Presented entirely online this year, Pilgrimage is a series of concerts during the season of Lent by emerging and established artists in Victoria, raising funds in support of the Victoria Hospice Bereavement Services.
In the third concert of Pilgrimage 2021, the trio of Marnie Setka-Mooney, Kathryn Le Gros, and Diane Berry present a new vocal composition by Diane Berry entitled “The End of Winter” as well as works by Ravel, others.
Marnie Setka-Mooney is active in Victoria as both a performer and teacher. She has her AVCM (voice), and BMus-Vocal Performance from UBC, having studied with Catherine Young in Victoria and French Tickner at UBC. A believer in professional development, Marnie has also sung in Master Classes for Richard Miller, Edith Wiens, and Cornelia Prestl.
Over the years, Marnie has sung professionally as a recitalist in Winnipeg (Women of Note), Europe, the U.S, Vancouver (Cantata Singers), Kelowna (Philharmonic Orchestra), and Victoria (Bel Canto/Viva), while also being a frequent guest soloist at locations all around B.C, as well as in Mexico. As a performer, she enjoys premiering new compositions, especially those of the Victoria Composers Collective.
On Faculty at the VCM since 1998, Marnie has also taught at Pearson College, the Victoria School of Ideal Education and she has been on faculty at the Canadian College of Performing Arts (Musical Theatre). She has adjudicated for the VCM Lieder Competition and has taught Children’s Voice for the VCM Diploma Program
A Choral Conductor for over a decade, Marnie’s current conducting role is with Sing Victoria Children and Teens’ Choir. Past Conducting duties have been with VIVA children’s choir, St. Mary’s Children’s Choir (Oak Bay), Crystal Singers Women’s Choir, Victoria Male Voice Choir, and the Foundation Choir (VCM).
She is an active member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, a BC Registered Music Teacher, she has recently begun serving as the Mid-Island representative for the BC Choral Federation and is the new Director of Music Together Mid Island, a research based early childhood music program for families.
Kathryn Le Gros enjoys playing piano and clarinet in chamber music and other small ensembles. After graduating Wilfrid Laurier’s Bachelor of Music program with a major in two instruments, she co-founded the Kitchener Waterloo Chamber Orchestra (and was also the manager for several years). She was a regular recitalist in southern Ontario before moving to Victoria in the 1990’s. In Victoria, she has played in classical and jazz trios quartets and quintets, as well as performed with singers and other instrumentalists. Recent performances on both clarinet and piano include An Die Musik (an evening of Schubert music) and Amor (an evening of Spanish music) with Resonance, Spring Romantique with cello and singers, classical repertoire with the Aerie Trio, light jazz with Broke and Blue (featuring music of Claude Bolling) and jazz with 5 Shadez of Blue. In addition to her musical pursuits, Kathryn had successful careers in downtown management and postsecondary education before recently retiring.
Diane Berry grew up in Toronto graduating from the music program at York University and since then she has been working as a private teacher and freelance flutist.
She has had works performed by the Erato Ensemble, the Turning Point Ensemble, NuBC, the SOCCO string quartet in Seattle, flutist Mark McGregor, Kamloops Chamber players, and many local Victoria performers. Her work has also been featured in the Sonic Boom New Music Festival and in the Oak Bay Music series. In 2016, her piece for string quartet, "Chasing the Raven" was awarded second prize in the Seattle Composers Alliance competition, was performed by NOCCO and broadcast on Seattle's KING.FM. Earlier that year, her piece "Ephemeral" was performed in the Hugh Davidson Readings by the Victoria Symphony, and in the Jean Coulthard Readings by the Vancouver Symphony.
In 2017 she was commissioned to write a piece for Open Doors Milwaukee, to be performed in the old Gas Light Building. "Gaslight 1904" is for clarinet and cello. In October 2018, she had her European debut with her piece for solo flute and electronics, "Calling" which was part of the International Alliance for Women in Music's annual concert in Dublin, Ireland.
In 2020 she participated in Art Song Lab, where she was teamed up with poet Bill Evans to write “Nature’s Noise”, a poem set in the fall. When planning this concert, Diane contacted Bill to see if he would write a spring themed poem. This will be the premiere of “Winter’s End”.
As a flutist here in Victoria, she performs with the jazz ensemble Broke and Blue, and the classical Aerie Trio, both with Kathryn Le Gros.
She is a registered music teacher, an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, a member of the Association of Canadian Women Composers, the International Alliance for Women in Music, the Victoria Composer's Collective and the Canadian League of Composers
T.W. Evans (poet): Bill lives in the Eastern Townships, Quebec, in an old Stone farm house dating to 1840s. He has 3 children and 7 grandchildren and has been writing since his teenage years and more seriously since the 1990s. “Bill is almost illiterate on paper and yet he apparently remains blissfully unaware of the fact” (Maths Tutor, School report 1963). His Welsh and Irish descent, Canadian and English public schooling battle it out to produce his pithy humorous verse.
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