Gwen Jamieson
A B O U T G W E N
BIOGRAPHY
With a sharp ear for music and languages, singing has come naturally to Gwen. After several years of singing in youth choirs, she was the youngest member, at the age of thirteen, to have been invited to join the adult women's choir, Ensemble Laude. Over the next few years, Gwen was a frequent featured soloist with the choir.
During high school, Gwen began vocal studies at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. While studying there, she won first prize in the intermediate category of the Vocal Art Song Competition. After high school, she enrolled in, and completed the Camosun College/VCM Diploma Program for vocal performance. She is currently working towards an undergraduate degree in vocal performance at the University of Victoria.
In her summers, Gwen has been busy attending workshops in Victoria and abroad. These have included the VCM Advanced Vocal Academy and Oratorio programs, the UBC Summer Vocal Academy, the Lißberger Leiertagen for hurdy gurdy in Germany, and the Historically Informed Summer School in York, England.
Gwen has received private vocal instruction from Elizabeth MacIsaac, Cathy Fern Lewis, Nathan McDonald, Anne Grimm, Susan Young, Nancy Argenta, Ingrid Attrot, Daniel Taylor, and Catherine Webster. She is currently a Choral Scholar with St. Barnabas Anglican Church in Victoria, BC.
CLASSICAL
Gwen's core classical repertoire ranges from arias by Handel and Mozart to German and French art songs by R. Strauss, Fauré, Poulenc and Duparc.
She has sung as a soloist in a concert performance of Handel's Solomon
In November, 2019, Gwen sang the solo soprano role in a performance of Handel's Messiah, by the Bach on the Rock choir and orchestra.
In February, 2021, Gwen was featured in a video-recorded concert, Airs de Cour and Courtly Airs, with the Early Music Society of the Islands.
Soprano solo perforance in
Handel's Messiah, November, 2019
Airs de Cour and Courtly Airs
Early Music Society of the Islands, February, 2021
EARLY MUSIC
Gwen regularly performs Early Music, with a particular interest in medieval and Renaissance repertoire. She has performed multiple times as a soloist with the Ancient Music Society of Victoria, and has been called on to demonstrate various medieval music genres for the University of Victoria's annual Medieval Conference.
FOLK MUSIC
Gwen's interests extend to traditional folk music, particularly early French and Scottish repertoire from the oral and written traditions. She has been a member of Banquo Folk Ensemble since 2016, as a vocalist and instrumentist on harp and hurdy gurdy, and is featured on the CD released by the group in the fall of 2018.
MULTI - INSTRUMENTALIST
Gwen is the foremost hurdy gurdy player in Victoria and is in frequent demand on this rare but time-honored instrument. She plays an 8-string hurdy gurdy built by the German maker, Walter Simons.
Gwen is also an accomplished diatonic harpist, playing on two gothic harps, one a 19-string lap harp and the other a 29-string Renaissance bray-harp.
She uses these instruments, along with guitar, for solo performances on hurdy gurdy, accompanying herself singing, and for ensemble-playing of early and folk music.
Some lively "dog" techinque on hurdy gurdy