For the new 2017 season, Le Centre culturel francophone de Vancouver is very pleased to present a concert with the Viola da Gamba Ensemble of Vancouver on Friday, January 27 at 8 p.m., in Studio 16 of the Maison de la francophonie de Vancouver.

In this unique concert, four musicians will transport the audience through different eras in England, Germany, Italy, Spain and France, with magnificent works for viol ensembles composed by major figures of Renaissance and Baroque music, including Purcell, Bevin, Gibbons, Lupo, Nicolai, del Encina, Cabezon, Vivaldi, Charpentier and others.

The musicians who make up the Viola da Gamba Ensemble of Vancouver specialise in music for viola da gamba, an instrument with rich, intimate and moving sonority that was very popular during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Just as there are instruments of different sizes in the violin family, the viola da gamba exists in different forms (treble, alto, tenor and contrabass viols, etc.), and a number of the gambists in the ensemble play more than one instrument. As a result, their concerts present a wide variety of sonorous textures and colours. The Viola da Gamba Ensemble of Vancouver performs in various configurations and includes a number of sub-ensembles: Caffe della gamba (Sarah Poon and Genevieve MacKay), Viol Pleasures (Pat Unruh and Anne Duranceau), and others