Kerry-Anne Kutz
Kerry-Anne Kutz has performed to critical acclaim throughout Canada, the United States, in Mexico, Europe, Australia, Singapore, and India. Presenting interactive concerts for audiences from ages 6 to 106!
“The Juliet Letters”
Written by Elvis Costello and the Brodsky Quartet.
“Sing! Sing! Sing!”
This interactive Workshop is designed for elementary school students. Together we discover and sing music through the ages from Gregorian chant to jazz.
Objective:
To encourage students to sing and to develop an appreciation of music through the ages, from Gregorian chant to jazz.
Description:
This one-hour workshop begins with the classroom lit by natural daylight only. The students are seated when the singer and pianist enter the room singing a Gregorian chant. The students are invited to sing this simple melody, a “Kyrie” as the monks would have sung in 500 A.D., this being the first music ever to be written down.
The students and two musicians progress through the ages singing and playing musical examples of early two-part harmony, songs of the renaissance, baroque, classical and jazz eras.
The students together with the singer and pianist explore the differnet vocal techniques employed for singing different styles of music. They learn about posture, breathing and phrasing. The musicians help the students to recognize the cultural significance of these art forms as well as the challenge and beauty in performing and listening to music.
The workshop is enhanced through period costumes and has been presented in schools in all regions of Québec.
“Faustina and Bach”
A baroque musical adventure written and presented by Kerry-Anne Kutz
Historical Setting:
Faustina Bordoni, born in 1700 was a brilliant singer and actress whose talents moved her quickly to the forefront of the operatic stage at only sixteen years of age. Faustina possessed a clear and powerful voice, one which moved flawlessly through the exhilarating coloratura passages as demanded by the composers of the day. The critics praised her beauty, her excellent acting abilities as well as her humble albeit competitive disposition!
Faustina sang in operas by composers of the 17th and 18th centuries including G.F. Handel who composed arias specifically for her. It is said that Johann Sebastian Bach who during his lifetime was never recognized was a prominent composer, had occasion to hear Faustina at the Dresden Opera. During this period Bach and his family resided in Leipzig where he composed more than 300 church cantatas between 1726 and 1730. Faustina and Bach became great admirers one of the other for both their exceptional musical talents, (Bach being recognized as one of the greatest organ virtuosi of the period) and their gentleness nature.
The Performance
During the course of my presentation Faustina introduces the audience to the composers whose works she performed with excerpts and anecdotes surrounding her actual performances. She speaks specifically of Handel’s resounding success as a composer as well as that of her husband Johann Hasse. She is most intrigued however by the great master Sebastian Bach and tells of his life in Leipzig as a prolific composer, his twenty children, his wife Anna Magdelena who ultimately dies a pauper, his reluctance to fulfill his duties at St. Thomas School and his inexplicable musical genius. Bach’s music is demonstrated instrumentally by accompanying musicians and through examples of a chorale, (sung with the participation of the audience), Bach’s famous Cantata 51 for soprano and trumpet, which is presumed to have been composed for Faustina but performed only twice during Bach’s lifetime because of its technical challenges.
“Out of the Silence”
Accompanied on the trumpet by her husband Michael Cartile and their trio of piano, bass and drums, Kerry-Anne sings and invites her audiences to sing the most beautiful songs from the 1940’s to present day. Presented indoors or under the stars!
“Peace on Earth”
Kerry-Anne celebrates the enchantment of the holidays with songs of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza and La Posada! Songs for the entire family to sing and often performed with community school choirs. Festive music for the season with singing and dancing!
