Peace, Friendship and Joy
- Music from the German Baroque
February 18th - 23rd, 2025
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The 2025 Pacific Baroque Festival embraces the most cherished human values as expressed through the music of 17th and 18th century Germany. Curated by our featured soloist, the extraordinary German soprano Dorothee Mields, the programs exemplify the most profound emotions, expressed in music for voice and an intimate instrumental ensemble. The music of Buxtehude and Bach are a thread through the festival programs, combined with that of lesser-known composers whose music deserves to be heard.
“Her vocal instrument is flawless: pure and transparent in timbre, yet capable of the most subtle inflections and cultivated shadings. She can find both radiant sweetness and compelling emotional depth…”
– Vancouver Classical Music
“This soprano has everything: sweetness, “unaffected purity” (Charles Downey),
pitch-perfect intonation, unflappable at any tempo, and with a movingly dramatic
execution of the text because she loves the word nearly as much as the note.”
– forbes.com
“Mields is splendid. Her poise, luminous vocalism and animated dialogue with the
band show why she’s an Early Music legend.”
– BBC Music Magazine
Artist Biographies
Marc Destrubé
Destrube finds the right balance of elegant lyricism and virtuosic brilliance.
- The Australian
Canadian violinist Marc Destrube is a musical polymath - soloist, chamber musician, concertmaster, orchestral leader and teacher - whose career straddles the contemporary and “early music” worlds.
Marc grew up in Victoria BC and started violin lessons at 9. Following studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, he attended the University of Toronto and the University of Western Ontario and became an active freelancer.
He was a founding member of Tafelmusik in Toronto and was soon invited to play with leading early music orchestras and ensembles in Europe.
He’s traveled the world and made dozens of recordings as co-concertmaster of the Orchestra of the 18th Century. He’s led the Belgian ensemble Anima Eterna, the Academy of Ancient Music and the Hanover Band. He’s toured with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and is concertmaster of the Oregon Bach Festival Baroque Orchestra. He’s been concertmaster of the CBC Radio Orchestra and music director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra.
Today, he’s a member of the Axelrod String Quartet, quartet-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C., which plays on the museum’s exceptional collection of Stradivari and Amati instruments; Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble, which specializes in contemporary music, and the Microcosmos Quartet, whose repertoire ranges far and wide.
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Above all one can’t sufficiently praise the restraint and taste of Marc Destrubé’s playing in his double role as leader and soloist.
- Michael Miller, New York Arts, NYC
Aaron James
Aaron James is the Director of Music at the Toronto Oratory of St Philip Neri, and a Sessional Lecturer in organ at the University of Toronto. At the Oratory, Aaron plays organ at Holy Family Parish and directs three choirs for Mass and Vespers on Sundays and feast days, as well as teaching music to students at St Philip’s Seminary. An alumnus of the Eastman School of Music, he holds both a PhD degree in musicology and a DMA degree in organ, along with the Performer’s Certificate in organ. He was the 2011 winner of the National Organ Playing Competition of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, and has won numerous other prizes for his organ playing, including first prizes in the Florence and Stanley Osborne Organ Competition and the Howard Fairclough Organ Competition; he was also a finalist in the 2012 Franz Schmidt International Organ Competition (Kitzbühel, Austria). He performs regularly as an organ recitalist, with recent appearances at festivals of the RCCO, the Organ Historical Society, the Toronto Bach Festival, Church Music Association of America’s annual Sacred Music Colloquium. He is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, the College’s highest academic distinction, receiving the Willan and Porter prizes for the 2012 Fellowship examinations. He is a past president of the RCCO Toronto Centre and currently serves as national Chair of Examinations for the College.
