The Old School House Arts Centre presents Baroque Music at its Finest on Sunday, April 2.
Performing are Soile Stratkauskas on baroque flute, and Michael Jarvis on harpsichord.
Finnish-born Soile Stratkauskas moved to Victoria in January 2010 and quickly established herself in the West Coast early music scene, appearing regularly in solo, chamber, and orchestral performances for Early Music Society of the Islands, Pacific Baroque Festival, Early Music Vancouver and Pacific Baroque Orchestra.
After finishing her undergraduate degree at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester she continued her studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where she gained her Master’s Degree with distinction.
Stratkauskas has played with many prominent period instrument orchestras in the UK, including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and the Gabrieli Consort and Players, and most recently was part of a recording of Haydn’s The Seasons with the latter in June 2016. She is the founder and artistic director of the Victoria Baroque Players, which is now in its sixth season of presenting baroque concerts at the Church of St John the Divine downtown Victoria. This season’s highlights include a concert with soprano Nancy Argenta, a chamber arrangement of Haydn’s Miracle Symphony, Bach’s St John Passion, and Brandenburg Concertos No. 1 and 5 with British harpsichordist Steven Devine.
Michael Jarvis has been acclaimed as one of Canada’s finest harpsichordists, fortepianists, organists and continuo players, and is in demand as a collaborative artist and performance practice coach. He has performed with many of Canada’s leading orchestras and chamber ensembles across Canada, the US and Europe. As a conductor he has led many diverse programmes from 17th century French theatrical dance and English theatre music to 21st-century 12-tone opera.
He has recorded for many labels, including Marquis Classics, Hungaroton, ATMA, Naxos, Solitudes and Avalon, and has many times broadcast nationally and regionally for the CBC, as well as nationally across the U.S. on N.P.R. His CD of Hummel’s op. 5 violin sonatas was chosen as a finalist as best classical album of the year in the Western Canadian Music Awards 2013.
He has taught at UBC, the University of Toronto and Wilfred Laurier University, was featured on two national Canadian television specials, A Baroque Christmas and A Baroque Easter and was also co-host and star of the 13-part television series Come into the Parlour for Bravo-TV.
He is also an avid antique phonograph restorer and early sound recording collector. Michael lives in Victoria, B.C.
The performance runs from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m., and admission is $18.
— Submitted by TOSH