 and 22)

•

Magic Shows with Elfina - December 12, 18, 19 & 22

• Waterproof
Outerwear
• WaterResistant
Outerwear
• ThermalJackets
• InsulatedOuterwear
• Fleece
• Accessories

Join Kids Market and the Elizabeth Fry Society along with the
Lower Mainland Chrisbnas Bureau and give a gift to less
fortunate children. Choose a card from our tree and donate
an unwrapped gift at Kids Market before December 20.
Have your gifts wrapped by donation on the
second floor December 11 - 24.

GRANVILLE

ISLAND

www.kldsmarket.ca

Children with JUVENILE DIABETES Are Insulin Dependent for LIFE

J DRF

Juvenile
Diabetes
Research
Foundation

INSULIN IS NOT A CURE
It only allows a child to stay alive
For more information

about how you can help find a cure call

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DECEMBER 2 - 9 / 2010

THE GEORGIASTRAIGHT 35