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The Belgian-born Canadian soprano, Janelle Marina Lucyk, graduated in 2014 with distinction from the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles in Belgium, where she debuted Lux Aeterna, written for her and the Brussels Chamber Choir by Jan Moeyaert, performed as a soloist and recorded with Musica Fura (Michael Praetorius' Christmas Mass) and Laudantes Consort (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina), and formed Voces Desuper, an ensemble performing regularly in the magnificent Cathédrale de Saints-Michel-et-Gudule, and especially at the Te Deum ceremony for the King and Queen of Belgium. Following, she completed her Masters in Management at the Hartfield College, The University of Durham in the UK and won the role of Susanna in Durham Opera Ensemble's W.A. Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro for which she was awarded the Best Soloist by Music Durham, and Best Female Soloist by her peers at the DOE.
Growing up as a violinist, Janelle Lucyk was the youngest member of Regina Symphony Orchestra and with them performed Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as soloist in 2009. She has been captivated by Nova Scotia’s flourishing music scene since arriving in the stunning maritime province. She has had the good fortune of working as a soloist with the King’s College Chapel Choir under five-time Grammy winner Paul Halley on many unforgettable concerts including Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 and Selva Morale e Spirituale and multiple J.S. Bach's Passions. In November 2016, she with King’s Chorus & Ensemble Regale, were featured in W.A. Mozart Vesperae Solennes de Confessore, George Frideric Handel's Laudate Pueri & Zadok the Priest at the Cathedral Church of All Saints. She performed as a soloist across Canada with Per Sonatori, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Scott MacMillan’s Celtic Mass for the Sea (Canada 150), Aureas Voces, Theatre of Early Music (Director: Daniel Taylor), Ensemble Caprice (Director: Matthias Maute) and has organized concerts involving improvisation, early music, and jazz with Blackwood Duo.
Janelle Lucyk is a leader among an emerging generation of Canadian artists specializing in old music and historically informed performance, taking ideas from conception to the stage. She is the artistic director of Ménestrel, her ensemble with Kerry Bursey which produces alternative early music mixing ancient repertoire with oral folk traditons. In 2022 and 2023, Ménestrel produced their "Messiah-on-the-go!" congregating twenty emerging performers from across Canada to perform George Frideric Handel's masterpiece in historic Nova Scotian venues (December 2023). Janelle is director of the new series ArtChoral at La Grande Salle du 9e, the recently reopened historic Art Deco venue in Montreal. Following mentor and arts champion Barbara Butler, Janelle is Artistic and Administrative Director of Musique Royale (est. 1985), which presents concerts yearlong featuring early music and much more in beautiful, historic venues across the province, and is based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Last year included concerts in forty different historic venues across the spectacular maritime province.
In fall 2022, Janelle Lucyk was invited by legendary organist Xaver Varnus to perform at his two sold out performances in Hungary, including at the spectacular Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest. 2024 includes touring in most of the provinces and territories of Canada as a soloist representing ArtChoral's multiyear project Coast-to-Coast-Coast. Through the summer Ménestrel was in residency in Europe for concerts, recording and outreach.
Janelle Lucyk is ever grateful to the Canada Council of the Arts, the Federal Department of Canadian Heritage, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Arts Nova Scotia and Brent Rinaldi for their support. |
