Shannon joins Les Voix Baroques and Arion Baroque Orchestra
to combine their outstanding talents for this new ATMA recording
of the St. John Passion by Bach, under the direction of
organist and conductor Alexander Weimann. This recording
was produced at the Chapel of the Grand Séminaire in Montreal,
following performances during the 2010 Bach Festival in
Montreal. The St. John Passion follows the rules of an oratorio:
The story, - essentially the last days of Christ's life
- is drawn from the Gospel according to John, and features
commentary throughout in the form of choruses sung by the
choir. In this work, Bach reaches an incomparable profundity
of expressiveness not by rote association of musical motif
with image, but by the beauty of his melodies, the feeling
associated with various keys, and the richness of his harmonies.
"...soprano Shannon Mercer...shines in the aria "Ich
folge dir gleichfalls mit freudigen Schritten." " (Wholenote,
1 April, 2012)
"It moves rapidly, with a great deal of contrast,
and one of the strengths of this imposing performance -
along with the remarkable clarity and focused sound of the
ensemble singing - is the way it maintains dramatic momentum,
often balancing different levels of activity and meaning
within the same aria or chorus. 1/2"
(Globe and Mail, 17 February, 2012)
"Don't Fecking
miss it" Shannon in Queen of Puddings' Beckett: Feck
It!
Laura Condlln, Shannon Mercer and
Sofia Tomic in Come and Go.
Photo by John Lauener.
"Mercer's a fine singing actor, creating a sensual
character sketch in each of the songs and stepping seamlessly
into Come And Go as one of its trio." (Now,
Feb 23-March 1, 2012)
"...performing with panache and verve, ably abetted by
trumpeter Michael Fedyshyn. Mercer also gets to act a little
(and rather well)... The musical highlight proved to be
the ornate, Gaelic folksong "Eleanor a Run," exquisitely
sung by Mercer." (Toronto Star, 20
February 2012)
Catch Shannon on CBC Radio 2's This
is My Music, February 25, 2012
Join Shannon on Saturday, February 25th 10:00 a.m. (11:00
AT, 11:30 NT) as she hosts CBC Radio 2's celebrated show
This is My Music. Find out what kind of music Shannon likes
to listen to along with stories and anecdotes about her
life and career.
First you can catch her at 10:30am
on CBC Radio One in performance at the CBC/McGill
Concert Series' annual Youth Choir Gala. The program will
also air on CBC Radio Two at 2:30pm.
You can see a video
clip on YouTube and listen to the concert on
CBC
Montreal's website.
You can also catch Shannon's holiday concert with Thirteen
String Chamber Orchestra on CBC Radio
2 on December 25th at 8pm. It will also be broadcast
on In Concert with Bill Richardson on Sunday, December 11
between 11am and 3pm and excerpts of the concert can also
be heard on Tempo with Julie Nesrallah throughout the month
of December.
TWO NEW RECORDINGS!!!
St.
John Passion CD available now!
Shannon performs one of JS Bach's most famous and loved
masterpieces with the Portland Baroque Orchestra and soloists
Charles Daniels, tenor, Evangelist; Matthew White, alto;
Jacques-Olivier Chartier, tenor; Tyler Duncan, bass; Joshua
Hopkins, bass; and the singers of Cappella Romana. The double-CD
package includes full texts and translations.
The CD will be available worldwide on January 10, 2012.
In the meantime, copies can be purchased through the PBO
website.
The
Return of the Angels with Caprice!!!
Shannon once again joins Ensemble Caprice and Matthias
Maute for "Vivaldi - The Return of the Angels",
the follow-up to their JUNO Award winning "Gloria! Vivaldi's
Angels".
Shannon's recording with her 2009 JUNO winning partners,
Ensemble Caprice and Matthias Maute is up for another award,
this time for a 2011 ADISQ Award in the category of CLASSICAL
ALBUM OF THE YEAR: SOLOIST AND SMALL ENSEMBLE. The ADISQ
Awards will be handed out at ceremonies in Montréal
October 24. Check back for news!
Shannon on tour with the TSO!!!!
Shannon joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and conductor
Alain Trudel on its Northern Residency tour to Sudbury and
Sault Ste Marie. A blast was had by all with multiple standing
ovations at each performance!
