This renowned choir in Victoria, BC offers opportunities for women and non-binary individuals from diverse backgrounds to perform at an exceptional level.
About the choir
Since 1999, Ensemble Laude has enchanted audiences on Vancouver Island with its creative blend of medieval repertoire and contemporary choral works from around the world. Ensemble Laude is a community united by a passion for choral music and the vision of our Artistic Director, Dr. Elizabeth MacIsaac. We celebrate the beauty and resilience of women’s vocal traditions through the ages and seek to share this art form through joyful, soulful, and life-enhancing performances that gladden the heart, lift the spirit, and expand the mind.
Ensemble Laude began with a group of 12 singers focused solely on medieval music. It has since expanded into a vibrant community choir of over 60 vocalists. Acclaimed as Victoria’s premier women’s choir, Ensemble Laude enjoys a special niche in BC as a 60 voice high-calibre choral performance group for women. With a strong following throughout BC, and exquisite, innovative repertoire, the choir inspires our community with our exceptional performances. Ensemble Laude is known beyond its strong local and provincial following. Among numerous accolades, the choir was spotlighted at Canada’s National Choral Festival “Podium” (2018), and featured in France at the International Choralies Festival (2016).
Read about the Ensemble Laude Choral Society and its current Board of Directors.
Repertoire
Today, our concerts offer an eclectic repertoire, mostly unaccompanied, encompassing early music, sacred and secular works, and folk and world music. We are committed to expanding choral repertoire for upper voices and regularly commission new Canadian works that contribute to the Canadian musical lexicon and have since been performed internationally. In its early years, the choir sang exclusively medieval and early choral music, inspired by Elizabeth’s love of chant, motet, and madrigal. As Elizabeth says, “It’s very special, because the thing about that repertoire is that all the notes are sort of like a tapestry. They weave in and out of one another… And actually, the choir loves singing that more than anything!” (Focus Magazine, December 2010)
Ensemble Laude’s current repertoire has now expanded to include world and modern music, especially when it is of a modal nature or medieval in theme. Our strength is in the presentation of delicate transparent pieces, rather than standard classical compositions. We sing music from many lands, eras, and genres and we enjoy singing anything that is beautiful, that transforms us. We regularly commission new Canadian works that contribute to the Canadian musical lexicon and have since been performed internationally.
Commissions
Commissions and SSAA (soprano, soprano, alto, alto) arrangements for Ensemble Laude:
- 2012 – Seulete Suy, by Nicholas Fairbank
- 2013 – O Viridissima Virga, by Andrea Young
- 2013 – Aurora, by Nicholas Fairbank
- 2014 – Sanctum: A Requiem on Vancouver Island, by Sarah Quartel
- 2015 – Hummingbird, by Kathleen Allen
- 2016 – Beyond the Violet Rays, by Georgina Craig
- 2017 – How Can I Keep from Singing!, by Sarah Quartel
- 2018 – Let Us Carry You, by Sarah Quartel
- 2018 – Kothbiro, SSAA by Alison Girvan
- 2019 – Dans ton coeur dort un clair de lune, SSAA by Robert Ingari
- 2023 – Nothing Gold can Stay, SSAA by Stephanie Martin
- 2024 – My Heart is like a Singing Bird, SSAA by Gerda Blok-Wilson
Listen to Laude
Vox Femina CD (2024)
In the last decade, the choir honed their sound while performing in places like France and Newfoundland. Our repertoire has expanded even further beyond medieval music and now emphasizes selections by female composers worldwide. Vox Femina is a curated collection of these pieces, with an emphasis on Canadian contemporary female composers such as Sarah Quartel, Marie-Claire Saindon, Katerina Gimon, Sherryl Sewepagaham and Laura Hawley.
Inspirata CD (2011)
Inspirata … inspiration, the breath of life, the muse. On our first CD, released December 2011, we sing the songs that inspire us, transport us and bring us more fully alive. From the 10th to the 21st century, from Persia to Japan, we hope this music will also inspire you.
Sample tracks
Photo Credit: Carla Unger 2023