Information

L’Ensemble Cantabile

Performances:
Since we began in 1996 we have averaged between 7 and 8 appearances each year.

Renaissance Feasts:
The largest proportion of performances have been accompanied by sumptuous feasting and drinking. Our preferred venues are intimate country restaurants accommodating from thirty to fifty revelers where we provide music with each service (or "remove" as the Elizabeathans would say). Typically we sing between twenty-five and thirty songs at a feast of five or six courses.

In most cases the menu is based on period recipes of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. What follows is a typical menu.

The Renaissance :
Renaissance Europe in 1599 was a time when ideas and music traveled freely. The Italians borrowed from the Flemish, the English from the Italians. The printing press removed borders and enabled a rebirth of thought and art. Composers like Lassus and Arcadelt wrote easily in French, Italian, Latin or German. In addition to these languages, we sing madrigals in English and Spanish as well. Our music moves across the centuries from 1475 to 1675 and is accompanied by Tabor and Flute.

In both concerts and feasts we really enjoy giving short introductions to our music which allow us to share what we know about the history and meaning of the pieces we are presenting.

Formal Concerts:
Formal Concerts comprise the next largest proportion of our performances. In every case we have shared the ticket revenues with a church or other worthy nonprofit association.
 

Weddings and Collaborative Events:
The rest of our performances have been taken up with weddings; where we have sung for both the ceremony and the reception, and smaller presentations like a ten to 15 minute set in a local cultural day celebration or a couple of numbers within a theatrical presentation.

Performance Location:
Most of the time we perform locally within an area known as West Québec. This has included such municipalities as: Lachute, Lakefield, Cushing, Montebello, Papineauville, Saint-André-Avellin, Ripon, Chénéville and Buckingham. We have also ventured farther afield to Montréal and Ottawa. Certainly one of our most memorable events took place at the Poulet Gauche in Boston were we were most honoured to be able to sing before both well costumed commoners and nobles for the better part of a day both in the court yard and at the feast in the inn’s great hall.
 

A list of the regional restaurants where we have performed:

Brian Fisher
184, chemin Saint-André, Ripon QC J0V 1V0
(819) 983-6261
email: lepage_fisher@videotron.ca