Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 3:00pm
Bella Concert Hall, Mount Royal University

with
Luminous Strings
Laura Brandt, soprano
Adam Brousseau, baritone

Figure Humaine by Francis Poulenc headlines this program built on themes of war, peace and freedom. Famously one of the most virtuosic and demanding works for unaccompanied choir, Figure Humaine was composed during the German occupation of France in WWII. With text by poet Paul Éluard, the final movement served as a rallying cry for the French resistance, as the poem was air-dropped by the Royal Air Force in 1943. Only six years earlier, Ralph Vaughan Williams composed his Dona nobis pacem as a plea for peace in a world growing increasingly fearful of another war. The orchestration features strings, piano and percussion, along with  the choir and local stars, Laura Brandt and Adam Brousseau. The program will also feature a new work by Quebec-based composer-conductor Robert Ingari.