About

On Wednesday September 11th at 7 pm, soprano Janelle Lucyk is joined by a chamber ensemble for a special concert at St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Lunenburg. Lucyk has been described as having “such an angelic voice (…) her expressiveness is beyond words (…) as though she’s channeling God.” (YouTube comment). In 2024, she performs in all Canada’s provinces and territories and in Europe. The program features Handel’s “Gloria”, a major solo cantata for soprano and ensemble, that is equally dazzling and technically demanding. The work was lost for several hundred years and was attributed to Handel again only in 2001. The Belgian viola da gamba player Thomas Baeté, and powerhouse harpsichordist Suren Barry will also perform a series of duo repertoire that are part of their Nova Scotian tour. Join us on Wednesday September 11th at 7 pm for this special concert at historic St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Lunenburg, home of Canada’s oldest Presbyterian congregation dating back to the founding of Lunenburg in 1753.

Musique Royale is grateful to Brent Rinaldi for his support of this upcoming performance.

About the Artists

Janelle Lucyk – soprano

Janelle Lucyk is a leader among an emerging generation of Canadian artists specializing in old music and historically informed performance, taking ideas from conception to the stage.

In fall 2022, she was invited by legendary organist Xaver Varnus to perform at his two sold out performances in Hungary, including at the spectacular Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest. She has had the good fortune of working as a soloist with the Kings College Chapel Choir under five-time Grammy winner Paul Halley on many unforgettable concerts including Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 and Selva Morale e Spirituale and multiple Bach Passions. Janelle is the artistic director of Ménestrel, her ensemble with Kerry Bursey which produces alternative early music mixing ancient repertoire with oral folk traditons. In 2022 and 2023, Ménestrel produced their “Messiah-on-the-go!” congregating twenty emerging performers from across Canada to perform Handel’s masterpiece in historic Nova Scotian venues.

Following mentor and arts champion Barbara Butler, Janelle assumed the role of Artistic and Administrative Director of Musique Royale (est. 1985), a music presenter based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia which enriches historic spaces through the sharing of world class early music, and much more. Last year included concerts in forty different historic venues across the spectacular maritime province. Janelle graduated in 2014 with distinction from the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles in Belgium and completed her Masters in Management at Durham University in the UK where she was awarded the Best Soloist by Music Durham, and Best Female Soloist by her peers. While in Europe, she formed Voces Desuper, an ensemble performing regularly in the magnificent Cathédrale de Saints-Michel-et-Gudule, and especially at the Te Deum ceremony for the King and Queen of Belgium.

Thomas Baeté – songs, viola da gamba

The moment you play or sing music from a distant past back to life, two things happen: you make an instant, personal connection with that past, and at the same time you create something completely new and unique to that very moment.

The meeting of these seemingly opposite currents form the waves Thomas Baeté rides when he performs, researches, teaches and directs early music.

His instruments are the viola da gamba and the medieval fiddles, which he also uses to accompany his singing. Based in Belgium, his musical activities brought him to over 20 European countries, as well as Morocco, Peru, Colombia, the US of A, Canada, Georgia and Japan.

Exploring his passion for 14th Century polyphony, he founded the ensemble ClubMediéval, and his project Transports Publics brings unknown 17th Century music to the light.

Thomas teaches in Brussels and Leuven.

Suren Barry – harpsichord

Hailing from Ottawa, Suren has established himself as a versatile artist, equally at home on piano, fortepiano, and harpsichord. Regularly performing as part of Duo Octavian, a piano duo dedicated to commissioning new music and arranging orchestral works for two pianos, Suren’s fascination for improvisation has also inspired him to pursue fortepiano performance, focusing on Mozart and developing techniques for improvising cadenzas (which was the topic of his doctoral thesis at McGill’s Schulich School of Music).

This passion for improvisation recently led Suren to pursue a Master’s in Historical Performance on harpsichord at Juilliard. Over the past two years, Suren has performed with some of the world’s leading early music ensembles in France, Germany, and the US, such as Les Arts Florissants (led by William Christie), Yale’s Schola Cantorum (led by David Hill), and many others. A self-professed generalist, Suren is happiest when learning new things and engaging in conversation, and has perhaps spent more time playing chess than he cares to admit.