Events
Upcoming Concerts and Performances
The Calgary Renaissance Singers & Players typically present two major concerts each year: a Christmas concert in December and a Spring concert in April or May.
Additional performances include tours throughout Alberta, paid engagements for special events, and public service performances in parks, schools, seniors’ residences, and charity fundraisers.
To learn more about what we sing, visit About Us.
To inquire about booking the Choir for your special event, visit Book the Choir.
2023 - 2024 SEASON
CRSP welcomes Paul Grindlay as our new Artistic Director! He helped us out as Acting AD last season and has now joined us on a more permanent basis.
2024 Spring Concert
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Pre-concert Talk at 2:30 PM / Concert at 3:00 PM
Patricia A. Whelan Performance Hall
Calgary Central Library at 800 - 3 Street SE, Calgary
Tickets: $25 Regular Adult / $20 Student & Senior / 18 Yrs and Under Free
Pay What You Can Available at the Door
Artistic Director: Paul Grindlay
Special Guests:
Niitsitapi Singers
Katie Partridge
Cheryle Chagnon-Greyeyes
David Sussman
Walter McDonald Whitebear
Calgary Renaissance Singers and Players is presenting "Children of the Earth" at 3 pm on Sunday, April 28th, 2024 at The Patricia Whelan Theatre in the downtown Calgary Central Library. Guest artists for the concert include singers from the Niitsitapi Learning Centre, Walter MacDonald White Bear, oboe player, David Sussman and soprano, Katie Partridge.
Our program celebrates the diversity of creation and many wonders of nature in songs by Thomas Weelkes, Orlando Gibbons, and Cree composers Sherryl Sewepagaham and Andrew Balfour, among others. With our prayers for peace, harmony and cooperation between all nations and cultures, we will sing "Hope for Resolution," a work originally written for Frederik Willem de Klerk and Nelson Mandela. We will also offer a musical tribute to beloved former Artistic Director, Jane Perry, who passed away in January, but continues to inspire us all. We will sing Palestrina's "Sicut Cervus," one of Jane's favourite pieces, the premier performance of Peter Anthony Togni's "Magnificat," which Jane commissioned, plus her own "All Shall be Well."
Central Library Parking
Street parking downtown is free on Sundays. The LRT stops one block away from the Central Library going in either direction. Below is a map of City parking lots and street parking available close by. There are several underground parking garages nearby as well.
CRSP PRESENTS
Venus & Adonis … And The Rest of Us, an Opera
Saturday, January 20, 2024 at 7:30 PM
Christ Church Calgary
CRSP was very pleased to resume our CRSP Presents concert series wherein we present works by other Calgary-based Early Music Groups
Performed by UCalgary's Collegium Musicum
Music composed by John Blow (c. 1649-1708)
Libretto by Anne Kingsmill/Anne Killigrew
Additional music by Henry Purcell (c. 1659-1695)
Additional lyrics by Theocritus, Thomas Shadwell, Thomas Betterton, et al
Conducted by Julie Harris
Concert Version
Music Director's Notes:
Collegium Musicum is pleased to present a concert version of John Blow's Venus & Adonis, with the addition of pieces by Blow's friend and younger colleague, Henry Purcell. There is plenty of precedent in the history of opera for inserting extra arias to create opportunities for specific singers and this approach allowed us to offer more solo opportunities for our student talent, creating a unique and expanded story in the process: Venus & Adonis... and the Rest of Us.
English baroque composers like Purcell and Blow didn't write very many operas, primarily composing music to be inserted into staged plays because that is what the English public wanted to see; they wrote for their time and place. It has been a delightful challenge to create something for our own time and place by combining the work of these two composers. It has also been an honour to work with the students, who come from the music division of the School of Creative and Performing Arts at UCalgary and also from various other programs across the campus. I would also like to thank the head of the UCalgary Voice Area, Dr. Laura Hynes for her vision and for making this project a reality.
Julie Harris
2023 Winter Concert
This concert was a great success and we appreciate the wonderful crowd who came out to enjoy great music together!
Winter is an enigmatic season, and the stories we revisit at this time of year are often strange and mysterious.
The Calgary Renaissance Singers and Players explores some delicious winter mysteries in its upcoming concert, with music reaching back to ancient chant and our beloved Renaissance polyphony, then forward to modern music by Ola Gjeilo and John Tavener, and the premiere performance of a new carol by artistic director, Paul Grindlay: "To Wonder, Worship and Adore." We will also be reading some of Paul's original poems, including "A Winter Tale," "Aurora Borealis" and "Icicles and Miracles." Guest musician is John van Leeuwen, a member of CRSP since 1982 who has performed with us numerous times over the years. He is coming out of retirement and will perform 3 recorder pieces by Jacob van Eijck (1590-1657) which he performed with CRSP in his first concert with us in 1982!
We are also holding our ever popular WINE RAFFLE! We are raffling a gorgeous gift basket curated for us by Metrovino. Keeping in mind the theme of “Midwinter Feast”, Metrovino has selected wines best suited for gastonomic pleasures! Champagne to start, of course. Then a delightfully fresh blend of Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier from Passy-Sur-Marne. Next, we can delve into a fresh rosé from the Vendomois, named after France’s oldest folk song. For whites, a Californian blend of Grenache Blanc and Vermentino to refresh and intrigue, and a richer Pouilly-Fuissé for more Burgundian pleasure. Culminating with reds, a Barolo for classic taste and perhaps a braised meat course, and from the
town of Bazas celebrating "the king, beef!" a spicy, voluptuous number from France's southwest. Tickets available at the event: 10 for $20 / 5 for $10 / 1 for $5. We accept cash, cheque, debit and credit.
Get into the holiday spirit with Early Music with us on December 3rd!
Tickets are $20 student/senior and $25 regular adult and 18 and Under Free. Also, pay what you can option available at the door upon request.
Parking at St. Stephen’s Anglican Church
1121 - 14 Avenue SW, Calgary AB
If you are dropping off passengers at St. Stephen's, please remember that 14th Avenue SW is one way westbound. St. Stephen's does not have its own parking lot. There is street parking all around the area which is free on Sunday night, but it may be difficult to find a spot. You are welcome to park in the Connaught School parking lot. It is two blocks away at the corner of 12th Avenue and 10th Street and is accessed from 10th Street SW. Below is a map.
