Lux Hodie
Karen Young Choir
Lux Hodie, the women's choir led by the fabulous Karen Young, offers you a repertoire of sacred and nativity songs from various origins.
An invitation to place yourself in the light for the time of Christmas celebrations
During the long nights of the Holidays and Christmas, the seed of light is born, the hope of its return. It’s a time to sing and celebrate!
An ancient tradition, renewed in each era, has left us a vast repertoire of Christmas carols composed for the newborn king.
We have chosen songs by French and English composers who tell these familiar stories of the Virgin Mary, the shepherds and the wise men following the star to Bethlehem.Several of these songs are anonymous, composed and reworked over the centuries, Karen Young has humbly rearranged them for six female voices and harp.With sopranos Coral Egan and Angèle Trudeau, mezzo-sopranos Karen Young and Rebecca Bain, violas Linda Morrison and Annie Poulain, harpist Éveline Grégoire-Rousseau and double bassist Normand Guilbeault.
Women's choir
The Sopranos:
Coral Egan and Angèle Trudeau
The mezzo-sopranos:
Karen Young and Rebecca Bain
The violas:
Linda Morrison and Annie Poulain
Along with :
The harpist Éveline Grégoire-Rousseau
The double bassist Norman Guilbeault
Music zone
Here is the demo of Lux Hodie, produced with the financial participation of the Conseil des arts et lettres du Québec.
Mari Lwyd Room traditional from Wales (Welsh)/Chris Hughes
All this Time Anonymous German coin translated into English by William Walton
Joy Poem by Judith Malina/ Music by Steve Lacy
Wexford Carol Traditional Irish piece
Arrangement for six female voices, harp and double bass - Karen Young
Technical device
Video area
Biography of the artists
Karen Young
Many will remember his first record “Bug Alley” then the famous duo Young & Donato, who in 1988 won a Félix Award and a Juno nomination for best jazz album of the year with “Contredanse”. Twelve other albums have been released since that time. All have received rave reviews and are imbued with the sensitivity and infinite compassion for human nature that so characterize Karen Young, rightly proclaimed an “Artist for Peace” in 2003.
After having served us in 2000 her magnificent medieval opera with a Middle Eastern flavor “Canticum Canticorum”, critically acclaimed, then two jazz albums (one acoustic, the other impressionist & poetic), the author-composer- performer offered us a double album “Soul, body and desire”, a fusion between jazz and ars nova (this music of the troubadours of the 14th century) and won the Félix for album of the year – vocal classic – in 2008.
She wrote scores for several documentary films and for a drama between 1990 and 2005. Also, the Women's Federation commissioned a work from her, the theme song for "La Marche de l'an 2000", which she recorded with a women's choir and sang before the United Nations in New York.
Recipient of a career grant from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, Karen Young took a sabbatical from the stage to compose her polychoral mass “Missa Campanula”. She launched it in March 2015 with 26 singers including Suzie LeBlanc, Rebecca Bain, Carole Therrien, Josée Lalonde, Marcel de Hêtre, Normand Richard and Coral Egan. Since then, she has continued to compose and arrange works for mixed choirs and women's choirs. In 2016, she produced the show “Strange Tales from the Isles” (arrangements of traditional songs from the British Isles) for a group of eight singers, harp and double bass as well as “Lux Hodie” which consists of arrangements of Christmas carols. elders for a choir of six women and the harp. Lux Hodie continues to perform during the holidays.
Karen Young performs regularly with several musical groups, classical, world and jazz...As a result, she sang with SMAM in the '80s, the SMCQ between 1980 and 2012, and solo with the Métropolitain, Québec, Laval and from Drummondville. In 2010, she sang with the Scholastica ensemble, directed by Rebecca Bain. She has performed with several world musicians, such as Éval Manigat from Haiti, Saïd Mensouie from Morocco, Yiddish music with Henri Oppenheim, Stefka Jordanova and the Markov family from Bulgaria, and Takaja with percussionist Francine Martel. She formed the group “Mariage Anglais” with Michel Faubert. She has been singing jazz since the beginning, making several tributes over time including: Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus, Billy Strayhorn and Djavan from Brazil. She participated in the tribute "Dance Lhasa Danse" with 5 singers and and several dancers in 2010 and sang with the National Jazz Orchestra under directed by Christine Jensen. Very recently, she participated in the unique concert “7 voices of women” at the “Festival Jazz en Juin” in Quebec City with Ranee Lee and Sheila Jordan, among others.
Coral Egan
Since the start of her career, Coral Egan's works have been praised by the public and critics, allowing her to build a career in Quebec, Canada and beyond. His first album, The Path of Least Resistance, was nominated for a Félix and a Juno in 2002. His next three albums included almost exclusively original material: My Favorite Distraction (2004) won 2 Félixes; Magnify (2007) which combines soul, folk and bluegrass and The Year He Drove Me Crazy (2012) which was nominated for a Félix and a Juno.
Recently (2015), Coral participated in the Missa Campanula project (2105), Strange Tales (2016), Lux Hodie (2017-2019), Karen Young's choral projects. They released their album Dreamers on March 3, 2017 and toured around Quebec until spring 2018. In 2016-2018 Coral toured as a soloist with Solawa. In 2017, Coral became a chorister in the gospel ensemble illustrated for the television show <Y'a du monde à messe>, and in spring 2018 Coral left with Cirque du Soleil for Andorra as one of the soloists in their DIVA show.
Angela Trudeau
After studying early music at McGill University and the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Angèle worked for several years as a chorister and soloist with the Early Music Studio of Montreal. Appreciated for her soprano voice, she has been a soloist with Les Idées idées (Opus Nomination 2018), Karen Young Choir, Serenata at St-John's, Musica Orbium, Ensemble Bellechose and with Ensemble Scholastica, of which she is a founding member and administrator .