Shannon to Sit on the Jury panel
of 1st Handel Singing Competition in Toronto
Shannon has been invited to adjudicate Toronto's first
Handel Singing Competition, a new part of the Classical
Music Consort's popular Springtime Handel Festival. On May
8th, six young Canadian singers under 30 will have the opportunity
to perform alongside the CMC, competing for a $2,000 cash
prize in front of a discerning panel and audience. Other
jury members include: Dr. Darryl Edwards (Head of Vocal
Studies, University of Toronto), Stephen Ralls (Artistic
Director, Aldeburgh Connection), Wayne Strongman (Managing
Artistic Director, Tapestry New Opera), Ivars Taurins (Director,
Tafelmusik Chamber Choir).
Shannon in Mulroney: The Opera opening in movie theatres
across Canada Saturday, April 16th!
From the creative team who brought us Burnt Toast
comes the joyously irreverent Mulroney: The Opera.
A political satire with an original operatic score by Alexina
Louie, the opera is written by Dan Redican, and directed
by Larry Weinstein. With on-screen stars such Rick Miller
as Brian Mulroney, Colin Mochrie as Jean Chretien, the behind-scenes
voices are provided by some of Canada's greatest opera singers,
including Shannon Mercer as Minister Blais Grenier, Daniel
Okulitch as Brian Mulroney, Lawrence Wiliford as Trudeau
etc. For more info. www.mulroneytheopera.ca
Check out the official trailer for Mulroney: The Opera
- Shannon is the voice of Minister Blais Grenier who twirls
around Mr. Mulroney at the end!
Bach's St. John Passion in
Portland with Les Voix Baroques and the Portland Baroque
Orchestra
"Ich folge dir gelichfalls was another vocal/instrumental
duet, this time between Huggett and soprano Shannon Mercer.
It was joyous and spritely, requiring fantastically tricky
entrances from both performers. Mercer's diction was glorious
and pure and the great power of her voice was unforced,
tinged with delicate grace, ringing through the hall and
yet feeling somehow as though one were hearing it from inside
one's own head." (Oregon Music News, 14 March 2011)
"Soprano Shannon Mercer and alto Matthew White (in
an exquisite duet with Joanna Blendulf on gamba) made their
final desolate arias heartbreaking high points." (The
Oregonian, 13 March 2011)
Check
out Shannon on the Cover of the March 2011 La Scena Musicale
In SHANNON MERCER: A TRADEMARK VOICE,
a recent interview with La Scena Musicale editor Wah Keung
Chan, Shannon speaks about her unique sound and her versatility
as a singer equally comfortable in a range of music - early
music, opera, contemporary and folk music.
You can read the full article by clicking on the cover
image.
Salsa Baroque Nominated for
a 2011 JUNO Award
Shannon's most recent collaboration with her 2009 JUNO
winning partners, Ensemble Caprice and Matthias Maute on
the Analekta label, is up for a 2011 JUNO Award in the category
of CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR: VOCAL OR CHORAL PERFORMANCE.
The JUNO Awards will be handed out at ceremonies in Toronto
March 26 & 27.
Multiple Nominations for the 2009-2010
Prix Opus
Shannon is nominated in two categories for the Prix Opus
2009-2010. Her recording O Viva Rosa of music Francesca
Caccini is nominated in the category DISQUE DE L'ANNÉE -
MUSIQUES MÉDIÉVALES, DE LA RENAISSANCE, BAROQUE. Two concerts
in which Shannon performed are nominated in the category
CONCERT DE L'ANNÉE - MUSIQUES MÉDIÉVALES, DE LA RENAISSANCE,
BAROQUE: Messe en si mineur de J.-S. Bach, Ensemble Caprice,
3 décembre 2009 and Salsa baroque, Ensemble Caprice, 20
mars 2010. The awards will be handed out at a Gala in Montréal
on January 31, 2011. Check back for news!
REVIEWS:
A "Musical Banquet" -
in recital with Luc Beauséjour for Early Music Voices
in Calgary
"She was able to enchant the audience at Christ Church....Mercer
was at her melting best here, especially in the wonderful
Schlummert ein, an aria to melt the heart every time it
is sung." (Calgary Herald, 16 November 2010)
In Concert with Tafelmusik in Toronto
"Shannon Mercer [has] a gorgeous, warm, flexible and
vibrato-free voice that she manipulates with a master's
confidence and musical acumen. In Fra queste ombrose piante,
(Under Those Shady Trees), a solo cantata by Conti, Mercer
rendered every emotional nuance with conviction. She was
also expressive and luminous in a suite from Handel's Il
pastor fido (The Faithful Shepherd) that alternated instrumental
dances with solo arias." (Toronto Star, 23 September
2010)
Catch Shannon Sing on Classical
96 - November 22 from 11:20 - 11:40am
Shannon will be in the Classical 96.3fm studio to chat
with Bill Anderson about her recordings and her upcoming
concerts with Tafelmusik. She will also perform a few pieces
LIVE. LISTEN HERE
Shannon's O Viva Rosa featured
on BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3's program The Early Music Show featured 4 tracks
from Shannon's most recent CD, O Viva Rosa: Francesca
Caccini, in a program about the Caccini family. The
BBC 3 site retains the audio for a week so you can listen
HERE
(ends Sunday, August 22nd).
