Calgary Classical

Explore the expressive side of early Italian baroque music - music that leans into emotion, colour, and subtle changes in sound. Works by Barbara Strozzi, Francesca Caccini, and Sigismondo d’India are deeply connected to the human voice, even when played on instruments.

Trombonist Maximilien Brisson (Germany), with harpsichordist Christophe Gauthier and organist Luc Beauséjour (Montréal), performs early baroque laments that highlight the trombone’s surprising vocal quality. Guest soprano Hannah Pagenkopf - Soprano adds a powerful vocal presence to the program.

Presented by Early Music Voices .

Scorrete lagrime mie | Sunday, March 8, 2026 | 3 p.m. | Christ Church Elbow Park

More info & tickets through https://www.calgaryclassical.ca/event/1396-Scorrete-lagrime-mie

Take a break and travel back in time!

This Wednesday, Early Music Voices is bringing early music to life with voices, lute, baroque cello, and organ. Hear music by John Dowland, J.S. Bach, and more — performed by Calgary’s finest early music specialists.

When: Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 | 12–1 p.m.�
Where: Cathedral Church of the Redeemer, Calgary

Perfect for anyone curious about early music — or already in love with it. Come hear Calgary’s finest early music specialists bring the past to life!

More info through https://www.calgaryclassical.ca/event/1436-ProArts-co-presents-EARLY-MUSIC-VOICES

Fortuna, Will You Spare Us?
Ensemble Pampinea brings medieval music — and fate itself — to Calgary

This Saturday, January 10, you are invited into a medieval world where chance rules all. At Christ Church Elbow Park, Ensemble Pampinea — an internationally acclaimed early music ensemble based in Basel, Switzerland — presents "Fortuna, will you spare us?", a concert that turns the traditional performance model on its head by placing destiny quite literally in the hands of the audience.

In medieval thought, Fortuna was the embodiment of chance: unpredictable, mercurial, and all-powerful. In this concert, audience take on that role. Through moments of guided choice, the audience decides the course of the music, shaping the performers’ fate in real time. As the ensemble puts it: “Alas, the die is in your hands!” Each performance becomes unrepeatable, a living reminder that in the face of Fortuna, anything — and everything — is possible.

Ensemble Pampinea is made up of four remarkable young musicians from across the globe who came together while studying at the renowned Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland, one of the world’s leading institutions for early music. A spectacular range of instruments is featured in the ensemble, including the recorder, organetto (a medieval portative organ), fiddle, pipe and tabor, clavisimbalum (an early keyboard instrument), and, last but not least, the voice. These instruments, some rarely heard in modern concert halls, create an intimate and atmospheric sound world that draws listeners into the music’s emotional core — by turns playful, plaintive, and deeply human.