13. – 22. December 2013

Academy of Ancient Music / Choir of the AAM           
Bernard Labadie, conductor
Lydia Teuscher, soprano
Iestyn Davies, countertenor
Jeremy Ovenden, tenor
Andrew Foster-Williams, bass

Händel: Messiah

No Christmas is complete without a performance of this festive masterpiece. AAM performances of Messiah in recent years have sold out concert halls across
Europe and in the Far East. For December 2013, the AAM is particularly glad to welcome back conductor Bernard Labadie after acclaimed performances of Handel’s music on his AAM debut in 2011.

Bernard Labadie

Bernard Labadie is widely regarded as one of the world’s leading conductors of baroque and classical repertoire. He is Music Director of Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Québec, founded by him in 1984 and 1985 respectively; and makes frequent guest appearances with these groups at major venues and festivals from the Salzburg Festival to New York’s Carnegie Hall.

Labadie is also a regular guest conductor with all the major North American orchestras. He appears frequently with the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the symphony orchestras of Chicago, Boston, and Montreal and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

Elsewhere, Bernard has made guest appearances with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Northern Sinfonia and the Melbourne and Malaysian Symphony Orchestras.

Equally at home in the opera house, Labadie has been Artistic and Music Director of L’Opéra de Québec (1994-2003) and L’Opéra de Montréal (2002-2006). Guest engagements have included Così fan tutte at the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York, Orlando for Glimmerglass Opera, Lucio Silla for the Santa Fe Opera and, most recently, Die Zauberflöte for the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

Bernard has been awarded "Officer of the Order of Canada" by the Canadian Government and "Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Québec".