Powerful compositions by Dame Ethel Smyth and Kati Agócs mark Canadian premieres at the Orpheum, February 28

Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs presents the 1893 masterpiece Mass in D major and contemporary work Hosanna of the Clouds

SPONSORED POST BY Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs

Kati Agócs (left, Robyn Twomey photo) and Dame Ethel Smyth (photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, public domain, 1922).

The Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs is turning the spotlight on the brilliant, boundary-breaking voices of women composers. On February 28 at the Orpheum, the choir is pairing two Canadian premieres: Dame Ethel Smyth’s lush, dramatic masterpiece Mass in D major and Kati Agócs’s powerful contemporary work Hosanna of the Clouds.

Smyth (1858–1944), whose choral writing once filled London’s Royal Albert Hall, was a queer woman and activist who fought for her place in a male-dominated musical world. She helped propel the women’s suffrage movement, penning its anthem The March of the Women. Her Mass in D major, first performed in 1893, merges spiritual depth with bold orchestral and choral architecture.

Alongside this historic work, Canadian-American composer Agócs brings a vibrant contemporary piece. A Juilliard-trained, Guggenheim-winning composer, Agócs weaves sacred text and evocative colour in Hosanna of the Clouds—a rich blend of chorus, soprano soloist, and orchestra that bridges ritual and modern expression.

Tickets and more details are available here.

Post sponsored by Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs.

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