From grass-roots beginnings to international renown, pushing the boundaries of traditional choral performance and new perspectives on ensemble singing has made musica intima one of Canada’s most unique vocal ensembles. A shared leadership model allows the singers to exchange ideas freely while exploring their own musical creativity, and this freedom leads to dynamic performances where the ensemble engages with the audience directly and spontaneously.
Over the past thirty years, musica intima has commissioned twenty new works from Canadian composers and has championed contemporary Canadian vocal repertoire around the country and across the world. musica intima has released ten commercial recordings, received two JUNO nominations, and one Western Canadian Music Award.
Recent and upcoming highlights include collaborations with international superstar vocalist Bobby McFerrin (2019), Kenyan-Canadian spoken-word artist Germaine Konji (2021), Indigenous choreographer Olivia C. Davies (2022), Indigenous painter Sonny Assu (2022), and composer of Cree descent, Andrew Balfour, in the premiere of his project Nagamo (2022).
Nagamo is musical reimagining of first contact between the “Old” and “New” worlds through the translation of Elizabethan motets into Cree and Ojibway, which will be released as a CD, and toured and workshopped with youth choirs across Canada in 2023.
