St. George's Lessons & Carols

It was great to back at St. George's Round Church this weekend for the first performance of 2026, to accompany the adult and junior choirs in a few beautiful selections - Wolcum Yole, This Little Babe, Time of Snow, Ave Maria, and In Dulci Jubilo. Thank you to Garth and the congregation for including me!

Collegium Cantorum

Adrianna and I had the pleasure of joining Collegium Cantorum for a concert at St. Andrew's Church on November 3rd.  In the first half, the choir sang a set of lovely works conducted by Gary Ewer and accompanied by Tara Scott. In the second half, we played some tunes and then accompanied the choir for a final song: Hard Times. Proceeds from the event supported Feed Nova Scotia.

Recording sessions for Many Worlds and Camerata Singers

This week I spent some time in the studio for some exciting new album projects from Many Worlds and the Halifax Camerata Singers! Stay tuned.

Camerata Winter Showcase

This weekend, the Halifax Camerata Singers presented their annual winter showcase. Two pop songs were arranged specially for the concert which included harp (Feist's Secret Heart and Taylor Swift's I Look in People's Windows), and I hopped on a couple of other songs as well. Many thanks to Joel Tranquilla and the choir for the warm welcome and the very fun concert.

 

Lessons & Carols at St. George's Round Church

Last night I was very happy to be back at St. George's Round Church for their annual Lessons & Carols service, playing prelude music and accompanying the junior and senior choirs. The choir repertoire included The Snow Lay On Ground (David Conte), Star Carol (John Rutter), This Little Babe (Benjamin Britten), Long, Long Ago (W.H. Anderson), and A la Nanita Nana (arr. Azzara). Many thanks to the music director, Garth MacPhee, for having me and for organizing so much beautiful music.

Rutter Requiem with the Kings Chorale

I had the pleasure of playing with the Kings Chorale for the first time this week for a performance of John Rutter's Requiem at Wolfville Baptist Church in the valley. The program consisted of works by all living composers, and included a World Premiere by Joyce Riddell and a Canadian Premiere by Santiago Veros.

Wassail!

This year I returned for the fifth time to play with the Manning Chapel Choir as part of their holiday concert, Wassail! The choir was directed as always by John Scott and this year featured soloists soprano Nicole Jordan, cellist Catherine Little, and percussionist Ken Shorley, along with the usual ensemble of myself, Charlie, and Jude.

First Baptist Lessons and Carols

Last weekend, First Baptist Church held its annual Carols by Candlelight service. This year, the choir performed selections from Conrad Susa's "Carols and Lullabies", accompanied by harp and directed by Lynette Wahlstrom. 

Fauré Requiem

This weekend, Capella Regalis Choirs presented a very beautiful free concert of the Fauré Requiem at All Saints Cathedral, conducted by Nick Halley. Photo by Vitaminbea.

Duruflé Requiem with the King's College Chapel Choir

King's College Chapel Choir has just released this video we shot a few weeks back at the All Saints Cathedral in Halifax. It was very cool to get to know this piece and harp part, and to be back playing with a large ensemble again! 

To Bethlehem with Kings

Capella Regalis men and boys choir has released videos of its recent concert "To Bethlehem with Kings". This concert featured Britten's Ceremony of Carols (with Lori Gemmell, harp) in the first half, and an assortment of carols with a trad band in the second half. I had a fabulous time playing with the trad band and seeing my pedal harp so expertly played by Lori in the Britten. The concert was hosted by Tom Allen, and was performed in Halifax and Lunenburg on Dec 19th and 20th.

The first half of the concert, Ceremony of Carols

The second half of the concert, carols with trad band and A Child's Christmas in Wales

Wassail!

The Manning Chapel Choir presented three sold out shows this year of their Wassail! Christmas concert - one in Bridgetown and two in Wolfville. As usual, the choir was outstanding and the atmosphere was both deeply thoughtful and festive. The same medieval Christmas crew I was part of the week before was brought on board for these concerts, and it was a great finale to that Medieval tour.

Bridgetown and Wolfville

Tudor Music

I joined Aureas Voces yesterday for an afternoon concert of Tudor vocal music at St. David's church. This new early music ensemble performed some of the most beautiful repertoire for both vocal ensemble and soloists by Dowland, Campion, Daniels, Byrd, Gibbons, and Tallis. The harp took on the role of an accompanying lute during the solo selections.

 Ah Dear Heart - Orlando Gibbons

My Love Hath Vow'd - Thomas Campion

Mirror of the Heart in Lunenburg

On Saturday night in Lunenburg the Manning Chapel Choir performed its Mirror of the Heart repertoire for the second time. Central United Church is an acoustically beautiful place to perform and was the perfect location for the final concert of the Chapel Choir's season. Thank you to John Scott and the members of the fabulous choir for including me in these concerts!

Mirror of the Heart

This past Friday evening, I had the pleasure of playing with the Manning Chapel choir in their concert, Mirror of the Heart. The program included Holst's "Choral Hymns from the Rig Veda" for harp and women's voices. This concert will be repeated on April 14th in Lunenburg!

photos by Krystol Bell Photography

Christmas Cantata

I had the pleasure of working this year with the Wolfville Baptist Church Choir, led by Heather Price. We performed Glad Tidings of Great Joy, a cantata by Robert Hebble for choir, organ, and harp. We were joined by Dorothy King, narrator, and four dancers.

Wassail

This past weekend was a reprise of last year's popular Wassail concert with Pennybrook and the Manning Chapel Choir, conducted by John Scott. This year, we went on a small tour, performing in Wolfville on Saturday and in Lunenburg on Sunday. The fabulous Kirsty Money was also added to the band on nyckelharpa. 

Wolfville, photo: Katy Hopkins

Lunenburg, photo: John Scott

Chichester Psalms with the King's Chorus

Yesterday afternoon the King's Chorus, conducted by Nick Halley, performed an impressive program of Kodaly's Missa Brevis, Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine, and Berstein's Chichester Psalms. I joined the chorus for the second two and particularly enjoyed the Bernstein with Paul Halley at the organ and Richard Baughman on percussion.  

 dress rehearsal in All Saints' Cathedral