Aaron completed his doctoral studies as an organist in the studio of Edoardo Bellotti, having previously studied with Hans Davidsson and Michel Bouvard at Eastman, and with Paul Merritt at the University of Western Ontario, where he received the Faculty of Music Gold Medal. His musicological research has focused on the Latin motet in the mid-sixteenth century, with published articles in the Journal of the Alamire Foundation, Early Music, Sacred Music, Organ Canada, The Lamp, Oxford Bibliographies Online and Grove Music Online. Aaron is the editor of the Parish Book of Motets (CMAA, 2022), a printed collection and suite of online resources compiled to make sacred polyphony accessible to small parish choirs, with a second volume currently in preparation. At the University of Toronto, he teaches studio organ lessons and classes in organ literature for students in the Faculty of Music as well as the Master of Sacred Music program at Emmanuel College, having previously taught at Eastman and at the University of Rochester. In the 2024-25 season Aaron is performing the complete works of J. S. Bach in a series of sixteen recitals on the newly restored Kney/Gober organ of Holy Family Church: www.oratory-toronto.org/bach .
Natalie Mackie
Natalie Mackie studied cello at the Conservatoire de Musique (Québec), followed by a degree from the School of Music, University of British Columbia. While at UBC she was introduced to the viola da gamba, and following graduation, she pursued further studies at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in The Hague.
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Natalie has played with many ensembles in Canada and the US, including New World Consort, Les Coucous Bénévoles, Tafelmusik, Portland, and Seattle Baroque Orchestras, Les Voix Humaines, Tempo Rubato, Les Voix Baroque, Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra, Victoria Baroque Players, and Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra among others.
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Natalie is a member of Pacific Baroque Orchestra and the chamber ensemble “La Modestine”- both Vancouver-based ensembles.
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She has toured throughout Canada, Europe, and the US and recorded for Radio France, German Radio, BBC, CBC, and NPR, as well as the Canadian label Atma Classique.
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Natalie is a regular performer in the Pacific Baroque Festival, held annually in Victoria, BC, and teaches in the Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Program at the University of British Columbia.
Marco Vitale
Marco Vitale was born in Palermo, Italy. After finishing studies in his hometown, he attended the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague where he studied harpsichord with Ton Koopman and organ with Jos van der Kooy, graduating with a master’s degree in Early Music. Throughout his career Marco has performed at the most prestigious venues and festivals throughout Europe, the USA, Canada, South America, the Middle East and Asia. From 2008-2011 Marco Vitale worked at the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus, Syria, where he taught early music performance practice and performed concerts together with Syrian musicians.
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He is the co-founder and musical director of Contrasto Armonico, an ensemble specializing in Baroque operas and the performance of music in the Italian style, using period instruments and historically informed performance practices. In 2012 he founded his own record label ayros, and is currently involved in recording the Complete Italian Cantatas by Handel, a thrilling project that will bring to light many undiscovered jewels of Handel’s which have yet to be either edited or recorded. Marco has appeared on several radio and TV broadcasts, including the specialized music channel Mezzo.tv. In addition to ayros, he has recorded for Alia Vox, Naïve, and Brilliant Classics.
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Marco has a truly international reputation as a harpsichordist and teacher of baroque music performance. He cooperated with many international institutions giving masterclasses, lectures and workshops at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, Fondazione Paolo Grassi in Martina Franca (Italy), ESMUC in Barcelona, the Higher Institute of Music in Damascus, the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and the University of Victoria in BC.
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Between 2021 and 2023 Marco lived and worked at the West Coast of Canada, in Victoria (British Columbia) cooperating with institutions like Victoria Baroque, Victoria Symphony, Early Music Society of the Islands, Denman Baroque as well as being music director at St. Barnabas Anglican church.
He is a member of the ensemble La Modestine with Marc Destrubé and Natalie Mackie.
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Marco regularly performs with Jordi Savall and his ensembles Le Concert des Nations and Hespèrion XXI, and collaborates with Armonico Tributo Austria & Lorenz Duftschmid, Hirundo Maris (Arianna Savall & Petter Udland Johansen) and Nuovo Barocco Vienna.
