Dido & Aeneas is one of the most beloved baroque operas: the tragic love story between the queen of Carthage and the stranded Troyan prince put to music by Henry Purcell.
Cast:
Dido - Nadia Neiazy
Aeneas - Vincent Ranallo
Belinda - Eve Arsenault
First Lady - Claire Cloutier
Witch - Beatrice Stoklas
Sailor: Ronald Desbiens
Musical director: Pascale Verstrepen
Artistic director: Nadia Neiazy
Members of the Polumnia choir
Baritone Vincent Ranallo's singing career centers mainly around the concert stage and creation of contemporary works, as numerous contemporary composers, from Québec as well as from Europe, have been inspired by his voice.
Hailed for the beauty and depth of expression of his voice, as well as for the infectious sentiment inherent to his interpretation, he has been invited to perform with a steadily growing number of ensembles, at festivals in North-America and in Europe. In 2017, he was invited to create the barytone solo in Éric Champagne's Te Deum with the New England Chamber Ensemble at Carnegie Hall in New York.
His artistic approach is inspired by his experience in theater and dance, as he is trained in classical ballet by the Grand Ballets Canadiens and has had occasions to work with choreographers like Marie-José Cartier and Estelle Clareton.
His latest collaborations include a first recording of the sacred works by Québec composer Auguste Descarries, released by Espace XXI, as well as a monograph of Martin Lachance's music.
Belgium native Pascale Verstrepen started studying the piano with Ho Thi The Van in 1998. After obtaining her BA at the University of Québec in 2001, in the class of Pierre Jasmin, she continues in the master's program at Université de Montréal under Paul Stewart. She obtained for two consecutive years (2000/2001) the stipend for excellency Nicole-Junca.
Pascale started to play in the orchestra led by her father Gène Capri, les Cordes de Velours, as early as age 14, in her second year of playing the piano. Today she still works mainly as a collaborative pianist for singers and instrumentists.
Additionally to her work as an accompanist at the Rudolf Steiner School of Montreal, where she teaches music and choir singing in the sector for continuous studies, Pascale also conducts the music program at the Coeur-Immaculé-de-Marie parish and directs two choirs, Polumnia and Equi-Vox Montreal.