'Brilliant' with Les Voix Baroques
at Music at Sharon
"Soprano Shannon Mercer - singing better than I'd yet heard
her - was the bright, supportive angel… a brilliant Filia
ranging with skill and passion from the exuberant vivacity
of Filia's first glad daughterly greeting to the tragic
lamentation of her inevitable doom." (Globe and Mail, 5
July 2010)
NOT
THE MESSIAH now out on DVD!
Missed your chance to see Shannon in Not the Messiah
on the big screen across Europe in March? You can now catch
her acclaimed performance as Judith on DVD. Filmed at London's
famed Royal Albert Hall on October 2009, NTM is Monty Python
genius Eric Idol's latest adventure.
"The soloists perform with much gusto, effectively mugging
through some of the more outlandish pieces." (Just Press
Play, 13 June 2010)
"The soloists - William Ferguson, Shannon Mercer, Rosalind
Plowright, Christopher Purves - are also good comic actors
who hold their own with Idle, who serves as our guide and
narrator (and even sings in a voice described as "tenorish")."
(Kansas City Star, June 2010)
"Imparting a lovely, faux-classical vibe to the proceedings
are four trained vocalists who share the fore with Idle,
and they're up to the challenge of reinterpreting Python...
William Ferguson (Brian) and Shannon Mercer (Brian's oblivious
girlfriend, Judith) truly made me howl, especially in their
horny duet, "Amourdeus" -- which sits wonderfully well in
the cockeyed Python canon." (Huffington Post, 10 June 2010)
"The musical numbers are what really make this show work.
All are executed well, with vocal talent from strong soloists:
soprano Shannon Mercer, mezzo Rosalind Plowright, tenor
William Ferguson and bass Christopher Purves." (DVDtown,
3 June 2010
"The performance was well done. The opera singers were
fantastic and while singing these hilarious songs, they
acted the part showing great facial expressions and most
of all, Eric Idle definitely did a wonderful job as the
Baritonish and John Du Prez doing a wonderful job in conducting
the orchestra." (J!, 16 May 2010)
Shannon Stars In One-Woman Opera
Love Songs at the prestigious Holland Festival
One of Canada's hottest young sopranos,
Shannon Mercer makes her Netherlands debut in Ana Sokolovic's
Love Songs, a one-woman virtuosic tour-de-force at the world-renowned
Holland Festival on June 15 and 17.
The presentation of Love Songs by one of Canada's premier
contemporary opera companies, Queen of Puddings Music Theatre,
marks the first time a Canadian opera company has staged
a work at the prestigious and trend-setting performing arts
festival.
Love Songs
takes the audience on a whirlwind tour of love from sublime
tenderness to the final profound, wild and cathartic Balkan
keening. Love is explored in all its states and in many
different languages -- love for one's mother, love between
children, love for a daughter, love shattered by grief and
most harrowingly, love for a lost brother.
Shannon's
6th recording for Analekta - O
Viva Rosa - features the music of baroque
Italian composer Francesca Caccini. Joining Shannon on the
disc are Luc Beausejour (harpsichord), Sylvain Bergeron
(lute, theorbo) and Amanda Keesmaat (cello).
The first reviews are in!
"Mercer sings 17 of the airs, canzonettas, madrigals
and hymns with impeccable craft, brilliant voice, affecting
emotion and tasteful ornamentation." (Toronto Star,
16 March 2010)
"[Caccini's] haunting slow air becomes piercingly
immediate in this gorgeous performance by Ottawa-born soprano
Shannon Mercer." (Globe and Mail, 22 March 2010)
Catalogue number:
Analekta FL 2 9966
NOT THE MESSIAH Hits the Big Screen
On March 25th, audiences across the UK and Ireland have
the chance to catch Monty Python funnyman Eric Idle's Not
the Messiah (He's a Very Naughty Boy) in movie theatres.
Inspired by Monty Python’s The Life of Brian and
based on Handel’s infamous work, Not the Messiah
was filmed in October 2009 at Royal Albert Hall. North American
audiences hope it makes it across the pond!
