Free noonhour concerts Thursdays at Glenn Gould Studio

The December 3, 2006 broadcast of Music Around Us on Radio Two features Joni Henson, soprano with Liz Upchurch, piano and Marie Bédard, violin.

The production will be taped live on Thursday November 30.

Georges Bizet
(1838-1875)
Ouvre ton cœur

Alfred Bachelet
(1864-1944)
Chère nuit

Benjamin Britten
(1913-1976)
On This Island, Op. 11
i. Let the florid music praise!
ii. Now the leaves are falling fast
iii. Seascape
iv. Nocturne
v. As it is, plenty

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)
L'amero, saro costante (from Il Re Pastore)

Richard Strauss
(1864-1949)
Cäcilie, Op.27 No. 2
Ruhe, meine Seele, Op. 27 No. 1
Morgen, Op. 27 No. 4
Zueignung, Op.10 No. 1

Joni Henson earned her Bachelors degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Toronto, and an Artist Diploma from the University of Toronto's Opera Division. While at the Opera School she performed the roles of Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte and the title role in Handel's Alcina.

In 2003, Joni was awarded the Opera Grand Prize at the XVth Concours International De Chant de Verviers Competition in Belgium. She also received the First Place Opera and French Melodie Awards at the Concours International De Chant de Marmande Competition in France. In 2006, she was a semi-finalist in the Metropolitan National Council Auditions.

Joni was a student at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California in 2003 and 2004, where she studied with Marilyn Horne. She was honoured to receive an Encouragement Award in the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition in 2003 and 2004.

Joni recently completed a two-year program with the Canadian Opera Company's Ensemble Studio. In the 2004/2005 season she made her debut with the company as Alisa in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor. Joni recently made her CBC Radio debut with conductor Mario Bernardi and the CBC Radio Orchestra. Joni has just performed the role of Gutrune in Wagner's Götterdämmerung with the Canadian Opera Company. She will also perform Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte with the COC.

Pianist and vocal coach Liz Upchurch is making a return visit to this series. She is in her eighth season as Director of the Ensemble Studio at the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto. As a vocal coach she has worked in major opera houses including the Glyndebourne Festival, Opera North and English National Opera Contemporary Studio.

Born and educated in Britain, Liz is a graduate prize-winning soloist of the Royal Academy of Music. She has performed and broadcast chamber music and song recitals extensively throughout Europe and North America. For many years she played for master classes at the Britten-Pears School in the United Kingdom, working with artists such as Dame Joan Sutherland, Elly Ameling, Dame Janet Baker and Sir Thomas Allen.

Liz first started working in Canada at the Banff Centre for the Arts in the Twentieth Century Opera and Song Programme. Her interest in modern music has led her to premiere many new major works in both opera and chamber music in Canada and Great Britain, including Harrison Birtwistle's Last Supper at Glyndebourne Festival and casting and preparing a new recording of Harry Somers' Opera Serinette. This past summer, Liz made a return visit to the International Chamber Music Festival in Nurnberg.

Best known as the concertmaster of the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, Marie Bérard is also a sought-after chamber musician, soloist, recording artist and teacher. Highly regarded as an interpreter of contemporary music, Marie has recorded the solo sonatas of U.S. composers Bright Sheng and Anthony Davis for the CBC, and in 2002 released a recording of a concerto by Henry Kucharzyk for violin and brass ensemble.

Marie is a regular performer at numerous chamber music festivals, notably the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, the Blair Atholl festival in Scotland and Domaine Forget in Charlevoix, Québec. She holds the position of Associate Concertmaster of the Mainly Mozart festival orchestra in San Diego, California.

Marie was recently heard in a performance of Time Chant by Wolfgang Rihm with the Esprit Orchestra, a performance of the Brahms Double Concerto with the Peterborough Symphony Orchestra and a tour of China with the ARC ensemble. In the fall of 2000, Marie joined the faculty of the Glenn Gould School in Toronto. She plays a 1767 Pietro Landolfi violin.