Notice Board

Music at Noon Series
Blaine Hendsbee, tenor; Glen Montgomery, piano
12:15 pm, September 29, 2015

Robert Schumann’s beloved song cycle Dichterliebe (A Poet’s Love) composed in 1840, traces the path of an ill fated and life altering love affair. It contains some of Schumann’s most poignant vocal music, and is the epitome of the Romantic era song cycle, where poetry, music, singer and pianist intertwine and share in the presentation and interpretation of the story. Blaine Hendsbee (tenor) has performed the cycle several times over the span of a 30 year career- and each time continues to find new colours, twists and subtleties to bring forward to every new audience. The performance of the cycle of 16 songs will be preceded by a short overview of the cycle by both Hendsbee and pianist Glen Montgomery, which will help introduce the work to first time listeners.

Dr. Blaine Hendsbee, tenor
Dr. Blaine Hendsbee, tenor, has performed throughout North America in a repertoire of more than 60 roles.  Selected performances include: Hänsel and Gretel, and Amahl and the Night Visitors (Lincoln Centre, NYC), Marriage of Figaro, Der Rosenkavalier, Coronation of Poppea (Canadian Opera Company Toronto), Madama Butterfly (Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Victoria and Ottawa), The Barber of Seville, Elektra, Salome, Peter Grimes, and Die Fledermaus (Vancouver), Magic Flute (National Arts Centre, Ottawa, Halifax, Edmonton), The Rape of Lucretia (Milwaukee), Abduction from the Seraglio (Victoria, Halifax), Turandot (Cincinnati, Winnipeg, Edmonton), La vie Parisienne, Countess Maritza (Toronto Operetta Theatre), and several performances for  New York’s Center for Contemporary Opera: The Postman Always Rings Twice, Markheim, The Bald Soprano, and Transformations. Major roles of his oratorio repertoire include the tenor solos in Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Bach’s St. John and St. Matthew Passions, Haydn’s The Creation and The Seasons, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, and Britten’s St Nicolas.

Dr. Hendsbee teaches voice and is the Director of Opera Workshop at the University of Lethbridge, where recent productions include: include Fledermaus, The Magic Flute, Dido and Aeneas, Dialogues des Carmelites, HMS Pinafore, Into the Woods, and The Mikado. Dr. Hendsbee is a frequent Masterclass clinician and Festival adjudicator and appears regularly in Art Song Recitals, with an emphasis on the songs of Schumann, Britten, Poulenc and Edwardian Parlour repertoire.

Glen Montgomery, piano
After great success as a music teacher, primarily at the University of Lethbridge but also at University of Ottawa, Mount Royal University and the Banff Centre, Canadian pianist Glen Montgomery is now pursuing exclusively his performing and composing careers. Over the years Montgomery's concerts have taken him from Australia to Iceland and from Carnegie Hall to Philharmonic Hall in St. Petersburg. A regular at the Festival of the Sound, he has performed with the likes of Lynn Harrell, Carol Neblett, the Orford Quartet and Toronto Symphony, James Campbell and Jose Luis Garcia. He has broadcast and recorded hundreds of performances for CBC, PBS, Belorus TV and Analekta.

Glen Montgomery resides in Montréal with his wife, Magdalena von Eccher.