This holiday season, Early Music Vancouver (EMV) is thrilled to present a joyful experience for the whole family – Festive Cantatas: J.S. Bach Magnificat & Cantata BWV 110 (‘Let Our Mouth Be Full of Laughter’) – on Saturday, December 17 at The Kay Meek Centre at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, December 18 at The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at 3:00 p.m.

Bach’s Magnificat explores a wide spectrum of human responses to the Christmas story, from humility to ecstasy, sober consideration to laughing astonishment, and extroverted declamation to introspective affirmation. In them, we hear Bach amplifying the voices of different people and exploring their personal perspectives, especially that of an ordinary young woman, Mary, as she responds to the astounding news that she would give birth to the Son of God. The musical result is polyphonic in every possible sense.

Early Music Vancouver’s Festive Cantatas: J.S. Bach Magnificat & Cantata BWV 110 features JUNO Award-winning artist Hélène Brunet (soprano); Portland’s Arwen Myers (soprano); Hungarian-Canadian Krisztina Szabó (alto); winner of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s Competition, Jacques-Olivier Chartier (tenor); and one of today’s most sought-after voices, Sumner Thompson (bass); along with The Pacific Baroque Orchestra, directed by Alexander Weimann.