Media

A beautifully captured video of the live concert Roots of Strings: Music of Syria featuring the greatest oudist of our time from Syria, Nazih Borish, the Canadian bassist Roberto Occhipinti, Paul Halley on organ, and Nick Halley on percussion. The live performance took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia on September 21, 2023, and is now available in video format to viewers around the world. To purchase a ticket ($25) for online viewing, visit capellaregalis.com/events.

To watch the a 40-sec. teaser clip, click here.

NOW LIVE! For All The City 2023 featuring Gabriel Fauré’s iconic Requiem. Streaming free on YouTube through May 31,2024.

With Capella Regalis Choirs – Nick Halley, Director – Ensemble Regale orchestra – Alex Dobson, baritone – Paul Halley, organ.

“Home Is Where The Heart Is” – The Lakeville Journal, published November 21, 2023.

“In each piece, the music flowed into the room like ocean waves, rhythmic and soothing, Wijeratne played piano with crystalline precision and emotion, the bass of Suters poured through the notes like honey. Halley’s wild percussions, played mostly with his fingers on drum kit, frame drums bendhir and riq specifically — “and the odd bells and whistles, doctoring up the kit with old shirts and weird stuff like that,” laughed Halley — provided the structure beneath the music. Playing together, the three musicians created an instinctual harmony in a language unspoken.” – Jennifer Almquist

Help us raise $20,000 through our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign during the month of July 2022 and offer a free music education to girls ages 7-13!

Capella Regalis Men & Boys Choir was founded by director Nick Halley in 2010 as a free, mentor-based music training program for boys. Capella Regalis is now fulfilling a long-time dream of theirs and adding a parallel choir for girls. As with the Men & Boys Choir, the Girls Choir will provide a completely free music education for youth from various backgrounds.

Choristers in the Capella Regalis Girls Choir will receive weekly rehearsals in which they develop the skills of listening, focus, vocal production, and music literacy. They will engage with the finest repertoire of the last 1,000 years from all over the world. They will sing Evensongs and concerts in the gorgeous acoustic of Halifax’s Cathedral Church of All Saints. They will have the opportunity to participate in concert tours, choir camps, and collaborative projects with other musicians. Vanessa Halley, the Executive Director of Capella Regalis, will serve as the inaugural musical director of the Girls Choir.

We need your help. Phase 1 of our Girls Choir Start-Up fundraising campaign requires raising $20,000 in the month of July through our crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. To contribute, please click on THIS LINK between July 1 (Canada Day) – July 31, 2022. Or visit our Contribute page for instructions on how to make a tax-deductible contribution to Capella Regalis at any time.

If you know a girl who likes to sing, please contact Vanessa at vhalley@capellaregalis.com, or visit the Auditions page on the Capella Regalis website. We are currently scheduling auditions for girls ages 7 – 13 to begin in September 2022.

Capella Regalis Men & Boys Choir is pleased to present “Christ lag in Todesbanden” by J.S. Bach in an online video broadcast this Eastertide!

Composed by Bach in 1707 at the age of 22, the cantata is based on the eponymous Lutheran chorale, which is in turn based on the Gregorian chant Victimae Paschali. The tune emerges at every twist and turn throughout the work’s seven movements, creating a poignant piece of music filled to the brim with Bach’s particular contrapuntal brilliance.

Spaced in the architectural and acoustical splendour of Halifax’s Saint Mary’s Basilica, the men and boy choristers of Capella Regalis will be joined by members of Ensemble Regale to perform this magnificent work. The victory of life over death, such as described in the cantata’s German text, is sure to bring hope and joy to the world as it continues valiantly in the struggle against Covid-19 and celebrates the arrival of Spring.

Watch online for free on the choir’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8oeswZxoEo.

As part of the inaugural Creative Campuses Nova Scotia arts festival, the University of King’s College Chapel Choir is joined by a hand-picked chamber orchestra in a video-recorded performance of the Requiem by Maurice Duruflé (1948). A ‘Requiem’ is a Mass for the dead, named for the first words of the ancient funeral liturgy, “Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine” – “Give them eternal rest, O Lord”. This performance of Duruflé’s supremely beautiful setting is dedicated to Nova Scotians and all Canadians who have lost their lives to Covid-19.

Evensong for The Eve of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, sung by the University of King’s College Chapel Choir, directed by Paul Halley. The anthem is “Annunciation”, a newly composed piece by Paul Halley based on the poem by Marie Howe (commissioned in honour of The Reverend Dr Gary Thorne on the 40th anniversary of his ordination to Holy Orders on March 25, 2021).

Introit: Hear My Prayer by H. Purcell
Magnificat & Nunc Dimittis: The Evening Service in Ab by E. Rubbra
Anthem: Salvator Mundi, Salva Nos by J. Blow
Organ Voluntary: Outer Hebrides by P. Halley

Recorded in the Cathedral Church of All Saints, Halifax

The University of King’s College Chapel Choir broadcasts Evensong from the Cathedral Church of All Saints, Halifax. Nick Halley plays the organ voluntary, Psalm Prelude (Set I No. 3) by Herbert Howells,
at the end of the service! Other featured music includes Hide Not Thy Face by R. Farrant, The Collegium Regale Service by H. Howells, and Ne Irascaris, Domine by W. Byrd.

The University of King’s College Chapel Choir (Halifax, NS) continues to broadcast Evensong on Wednesdays during Lent. This week’s broadcast features music by de la Rue, Arvo Pärt and Poulenc.