Seasonal concert promises a night of musical magic

As a somewhat modest rehearsal venue, the side hall with an adjoining open kitchen isn’t exactly Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center, but the ears don’t seem to mind.

Not one bit.

Welcome to one of the final practice session recitals for the newly formed vocal ensemble SENZA Nomine.

The name is interesting, but well thought out.

“SENZA Nomine implies that we are without title,” says ensemble member Devon Wastle Thivierge. “There isn’t necessarily anyone in the position of being the ‘leader’ of the group. We essentially wanted to be very collaborative.”

The troupe is set to perform its inaugural concert on Saturday, Nov. 30^th at the Church of St. Barnabas in downtown Ottawa.

Tonight’s rehearsal starts in the church’s aforementioned kitchen area before shifting over to the main church; featuring much-improved sight lines and general feel but bringing along the same magical, powerful set of voices.

Carla Klassen, one of the initial architects of the ensemble, explains how it all came together.

“About a year ago, Wanda (Procyshyn) and I were talking about how there are many, many great choirs in Ottawa but there really isn’t a small ensemble that focuses on where individual voices are really important because you only have one or two people on a part (soprano, alto, tenor, bass).”

And that’s what you see and hear here.

The ensemble is made up of working musicians from around the region. Some are teachers, some are working professionals.

The resulting sound on this night is impressively robust and compelling.

Just two weeks out from its debut, SENZA Nomine is striking the right notes and doing it with surety.

On the evening of the concert, concert-goers will hear the 12-member troupe dip into music celebrating St. Cecilia, St. Nicolas and Mary by composers Monteverdi, Aleotti, Palestrina, Lasso, Ravanello and Britten.

“We’re doing mostly Renaissance pieces with a few modern (pieces). So, it’s very old music with the exception of a couple from a (British) composer named Benjamin Britten,” Carla Klassen says.

Co-founder Wanda Procyshyn adds – “We were thinking, do we want to do a Christmas concert? But we thought a lot of other choral groups are doing (Christmas), and we thought, what are other things we could do that are seasonal?”

The element of Christmas will be present, however. The concert focuses on St. Cecilia, the patron of music and musicians as well as St. Nicholas, the inspiration for Santa Claus.

Tickets for the Nov. 30^th event are available through Eventbrite.com and will also be up for purchase at the church door. Adult tickets cost $35, while students can attend for $10.