She can be heard in several major professional classical choirs in Montreal, such as the choirs of the Opéra de Montréal, the Orchester Métropolitain, the Orchester Symphonique de Montréal, the Grands Ballets Canadiens, and with smaller ensembles such as Harmony of the Seasons, Meslanges, I Musici and One Equal Musick.
Angèle cultivates a great interest in contemporary and current music and she has worked with Pierre Cartier (Chanson de Douve), Karen Young (Missa Campanula and Lux Hodie), Isaiah Ceccarelli (Terre rouge terre noire) and Voces boreales. She is currently the soprano soloist of the choir of Christ Church Cathedral in Montreal.
Rebecca Bain
Born in Montreal, Rebecca Bain completed a master's degree in medieval music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland. In Europe, she sang with several recognized medieval ensembles and co-founded three other ensembles. She has also participated in numerous disc recordings, and presented numerous medieval music workshops. Since returning to Canada, Rebecca has participated in the projects of several early music ensembles (including The Toronto Consort and Constantinople) and has projects signed by today's composers (Benoît Charest, Patrick Watson and Karen Young). She also taught at CEGEP Marianopolis and continues to regularly present workshops. She is currently Director of the women's voice ensemble Ensemble Scholastica, and she is one of the directors of the Reverdies of Montreal.
Annie Poulain
Annie Poulain, holder of a Master's degree in Jazz Performance (international profile) was nominated for the ADISQ (2010-2013) and the JUNO AWARDS (2014). This singer with an alto voice, singer-songwriter and arranger was part of the tribute to Sylvain Lelièvre, always proud bearer of the torch of jazz in French. With three albums to her credit: Jazzons Québec (2006), Saoulée à l'autre (2009) and Dix pianos une voix (2018) for which she was responsible for the composition, direction and production, Annie Poulain is currently continuing her journey at through the world of college education and that of the stage. For several years, Annie has also been performing with all her art within the musical group KAWANDAK where traditional indigenous music mixed with blues, jazz and rock takes a new path.
Linda Morrison
Recognized as one of the best singer-songwriters in Canada, Linda Morrison arranges for choirs and regularly appears as guest choir conductor. Her passion for world music took her from Georgia to the shores of Cape Breton. Although she sings and arranges music from different corners of the world, she specializes in the Gaelic singing of Scotland and Ireland. She also teaches the Gaelic language and offers workshops in Celtic singing. Currently, she directs her new Celtic choir Musique à bouche.
Her original songs can be heard live, on her celebrated album Line by Line, as well as on recordings by artists such as Quartette, Penny Lang and Karen Young. His children's songs have been performed by Fred Penner and by Sharon, Lois & Bram and are heard regularly on the show Sesame Street.
Éveline Grégoire-Rousseau
Harpist and singer with a thousand projects, Éveline Grégoire-Rousseau has an original career, which comes in several variations, like music. Classically trained, Éveline seeks to demystify the harp by taking it to the less traveled paths of popular music and creation. On stage, we see her with The Barr Brothers, Martin Léon, Ingrid St-Pierre, Karen Young, Coral Egan, Pierre Lapointe, the OSM, Cordâme, Solawa ( WINNER of 4 COUP de COEUR during the showcase of local and mixed music from Vision Diversity in 2015), to name just a few. Also a songwriter, her first long game of the same name is published on March 30, 2018 under the Disques URSH label. She offers us a picture where commonplaces do not exist and reveals herself, personal, in all her passion and uniqueness. Sometimes jazz-pop, sometimes indie-classical, but always touching, Éveline's universe promises happy discoveries that are both sweet and explosive.
NORMAND GUILBEAULT
Double bassist, jazz composer-performer. Normand Guilbeault has been active on the Quebec and Canadian scene since 1979 and is highly respected in his field. Known first of all for his associations with jewels of the Montreal jazz scene; Nelson Symonds, Bernard Primeau, Jean Beaudet, Wray Downes, to name just a few. Normand Guilbeault stood out as a leader at the end of the 80s with his ensemble and won the “Prix de Jazz DuMaurier” at the Montreal International Jazz Festival in 1994. In 1997 the Canadian magazine The Jazz Report awarded him the “Acoustic Jazz Group” prize. of the Year”. Normand Guilbeault is also the instigator and leader of the “Homage to Charles Mingus” project, a group active on the Canadian scene for more than two decades. Guilbeault’s sound, rhythm and style have also led him to accompany international artists including; Paul Bley, Marilyn Crispell, Sheila Jordan, Kurt Rozenwinkel and Christian Escoudé and to regularly collaborate with illustrious local creators from multiple horizons, notably: Richard Desjardins, Karen Young, Jean Derome and René Lussier. Guilbeault has also, over the years, collaborated significantly with the indigenous artistic scene in Quebec, including multiple collaborations with indigenous artists such as Mira Cree (radio host), Josephine Bacon and Natasha Kanapé Fontaine (poets), Robert Seven Crows (songwriter and storyteller), Yves Sioui Durand (Ondinnok theater), Alanis O'bomsawin (filmmaker, documentary maker) and more recently, Kathia Rock, Innu singer-songwriter. From his ambitious projects were born accomplished, very inspired and exciting works: Hommage à/to Mingus, RIEL, Plaidoyer Musical/Musical Plea, Visions de/of Kerouac and Kawandak (contemporary indigenous music ensemble). Normand Guilbeault is also co-founder of the OFF Montreal Jazz Festival, instigator and collaborator of many daring projects, in short, an essential center of the effervescent Montreal and Quebec scene.