He moved to Vienna in the summer 2023, where he regularly performs with the ensemble Orchester 1756 and teaches at the Early Music institute of the Vienna University of Music and Performing Arts (MDW).
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Check out his website at: marcovitale.art
Kathryn Wiebe
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Originally from Windsor, Ontario, Kathryn is an active & versatile freelance violinist and educator on Vancouver Island. Her passionate and intuitive musicianship has brought her the opportunity to perform with distinguished ensembles around Canada, in orchestral, chamber, and solo opportunities. Currently, she regular performs with the Victoria Symphony, Victoria Baroque Players, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Pacific Baroque Festival, and has appeared as a guest leader/violinist for Per Sonatori Baroque Ensemble in Regina, Saskatchewan. She can be heard on various CBC In Concert broadcasts, as well as the album, “La riche canadienne: The Music of Elinor Dunsmuir”, a local project which premieres a collection of post-romantic, recently-unearthed chamber works by the fascinating Canadian composer.
She studied at the University of Toronto and University of Michigan under the tutelage of the late Yehonatan Berick as a merit scholar. Over the years, she has brought her talent various music festivals, including the Berwick Academy at the Oregon Bach Festival, Brott Music Festival, Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute, Domaine Forget, National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and Interlochen Centre for the Arts.
As an educator, Kathryn has a private studio of budding musicians, and has been an adjudicator for Campbell River and Cowichan Valley Music Festivals. She is also currently on faculty as Violin Coach and Orchestra/Ensemble conductor and organizer at the Comox Valley Youth Music Centre.
As a busy entrepreneur, Kathryn is the owner, artistic director, and avid arranger of Cascadia Strings, a highly sought-after, award-winning professional event music company, as well as a concert chamber ensemble, providing live music and unique concert experiences from Victoria to Whistler and everywhere in between. In this venture, Kathryn’s goal is to bridge the gap between classical music and more popular genres, bringing audiences of all demographics and interests to live concerts.
Kathryn lives in Esquimalt with her husband and musical partner, Tyson Doknjas, as well as their delightful 2 year old son, Aidan. Kathryn and Tyson enjoy performing concerts together, under the name of “Sombrio Duo”, both independently, and through organizations such as Health Arts Society, where they have the opportunity to perform at various retirement and assisted living homes. They especially enjoy unearthing rarely-heard or performed works for two violins, as well as arranging their own renditions of other repertoire for the unique instrumentation.
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Check out her website at: kathrynwiebe.com
Dorothee Mields
Soprano Dorothee Mields is an artist of the absolutely highest caliber and one who has an innate understanding of the music of the North-German Baroque. Her vocal instrument is flawless: pure and transparent in timbre, yet capable of the most subtle inflections and cultivated shadings. She can find both radiant sweetness and compelling emotional depth, attributes that are particularly important in a repertoire where small regional variations can imply notable harmonic differences.
– Vancouver Classical Music 2016
Dorothee Mields is one of the leading interpreters of 17th- and 18th-century music and is beloved by audiences and critics alike for her unique timbre and moving interpretations.
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She appears regularly with the Collegium Vocale Gent, Netherlands Bach Society, L’Orfeo Barockorchester, Freiburger Barockorchester, RIAS Kammerchor, Bach Collegium Japan, Orchestra of the 18th Century, Lautten Compagney Berlin, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra Toronto, The English Concert and Klangforum Wien under conductors such as Stefan Asbury, Beat Furrer, Michi Gaigg, Paul Goodwin, Philippe Herreweghe, Emilio Pomàrico, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Andreas Spering, Masaaki Suzuki and Jos van Veldhoven.
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Dorothee Mields is a welcome guest at international festivals, including the Leipzig Bach Festival, Suntory Music Foundation Summer Festival in Japan, Boston Early Music Festival, Flanders Festival, Wiener Festwochen, the Handel Festival in Halle, Musikfestspiele Potsdam, Styriarte Graz, Niedersächsische Musiktage, Musikfest Bremen, Mainzer Musiksommer and Mosel Musikfest.
