The Sounds of Penitence
A Talk with Q&A
Given by Robert Buisakiewicz
Wednesday, March 29, 2023 | 7:00 p.m.
Live-stream available here.
Join St. Bart’s for this talk about penitential choral music, examining how it has been composed and performed in the church. What makes music sound penitential? What makes lenten music sound different to the rest of the church year? Where do these associations come from, and are they universal? This talk will explain the building blocks of lenten music from the renaissance to the present day. Exploring ideas of dissonance, stylistic developments, and cathartic artistic expressions, you will learn about how this extraordinary repertoire has evolved over time, along with the aesthetic ideas that went along with it. If you want to understand more about the music of Holy Week and why many musicians look forward to this time of the church’s year, join us for this 45 minute lecture with musical examples, followed by an opportunity for questions.
About the Speaker
An acclaimed British conductor, composer and performer, Robert Busiakiewicz trained at the Frank Schmidt Musikschule, Vienna, the Royal Academy of Music, London, and was a choral scholar at King’s College Cambridge. He has taught at King’s College London, and been a guest lecturer at the University of Toronto. He was interim director of music at the University of King’s College in Halifax in 2022, and served as director of music at St. James Cathedral Toronto from 2015-2020. He has recorded 17 albums of choral music, and has been commissioned by Christ Church Cathedral Victoria, The King’s Singers, The London Festival of Church Music, The Cincinnati May Festival, Cardiff Polyphonic Choir, Southwell Minster, and Bradford Cathedral.