Musical explorers Apocryphonia will present a mix of classical music and punk sensibilities for their next concert, titled Brews, Beauties & Brawlers. The program features works by Stanford, Coleridge-Taylor and Vaughan Williams, and it takes place March 1 at St. Olave’s Anglican Church in the city’s west end.
The vocal music of the 20th century and 1980s punk aesthetics will be on display, including songs about drinking, wedding brawls and more.
The Apocryphonia Concert Series derives its names from Apocryphus, meaning secret, or non-canonical, taken from the Greek adjective ἀπόκρυφος (apokryphos), meaning obscure.
The Music
Charles Villiers Stanford
Stanford’s choral ballad Phaudrig Crohoore is the centrepiece of the program, and it epitomizes the spirit of punk, albeit in 1896 form. The epic poem by Sheridan Le Fanu tells the tale of a feisty 7-ft tall Irishman who crashes a wedding in the hopes of eloping with his true love. He throws a few punches, and runs off later, so the story goes. The last line reads, ‘So he took a good pike for Phaudrig was great, An’ he fought, an’ he died in the year ’98’. Stanford, a composer in the late romantic style, died in 1924, making this a bit belated centenary of his death.
The concert is bookended by Stanford and Le Fanu’s work. Excerpts from their opera Shamus O’Brien, which tells the story of the titular character, hunted by the hated English during the Irish Rebellion of 1798.
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Ralph Vaughan Williams were both students of Stanford. Both also developed into their own distinctive style. 2025 is Coleridge-Taylor’s 150th birthday year. Coleridge Taylor’s Valse Suite for piano “Three-Fours” is a showcase for virtuosic piano playing. The concert also features the Canadian Premiere of his Three Songs of Heine.
Ralph Vaughan Williams
The program includes drinking songs from Vaughan Williams’ Shakespearean opera Sir John in Love. The composer himself wrote the libretto based on the story of The Merry Wives of Windsor, along wth other texts by Ben Jonson and other Elizabethans. It premiered in 1929.
Henry Purcell
Purcell, as it turns out, wrote a number of songs with drinking as their theme, including “Tis Wine Was Made To Rule the Day”. The ensemble will perform a few, along with songs about the impossible quest to find love.
Performers
Tenor Alexander Cappellazzo
Alexander Cappellazzo, Apocryphonia’s founder, has always looked for the original creative spark of classical music. Apocryphonia brings together local musicians and audiences to enjoy works that are rarely performed, and celebrate their unique qualities.
Alexander routinely performs with companies across Canada including: VOICEBOX: Opera In Concert, Toronto City Opera, Toronto Operetta Theatre, Opera By Request, OperOttawa, Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, the Ashkenaz Festival and choirs including the Trinity Bach Project, Oakville Choral Society, Jubilate Singers, Brott Music Festival, and Metropolitan United Church.
Thera Barclay, soprano
Barclay, and Ottawa native, has performed across North America and Europe, including recent engagements as Gretel (Hansel and Gretel), Flora (The Turn of the Screw), Marie (La fille du régiment), Marzelline (Fidelio), and Barbarina (The Marriage of Figaro), among others. She holds an Artist Diploma from The Glenn Gould School, a Master of Music in Opera from The University of British Columbia, and an Honours Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Alessia Naccarato, Mezzo-Soprano
Italian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Alessia Naccarato studied voice performance, and graduated from the Artist Masters at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK. She also earned a BFA in Voice Performance from York University, followed by a MMus in Opera from the University of Toronto. Her operatic repertoire includes a variety of roles, and she has worked with The London Contemporary Orchestra, Wigmore Hall, Opera in Concert, The Barbican Centre, and Spectra Ensemble, among others.
Lucia Santilly, soprano
Based in Toronto, Lucia’s recent roles include Gretel from Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel with UWO opera, Blanche in Poulenc’s Dialogue of the Carmelites with SOLT, and Canadian Debut of Raquel in Jacinto Guerrero’s operetta El huésped del sevillano with the Toronto Operetta Theatre. She also performs as a voice-over artist, and in musical theatre productions, including an Ontario-wide theatre tour with Education Arts Canada.
Grace Quinsey, soprano
Soprano Grace Quinsey is from Windsor, Ontario. Her performances have been noted for their dramatic flair along with her vocal abilities. Recent roles include Giannetta in Opera York’s L’elisir d’amore, as Mařenka in Prodaná nevěsta and Terinka in Jakobín in Toronto’s Czech Music Festival, and as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro with the Toronto Concert Orchestra, among many others.
