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Concert Details Archived
Handel's Messiah Concert Performance
December 12, 2018
Experience the humanity and goodwill of Handel’s beloved choral masterpiece.
Handel’s Messiah transcends cultural, geographic, and religious boundaries with its message of charity, peace, goodwill, and sacrifice. It also contains some of the most uplifting, touching, and magnificent music ever composed.
Michael Jarvis directs four soloists, orchestra, and chamber choir, offering audiences the second London version of Handel’s masterpiece. Four up-and-coming young soloists from Victoria will be joining the choir: soprano Ai Horton; counter-tenor Kyle Guilfoyle; tenor Adam Dyjach; and bass-baritone Louis Dillon, who is back by popular acclaim after BotR’s November concert. The orchestra will perform the music using Baroque-period bows, which lends a lighter transparency of sound so the music better balances the singers. Our annual performances of Messiah have become a cherished annual Salt Spring holiday tradition—join us and discover why!
Guest Soloists
Ai Horton, soprano
Kyle Guilfoyle, countertenor
Adam Dyjach, tenor
Louis Dillon, bass-baritone
Ai Horton
soprano
Japanese-Canadian soprano Ai Horton is praised for her pure, crystalline tone and her sensitive approach to performance. She made her operatic debut as “Suor Osmina/Conversa” in Puccini’s Suor Angelica at the 2017 Amalfi Coast Music Festival, and recently performed as “Soeur Constance” for the final scene of Dialogues des Carmélites at the University of Victoria. Her varied concert repertoire includes the arias of Vivaldi and Mozart, traditional Japanese Minyo, and Luciano Berio’s sound documentary: A-Ronne for eight amplified voices. She is a member of the Pacific Opera Victoria Chorus for their 2018-2019 season, and will also appear in a concept performance of Handel’s Acis and Galatea directed by Isaiah Bell in the spring at Victoria’s Christ Church Cathedral.
Inspired by the ingenuity of each new generation of young musicians, Ai studies Secondary Music Education alongside her vocal studies at the University of Victoria with the aim to create community and belonging through shared musical experience. Ai has been awarded numerous scholarships for her excellence in music, including the Mary M. & Erich P. Schwann Scholarship, the Bea Scott Scholarship in Voice, the Emily Apinis-Grundstein Scholarship, The Loma Cornwell Davis Scholarship, and the Bruce & Connie More Choral Music Scholarship.
Kyle Guilfoyle began as a boy soprano at age 13 in the Children’s Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral in Toronto. This experience sparked his love of music and he started singing in earnest at 19. He obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Early Music and Voice Performance from McGill University's Schulich School of Music (2007-2012); and his Master of Music degree in Voice from the University of Toronto (2012-2014), where he studied with counter-tenor Daniel Taylor. He also studied with soprano Nancy Argenta whilst on a leave of absence from his Master of Music at the University of Toronto.
The recipient of numerous awards, recent achievements include the Copeland Fellowship, the David and Marcia Beach Summer Study award (University of Toronto), and the NRS award (Victoria Conservatory of Music).
Kyle Guilfoyle
countertenor
A native of Waterloo Ontario, Adam commenced his musical education at Wilfrid Laurier University in Voice Performance under the direction of Kimberly Barber. He now resides in Victoria, BC where he completed his Masters in Voice Performance with Benjamin Butterfield at the University of Victoria and currently studies privately with Carolyn Sinclair.
Adam is a choral scholar at St. Barnabas Church under the direction of Michael Jarvis. He also sings with the Schooner Cove Singers, a brand new professional choir based in Parksville, BC. In the past Adam has been a member of the St. Christopher Singers, Victoria Philharmonic Choir, Victoria Choral Society and Pacific Opera Victoria Chorus. He also teaches private singing lessons and is a music instructor at the Taber Music School.
Adam Dyjach
tenor
Louis Dillon
bass-baritone
Born and raised in Halfmoon Bay, BC, bass-baritone Louis Dillon owes his love of singing to his mother, a voice teacher. He currently studies with Ingrid Attrot and Nancy Argenta and is working hard to complete a diploma in Vocal Performance at the Victoria Conservatory of Music.
Louis has sung with Pacific Opera Victoria’s chorus for the past three seasons, appearing with them as the second prisoner in Fidelio and the Customs Sergeant in La Boheme, and also as a soloist in their outreach programs. In his efforts to become more at home on the stage, Louis has sung roles such as Sarastro (The Magic Flute), Al (City Workers in Love), Guglielmo (Cosí Fan Tutte), and Bartolo (Le Nozze di Figaro) in various student productions, and will be returning to The Magic Flute as Papageno in VCM’s upcoming production. Outside of opera, Louis has performed in concert with East Van Opera, the VCM orchestra, Sooke Philharmonic, and the Victoria Baroque Players, and works as a choral scholar at the First Metropolitan United Church. In 2017, his performances won him 1st place at the 2017 Performing Arts BC Provincials.