Shannon one of Toronto Star music
critic John Terauds's Five Musicians of 2009
Click
here to read John's list of musicians "who particularly
warmed my heart with their talent, giving nature, humility
and all-'round great contributions to Toronto's performing
arts scene over the past year." (Toronto Star, 31 December
2009)
Listen to Baby Kintyre: A
Serial Radio Opera on Saturday Afternoon at the Opera
Hear Shannon on CBC Radio 2's SATO
in Baby Kintyre, a radio opera by composer Dean Burry
to be broadcast in serial over five Saturdays starting November
7th. The opera takes its inspiration from a real
1920s Toronto household where a baby was wrapped in newsprint
and buried between the floorboards of an attic on Kintyre
Avenue, only to be discovered more than 80 years later.
The cast also includes Krisztina Szabo, Giles Tomkins, and
11-year-old Eileen Nash from the Canadian Children's Opera
Company, and an six-piece chamber ensemble under the direction
of John Hess.
Once each episode has run, CBC will make it available on
its website. Check back here for links!
DOUBLE ADISQ NOMINATION!
Wales ~The Land of Song
and Gloria! Vivaldi and his Angels
are up both for the ADISQ Award in the category of Album
of the Year, Classical Vocal. The awards will be announced
at a gala evening on October 26, 2009. Check back for news!
Mozart@254 concert with the Toronto
Symphony Orchestra and Peter Oundjian
"Toronto singer Shannon Mercer has a rare combination of
a pure, lyric soprano voice coupled with enough power to
fill a large hall. On top of that, she deftly shaped the
dramatic arc of this profession of undying love." (Toronto
Star, 4 January 2010)
Rave reviews for Shannon's Messiah
with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
"The standout was soprano Shannon
Mercer, who not only has a luminous lyric voice, but who
sings every word as if she truly means it. She made us want
to rejoice greatly, and we were convinced that her redeemer
really is alive. The size and acoustics of Roy Thomson Hall
are not kind to the smaller, more lithe voices that are
best at singing 18th century music, but Mercer fully overcame
these obstacles." (Toronto Star,
17 December 2009)
"Feathery-voiced soprano Shannon Mercer and honey, warm
mezzo-soprano Krisztina Szabó were their usual excellent
selves." (Classical96.3, 20 December
2009)
NOT THE MESSIAH IN LONDON
"The two Americans from the original cast, Shannon
Mercer as Judith and William Ferguson as Brian bringing
the house down in their Amourdeus duet and bringing lyrical
beauty to their duet in The Final Song." (View
London, 26 October 2009)
"An operatic sex scene makes
the form fit the content, is brilliantly performed by Shannon
Mercer and William Ferguson (as Brian), and gets the ovation
it deserves." (Times, October
24 2009)
Shannon wows once Again as Pamina
in Opera Lyra Ottawa's The Magic Flute
"Ottawa soprano Shannon Mercer sang Pamina, Tamino's beloved.
Along with her beautiful singing, she brought an interpretation
to the role that suggested that she would be an ideal spouse
for Tamino. The two of them, along with flutist Joanna G'froerer,
created a sense of high seriousness, almost sacredness,
in the fire and water scene. In this production, the scene
was the emotional climax of the opera." (Ottawa
Citizen, 14 September 2009)
Shannon Mercer brings her Pamina
to Victoria
"Soprano Shannon Mercer beautifully expressed the shifting
emotions of Pamina, a damsel in some distress..." (Monday
Magazine, 23-29 April)
Shannon "a lovely Pamina, often touching" in
the Magic Flute
"The lead singers and the music itself were the saving
of the evening. Soprano Shannon Mercer and tenor Colin Ainsworth
were handsome and vocally appealing as the Princess Pamina
and the Prince Tamino, the lovers elevated to a nominal
wisdom by their fidelity and courage." (Globe
and Mail, 1 November 2008)
"Indeed, there was much to smile about in Opera Hamilton's
production. First and foremost, the singing. How Toronto
soprano Shannon Mercer has blossomed since she last sang
here five years ago. Beautiful tone, pure and steady, she
was a delight in Pamina's plangent aria, Ach, ich fuhl's."
(Hamilton Spectator, 1 November 2008)
1/2"
(Globe and Mail, 17 February, 2012)
St.
John Passion CD available now!
The
Return of the Angels with Caprice!!!
Shannon's
6th recording for Analekta - O
Viva Rosa - features the music of baroque
Italian composer Francesca Caccini. Joining Shannon on the
disc are Luc Beausejour (harpsichord), Sylvain Bergeron
(lute, theorbo) and Amanda Keesmaat (cello).
Read about Shannon in the Hamilton Spectator