Special Event
Our next concert is part of the 2026 Celebrating Gaia series as it continues with a week-long arts and education exhibition (May 30 to June 7) and concert at 7:30 pm Saturday, June 6th at Christ Church Cathedral, 930 Burdett St., featuring Joseph Haydn's The Seasons, performed by the Victoria Philharmonic Choir, conducted by Peter Butterfield, with orchestra and soloists: soprano Jennifer Turner, tenor Isaiah Bell, and bass-baritone Stephen Hegedus.
The Seasons, Haydn's magnificent and rarely-performed secular oratorio was first performed in 1801. It paints musical pictures of the joys and sorrows of human endeavours and of nature itself in the colours of Earth's natural cycles. This concert includes a pre-show talk at 6:50 pm with award-winning pianist/teacher Robert Holliston.
Tickets: vpchoir.tickit.ca
Sponsored by the Gail O’Riordan Climate and the Arts Legacy Fund through the Victoria Foundation and in partnership with Creatively United for the Planet Society. For more information, go the creativelyunited.org and climateandthearts.org
Siobhán Humston's art installation, inspired by Haydn's The Seasons, will be open to the public from May 30 to June 7 in the Chapel of the New Jerusalem (upstairs) at Christ Church Cathedral. The week's events will include artist workshops and talks, including conversations with Rick Kool (Naturehood Victoria), Patrick Lucey (Aqua-Tex Scientific Consulting Ltd), and Andrea Careless (South Island Climate Action Network), who will interact with Siobhán's artwork in creative ways. For more about Siobhán Humston visit siobhanhumstonart.com
Entry to all the art exhibit events is free, but we encourage you to book a time slot for viewing as space is limited.
Registration/ticket to Siobhan's art workshops/talks on Saturday May 30 (1 - 2 pm) and Sunday June 7 (1 - 2 pm) is REQUIRED - there is a maximum of 10 participants.
Please go to vpchoir.tickit.ca/events/34805-for-the-seasons-exhibition-of-art-by-siobhan-humston if you'd like to:
See what days and hours the exhibition is open
Register for the art workshops
Find out when the conversations with Rick, Patrick and Andrea are scheduled and sign up
Book a time to come and enjoy Siobhan's art.
Walk-in visitors are welcome during the open viewing times, but may be asked to wait if the space is already at capacity.
Comments from VPC’s November 2018 performance of Rutter Requiem and the Lauridsen Lux Aeterna:
“What a wonderful concert! I will become a regular at your choir’s performances.”
“The Requiem was lovely, and haunting, but my favourites were the last two movements of Lux Aeterna when the voices of the singers were let loose and the joy they shared was palpable. A wonderful experience!”
“Thank you for the wonderful treat! You performed difficult music with considerable
panache and great feeling.”
“It was a wonderful concert to perform. When we feel prepared to the point that we can look up from the book and really ‘be’ with Peter in the music, and follow him wherever he decides to go, it’s the best feeling in the world. Requiems are often a bit personal, since many of us are remembering someone we lost. The orchestra was wonderful, from harp to horns and this concert was downright magical in places, with many audience members listening with closed eyes, seemingly quite transfixed!”