La Favoritte early music ensemble (La Fav) recently toured New England during the world-wide celebration of “La Semaine de la Francophonie”. The Canadian Consul-General in Boston, MA invited La Fav to represent Canada at the festivities for American Francophones this spring after the ensemble's well-received June 2003 performance at the Boston Early Music Festival.

One of the highlights of La Fav's busy four-concert, five-workshop tour under the auspices the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs was an extra-special community event at the Franco-American Centre in Manchester, New Hampshire. Madeleine Owen, La Fav's education outreach co-ordinator, led a lively folk-song workshop in “turluting”, (scatting) and spooning for folks of all ages. Workshop participants later danced the afternoon away to music directed by La Fav.

Learning the spoons

It seemed every second person in Manchester had a French-Canadian name: Tremblays, Cyrs, Pilons etc. were everywhere! There is even a neighbourhood in Manchester called “Little Canada.”

“Canada en Concert” was presented in one of Manchester's many French Catholic churches. The opening set included songs the older folks in the audience had not heard since childhood. It was very moving to see so many in tears; one woman said she had not heard these songs since growing up in Drummondville, Quebec over 65 years ago.

The New England States are home to descendants of Quebeckers who left Canada in the early twentieth century to escape deep poverty. Northern U.S. rivers are lined with huge factories and mills, many now deserted, that provided desperately needed jobs. There is still a large, identifiable, Franco-American community throughout New England. The tour began with school workshops at the École Bilingue and at an alternative public school in Cambridge, MA. The kids danced a 17th century jig, turluted and sang the traditional Quebec songs of their ancestors. They added a layer to the dance steps by “buskin’ a few moves” of their own as well as trying out some great twenty-first century rhythms on the spoons.

Barbar Zuchowicz gets some pointers on viol da gamba playing.

Besides salon and church music from Canada’s early days, La Fav's concerts included the 17th and 18th century versions of Quebec folk songs, many of which are still sung today. Inevitably ensemble members got to know each other better on tour. They had a lot of fun on the way home singing folk songs in the car “turluting” to keep their spirits up. The drive home was unspeakably awful - freezing rain and blowing snow. La Fav's second season had begun with a splash: in December 2003 the ensemble was featured in two CBC broadcasts -- on television and Radio Two.

The March 2004 New England States tour was the icing on the cake. In 2004-2005 La Fav looks forward to returning to the U.S., and touring with the Alliance Française to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the French presence in North America.

We are also planning two major Ottawa concerts next season: first “Canada en Concert”, music from the churches and salons of New France, and an Italian programme featuring Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater and works from Monteverdi’s day with the addition to the ensemble’s instrumentation of a lirone, a rare viola da gamba-like instrument with 14 strings (far too many for sensible people!) designed to play multi-note chords with the bow.
For these concerts the ensemble will be supplemented by some of Ottawa’s finest professional early music specialists.

An extended play CD sampler is available by contacting the ensemble at info@lafavoritte.com.

Barbara Zuchowicz is La Favoritte's Managing Director and plays the viol da gamba, baroque cello and Lirone in the ensemble.

Visit the La Favoritte Web site.