The University of Calgary’s Collegium Musicum is dedicated to exploring music from the baroque period and earlier.  Each term has a particular area of focus, and students are exposed to as much repertoire as possible while also looking at performance practice issues and historical context.  Student and community members are encouraged to audition each September.

Description of April 25 ProArts@Noon concert:  The ensemble will perform works from the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods.  Our focus this year has been France and Italy.  The concert will include music by Monteverdi, Charpentier and Lambert.

Collegium Musicum Director, Julie Harris:  Julie holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Calgary and an Artist Diploma from the University of Toronto. She also studied early music in The Hague for which she received a grant from the Canada Council. Upon returning to Calgary in 1999, she created and runs the Early Music Voices Concert Series.   As well as being a member of Calgary’s VoiceScapes, she is also half of Duo Seraphim with Toronto-based soprano Katherine Hill. She maintains a private voice studio and coaches for various local community choirs and high schools.

Special Guest, Neil Cockburn, pipe organ:  International prize-winning organist Neil Cockburn has been a central figure in the development of a musical culture of the pipe organ in Calgary and Western Canada for the past nine years. Celebrated for his diverse repertoire interests and expertise, he is known particularly for his many concerto performances with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. He has given an all-encompassing spectrum of solo organ recitals on a wide range of instrument types, from all-Bach recitals on historically-inspired organs, to symphonic programmes on romantic instruments, and concerts of entirely new works.