Leaf Music is thrilled to welcome two additions to the label’s roster, soprano Christina Haldane, and Duo Oriana.
Christina Haldane
Christina’s career spans the UK, Europe, Asia and North America, and she is currently based in Canada’s Atlantic provinces. She has interpreted many lead opera roles, having performed for opera houses such as The Finnish National Opera, The Royal Opera Covent Garden, Scottish Opera and Musica Viva Hong Kong. Her specialism is performing Handel’s Heroines, Comedic Bel Canto roles and Contemporary opera. Christina enjoys performing and curating recital and chamber music concerts, and she is often invited to perform with leading orchestras. Her exploration of contemporary music has led to many collaborations with composers, and she continues to bring their vocal works to life.
Christina’s first album with Leaf Music, Tu Me Voyais, is set for an October 21, 2022 release. The album is anchored around Carl Philippe Gionet’s new arrangements of Twelve Acadian Folk Songs, conceived for Christina’s voice. These arrangements are set in the 19th century Lieder aesthetic or art songwhere both voice and piano play equal solo parts within the musical architecture. ICARE: premier fragment, a newly commissioned work by Torontonian composer Adam Sherkin, set to a narrative poem by Carl, continues the evolution of contemporary Canadian French art song. The album concludes with Jérôme Blais’ two new arrangements for voice and piano, “Blanches, surtout” and “Il va sans dire,” from his original multimedia show Mouvance, set to poems by Acadian poets Léonard Forest and Herménégilde Chiasson.
Duo Oriana
Soprano Sinéad White and lutenist Jonathan Stuchbery are a Toronto based duo breathing life into song traditions that span centuries and evolve in the present day. Both are specialists in the performance of renaissance and baroque music and first started working together in the early music scene in Toronto. The desire to keep making music during the most restricted days of the COVID-19 pandemic brought them together as a duo for the first time to collaborate virtually for a recording and video of an old Irish lullaby. This led them to assemble a program of music from Ireland, Scotland, and England, which reflected their own respective heritages. A film version of this concert is available online presented by Humbercrest United Church as part of their 2021 summer concert series.
Duo Oriana’s debut album revolves around the contemplation of darkness, mystery, grief, rest, and quiet. Night-time has inspired people to tell stories since before the written word. This program for voice and lute weaves together many perspectives on the night from the courts and musical spheres of 17th century England and Italy, ancient folk melodies from Ireland, and new compositions. Recalling the monastic rites of vespers and compline, this program seeks to create a beautiful and sacred space to contemplate the darkness through the lens of ancient music.