Of Whales and Willpower: The Jamaican Jonah

West Indian & Jamaican classical music for organ, including parts of Samuel Felsted's Jonah (1775): the first oratorio written in Jamaica.
About this Event

This concert is a journey through works for organ by composers of Jamaican and West Indian heritage; spanning from the Baroque Era to the present day.

A rising star in Toronto's organ scene, emerging Jamaican-Canadian organist Joshua Duncan-Lee will premiere works by Jamaica's first classical composer, Samuel Felsted, including excerpts of his oratorio, Jonah.

Written in 1775, Samuel Felsted's Jonah is the first oratorio written in the Western Hemisphere by Jamaica's first classical composer. Handelian in its nature, it is a true treat for the ears.

This program of organ music places Felsted’s music alongside works by later composers connected to Jamaica and the diaspora, including Noel Da Costa, and Craig Alistair Bloomfield, as well as Torontonians Rashaan Rori Allwood & Ted Runcie.

Guadeloupe-born, Afro-French composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges appears in the program with an excerpt from his opera L’Amant Anonyme, the first surviving opera written by a composer born in the West Indies.

This concert is part of an ongoing project to raise the requisite funds and support to mount the Canadian Premiere of Samuel Felsted's Jonah with full orchestral accompaniment.

Performers include:
Joshua Duncan-Lee, organ
Paul Williamson, tenor
Alexander Cappellazzo, tenor