The Extraordinary Women Of Venice

Featuring: Julia Wedman, Hélène Brunet, Danielle Johannes, Isabelle Fournier The underground musical revolution of Baroque-era Venice. Step into Baroque Venice, where a hidden musical revolution gave rise to powerful voices and rising stars. Featuring music by trailblazers including Casulana, the first woman to publish her own music; Bembo, whose work bridged Italian passion and French grandeur; Strozzi, Venice’s most prolific composer of secular music; and Sirmen, a virtuoso violinist who captivated audiences across Europe. Their music, alongside that of Vivaldi, reveals a world of bold artistry, powerful stories, and a legacy that still resonates. These extraordinary composers defied convention and captivated Europe’s courts and concert halls. Discover bold music, powerful stories, and a legacy that still resonates today. About the Artists: Julia Wedman, leader & violin solo Violinist Julia Wedman brings an “infectious vitality” to music (Victoria Times Colonist). Her playing has been described as “highly communicative” and “extraordinarily lithe and intuitive” (Globe and Mail). She began her tenure as Principal Baroque Leader for Symphony Nova Scotia in 2023. Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Julia completed her studies in music at the University of Western Ontario, the University of Toronto, and Indiana University at Bloomington. She joined Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto in 2005, and is regularly featured as a soloist and director with the group on their home series in Toronto as well as on tours in Canada, the US, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Germany, China, and Korea. Performance highlights include guest concertmaster/solo debuts with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (London), the Academy of Ancient Music (London), and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (Amsterdam), as well as in her new role as Concertmaster with the wonderful Quebec group L’Harmonie des Saisons , whose CD featuring soprano Hélène Brunet recently won a 2022 Juno Award. Julia is featured on LHDS’s Bach Concerti CD as well as their upcoming Vivaldi Concerti recording for Atma. In addition, Julia has been working intensively on the music of J.S. Bach through her work with the Toronto Bach Festival (directed by Tafelmusik oboist John Abberger), with dancer Brian Solomon and the Gallery Players of Niagara, and on her own recording of Bach’s solo music for violin. Teaching highlights include her ongoing work at the University of Toronto, the Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, and for the groundbreaking program at the Banff Centre for the Arts, EQ: Evolution Quartet, in collaboration with the Eybler, Parker, and JACK quartets, musicologist Suzannah Clarke, and composer Suzanne Farrin. Hélène Brunet, soprano Canadian soprano Hélène Brunet is hailed by the critics as “a singer of tremendous quality” with “a voice of perfect beauty” and “sincere expression”. Recognized for her interpretations of the works of Bach, Handel, and Mozart, her repertoire extends from Baroque to the music of the 20th and 21st centuries. In the concert repertoire, Hélène is invited to perform across North America with ensembles and orchestras, notably at the Lincoln Center in New York City with the American Classical Orchestra, with American Bach Soloists in San Francisco, and the Orchestre Métropolitain under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who says, “Hélène Brunet is the embodiment of class, refinement, and purity.” She also sings with the symphony orchestras of Calgary, Eugene, Florida, Halifax, St. John’s, the Seattle Baroque Orchestra, the Pacific Baroque Festival, Tafelmusik, ensemble Caprice, Arion Baroque Orchestra, I Musici de Montréal and L’Harmonie des saisons. In opera, Hélène was recently featured in the world premiere of the opera Sleeping Rough by Roddy Ellias and Sandra Nicholls, at the Music and Beyond festival in Ottawa, Canada. Hélène was a prize winner at the Lyndon Woodside Oratorio-Solo Competition at Carnegie Hall. She is the recipient of generous grants from Musicaction and the Canada Council for the Arts. She studies with voice teacher Neil Semer in New York. Danielle Johannes, oboe Celebrated for her expressive playing and versatility, Danielle Johannes has served as Principal Oboist of Symphony Nova Scotia since 2022. She has performed extensively across Canada as both an orchestral and chamber musician, appearing with ensembles including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony, Hamilton Philharmonic, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Kingston Symphony, and Niagara Symphony. She previously served as Principal Oboe with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra and the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Orchestra. Danielle is featured on numerous recordings, including Symphony Nova Scotia’s Defiant Dances (2024) , Colin Eatock: Choral & Orchestral Music with Sinfonia Toronto (2023) and Scarborough Philharmonic’s Canadian Panorama (2017). Dedicated to music education, Danielle has worked as a coach with the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra, the Durham Youth Orchestra, the Etobicoke Youth Band, and worked as a clinician at schools throughout the Greater Toronto Area and the Halifax Regional Municipality. She has a passion for outreach and performed more than eighty school concerts across Ontario as a member of Quintroversy , a woodwind quintet supported by Prologue Performing Arts that brought classical music to young audiences between 2017 and 2020. Danielle holds a Master of Music from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, an Honours Bachelor of Music with High Distinction from Wilfrid Laurier University, and an Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School at The Royal Conservatory of Music. Her principal teachers include Dr. Mark Ostoich, Sarah Jeffrey, and Jim Mason. During her training she performed with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada, L’Orchestre de la Francophonie, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, the Orford Arts Centre Academy Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre’s Young Artists Program. She is also an alumna of the Kitchener-Waterloo Youth Symphony and the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. Isabelle Fournier, violin Isabelle is absolutely thrilled to be a member of Symphony Nova Scotia. Having grown up in Moncton, New Brunswick, she also has many close ties to Nova Scotia. Isabelle has performed extensively throughout Canada, the US, the UK, Europe, Japan, and Taiwan. She is the recipient of two prestigious Awards by “The Countess of Munster Musical Trust” (UK), and she was also awarded “The Leverhulme Trust Award for Excellence in Chamber Music” (UK). Isabelle studied at the Royal College of Music (UK), and The Juilliard School. Her principal violin teachers have been: Paul Campbell, Rodney Friend, Dorothy DeLay, and Lydia Mordkovotch. Whilst living in England, Isabelle worked with many great British Chamber Orchestras. From 1998-2002, she worked principally with the English Chamber Orchestra and The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. She also worked regularly with the Britten Sinfonia, the Northern Sinfonia, The City of London Sinfonia, and the Bournemouth Sinfonietta. Since her return to Canada in the Fall of 2002, Isabelle has been keeping very busy as a chamber musician, orchestral musician, soloist, teacher, adjudicator, and more recently, as music director. She has worked regularly with Symphony Nova Scotia these last ten seasons, and from 2009-2012 she was also concertmaster of the McGill Chamber Orchestra in Montreal. Step into Baroque Venice, where a hidden musical revolution gave rise to powerful voices and rising stars. Featuring music by trailblazers including Casulana, the first woman to publish her own music; Bembo, whose work bridged Italian passion and French grandeur; Strozzi, Venice’s most prolific composer of secular music; and Sirmen, a virtuoso violinist who captivated audiences across Europe. Their music, alongside that of Vivaldi, reveals a world of bold artistry, powerful stories, and a legacy that still resonates. These extraordinary composers defied convention and captivated Europe’s courts and concert halls. Discover bold music, powerful stories, and a legacy that still resonates today. Violinist Julia Wedman brings an “infectious vitality” to music (Victoria Times Colonist). Her playing has been described as “highly communicative” and “extraordinarily lithe and intuitive” (Globe and Mail). She began her tenure as Principal Baroque Leader for Symphony Nova Scotia in 2023. Originally from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Julia completed her studies in music at the University of Western Ontario, the University of Toronto, and Indiana University at Bloomington. She joined Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Toronto in 2005, and is regularly featured as a soloist and director with the group on their home series in Toronto as well as on tours in Canada, the US, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Germany, China, and Korea. Performance highlights include guest concertmaster/solo debuts with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (London), the Academy of Ancient Music (London), and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century (Amsterdam), as well as in her new role as Concertmaster with the wonderful Quebec group L’Harmonie des Saisons , whose CD featuring soprano Hélène Brunet recently won a 2022 Juno Award. Julia is featured on LHDS’s Bach Concerti CD as well as their upcoming Vivaldi Concerti recording for Atma. In addition, Julia has been working intensively on the music of J.S. Bach through her work with the Toronto Bach Festival (directed by Tafelmusik oboist John Abberger), with dancer Brian Solomon and the Gallery Players of Niagara, and on her own recording of Bach’s solo music for violin.