Máiri Demings, mezzo-soprano
From Springhill, Nova Scotia, Máiri holds a Bachelor of Music from Acadia University and a Masters of Music from the University of Western Ontario. Her resume include work as a soloist and in operatic performance. She’s performed in Good Mess Opera Theatre: A Good Haunting Volume 2, Tapestry Opera Songbook XII, Slow Rise Music: Fair Use, Acadia Performing Arts Series Tom Regan Memorial Concert, among others. Currently based in Toronto, she is a frequent performer with Voicebox: Opera in Concert and Toronto Operetta Thetare. She also performs with pianist Zain Solinski in the contemporary duo mezzopiano.
Lillian Brooks, mezzo-soprano
Lillian made her professional debut in 2015 with Chorus Niagara performing Mozart’s Requiem, and has often performed oratorio and concert work in addition to operatic roles, including peformances in Handel’s Messiah, Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Bach’s St John Passion and St Matthew Passion, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Durufle’s Requiem, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde and Rückert Lieder, among others. She is a graduate of York University, and received her Artist Diploma in Vocal Performance from the Glenn Gould School.
Catharin Carew, mezzo-soprano
Canadian Catharin Carew holds Masters of Music in Vocal Performance both from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London England and McGill University. She continues to study vocal pedagogy at the University of Toronto, where she earned her undergraduate degree. Catharin pursues a career as both classical soloist and workshop clinician. Recent roles include Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle with Opera Five, the Mezzo in Georges Aperghis’ Sextour: L’origine des espèces in Montreal’s MusiMars, and previous roles include premiering the role of Maeve in Ana Sokolovic’s The Midnight Court at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Queen of Puddings Music Theatre.
David Walsh, tenor
Toronto native David Walsh recently finished his Diploma of Opera Performance at the University of Toronto with Honours. During the 2024/25 season, performed as the Tenor Soloist for Chorus Niagara’s Messiah. Other recent roles include Nemorino in North York Concert Orchestra’s production of Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love, as well as Conception in a new production with new libretto of Ravel’s A Spanish Hour in Vancouver.
William Salinas-Crosby, tenor
Based in Toronto, William Salinas-Crosby is currently completing his studies in Voice Performance at the University of Toronto. Recent performances include appearances with the Toronto Consort, HarbourVOICES Festival, Carmina Burana with Pax Christi Chorale and North York Concert Orchestra, and “And Still We Sing” Missa Afro-Brasileira as part of Luminato Festival 2024.
Jean-Paul Feo, tenor
Organist, singer, and early musician Jean-Paul Feo is based in Toronto. He studied at St. Michael’s Choir School. As a soloist, Jean-Paul has given numerous recitals across the city, including Grace Church-on-the-Hill, the Cathedral Church of St. James, and St. Michael’s Cathedral-Basilica.
John Holland, bass
Czech-Canadian Bass-Baritone John Holland won a JUNO Award in 2020 for a recording of Handel’s Dixit Dominus. He has carved a diverse performing career of opera, art song and oratorio. His performances include Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro at theMozarteum in Salzburg, Leporello in Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre in Prague, Kecal in The Bartered Bride, Purkrabi in Dvořák’s Jakobín, and recently as Belcore in L’Elisir d’amore. Dr. Holland completed his PhD in Musicology in 2018, his research focused on the study of Czech Opera, Art Song, and Choral Works, and has published a book on the subject.
Moji Abella, bass
Emerging bass-baritone Moji Abella graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, then pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Music, graduating Magna Cum Laude. He has sung and toured with a variety of choral groups.
Martin Gomes, bass
Based in downtown Toronto, Martin Gomes (He/They) is an Afro/Latino, queer writer and composer. He works as an artist facilitator teaching poetry and beatboxing for a variety of organizations. Martin has performed with Opera Atelier, CBC, Sony, Soho House, The Harbourfront Centre, Nuit Blanche, TOLive, and Treemonisha, among others.
Gabriel Sanchez-Ortega, bass
Montreal native Gabriel Sanchez-Ortega earned a performance diploma in voice from The Glenn Gould School., where he was the recipient of the Ihnatowycz Emerging Artist Scholarship. He has performed in a number of operas for the Glenn Gould School Opera, The Aspen Opera Centre, The Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, Opera York, and Toronto City Opera. He has recently joined The Canadian Opera Company chorus for their 2024/2025 season.
Narmina Afandiyeva, piano
Narmina is a graduate of the Baku Music Academy (Azerbaijan) and the University of Toronto, Faculty of Music. She has devoted her performance practice to vocal and instrumental music. Narmina is an in demand collaborative artist, and recent project include Cherubini’s Médée (Voicebox Opera in Concert), Barber’s A Hand of Bridge, Puccini’s Il Tabarro (OperaFest), and many chamber recitals. In June 2022 and 2023 Narmina was a Faculty member in the La Roche d’Hys: Domaine des Arts (Burgundy, France) working with young singers.
- As Apocryphonia point out, both punk and classical music share a devotion to the music well beyond notions of marketability and pop culture links. Find concert info and tickets [HERE].
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