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She is a devoted chamber musician and offers a range of highly interesting projects such as “Lord Nelson at the river Nile” (music by Haydn and contemporaries dealing with the battles of Lord Nelson), “White as Lillies was her Face” with songs by John Dowland combined with texts by Heinrich Heine, “Mort exquise, mort parfumée” with French impressionistic compositions, “Duft und Wahnsinn” (fragrance and lunacy) together with Hille Perl, viola da gamba, and Lee Santana, lute, as well as “Birds” with flutist Stefan Temmingh.
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A steadily growing discography with several award-winning recordings documents her artistic achievements. “Inspired by Song” and “Birds” with Stefan Temmingh, “Handel” with Hille Perl, Monteverdi “La dolce vita” with the Lautten Compagney Berlin and Wolfgang Katschner (all DHM), Bach “Kantaten für Solo-Sopran” with L’Orfeo Barockorchester and Michi Gaigg and Boccherini Stabat mater with the Salagon Quartett (both Carus) have been especially well received.
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Transcendent, luminous, nuanced: these are just a few of the words you could use to describe the extraordinary voice of early-music soprano Dorothee Mields. Hailing from Germany, the singer has caused buzz with her interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederick Handel...
- Georgia Straight
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Christina Mahler
Dutch cellist Christina Mahler grew up in a musical family. Her mother, a professional violinist, gave up her career for the family. All five children played instruments. Christina’s earliest chamber music experience came from ensemble playing at home. Her dream was to be a professional cellist playing in a chamber orchestra, just about the size of Tafelmusik. After five years of study with Anner Bijlsma in the Hague, the opportunity presented itself in 1981. She immigrated to Canada to serve as principal cellist of the Tafelmusik Orchestra, a position she held until 2019.
Christina always had a special affinity for baroque music, as well as a passion for 18th and 19th century chamber music. She can often be heard playing music by composers such as Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Brahms or Mendelssohn in solo recitals or with small ensembles. Reviews have praised her for her colourful sound, energetic playing and insightful musicianship.
She has played and recorded numerous concertos, including works by Boccherini, Haydn, Vivaldi, C.P.E. Bach and Leo. Christina can be heard on over 80 recordings on multiple labels including Sony, Hyperion, CBC, BMG, Atma and Analekta. She is a devoted and gifted teacher and students have come from around the world to study with her, not only through the Tafelmusik Summer and Winter Institutes, but also at the University of Toronto and in her private studio.
After 38 years as principal cellist of Tafelmusik, Christina has moved to Victoria where she is focusing on chamber music and pursuing her hobbies, such as pottery.
Curtis Foster
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Curtis Foster, Baroque oboe and recorder, whose playing has been praised for its “brilliantly introverted charm” (Seattle Times), has appeared with many of North America’s most respected early music ensembles, including Handel & Haydn Society, Les Boréades de Montréal, the Seattle and Pacific Baroque Orchestras, and Victoria Baroque Players. He has also performed with Portland Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Arion, and Mercury.
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In the summer, he can typically be found performing or teaching at various festivals, including the San Francisco Early Music Society’s Baroque workshop, the Oregon Bach Festival, Vancouver Bach Festival, Victoria Baroque
Instrumental Academy, and the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival.
In demand as a pedagogue and mentor, Mr. Foster has taught Baroque oboe as part of the Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Programme at the University of British Columbia, and is regularly invited to present workshops and masterclasses around the US and Canada. He can be heard on recordings from ATMA Classique, Naxos, Cedille Records, and IU Press.
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Originally hailing from Wichita, Kansas, Curtis holds degrees from Wichita State University and Indiana University’s Early Music Institute. He is delighted to have recently relocated to the Twin Cities, where he has been appointed Executive Director of Lyra Baroque.
