Gay4Nature
JS Bach’s Coffee Cantata, and more!
August 30, 2025

Gay4Nature Collective

Bach's Coffee Cantata, and more!

Saturday, August 30th, 2:00 pm

Arboretum Musicum Stage 108 Merganser Place, Salt Spring Island

Gay4Nature Collective produces interdisciplinary musical arts projects from a queer and ecological lens, that draw from genres such as Western classical music, contemporary dance, film, and theatre to illustrate dynamic themes around queerness, connection, & nature.

🏳️‍🌈Gay4Nature Collective is pleased to present a revised, camp, and whimsical production of Bach's charming 30-minute opera about a daughter and father who cannot agree on coffee, and the lengths Lizzy is willing to go to for her favourite beverage! Costumed by Loretto Espinoza, the production is energizing, delicious, and oh so joyful – like a shot of espresso in auditory form.  We are thrilled to welcome them to Salt Spring Island to perform this fabulous piece for Salt Spring Baroque.

In addition to the Coffee Cantata, Gay4Nature will perform excerpts from the Lully opera Atys, La Musette cantata by Pierre de la Garde, and other works by JS Bach.

Thank you to Interlude Media for the use of their photos on our event page.

If you don't wish to purchase tickets online, send us a note at info@saltspringbaroque.com and we will gladly reserve seats for you and you can pay by cash or card at the door.

PERFORMER BIOS

ALEX CHEN

During the Canadian premiere of Walter Braunfels' opera The Birds, Alex Chen's passions for classical music and zoology came together.

Alex is a collaborative pianist, baritone, and vocal coach. Yet he began his professional life studying zoology and working with birds – entertaining crows, flying kestrels, and trading glances with owls on his gloved hand.

Alex grew up in Cambridge, ON beginning piano lessons at 9 and voice at 12. While studying science at the University of Guelph he pursued a minor in music. Unable to resist the allure of a juicy melody, a rich story, or a misty musical passage, he pursued the Master's in Collaborative Piano program at Western University.  Alex moved West to study with Baroque soprano Nancy Argenta. Now, he is a key member of the Victoria musical community, frequently performing as an art song collaborator, solo singer, and opera chorus member.

His projects with Gay4Nature Collective (co-founder), BC Culture Days, and Ocean Wise provide outlets for Alex to share the crossover between human music and the natural world.

ANNA BIGLAND-PRITCHARD

Anna (she/they) is a multi-genre singer, songwriter, music director, voice teacher, and eco/arts communicator whose creative practice resides at the intersection of creativity, connection, and care for the earth. She has a BMus and a Post-Bacc Diploma in vocal performance, and performs opera, musical theatre,  indie-folk, and ecologically-guided vocal improvisation. Anna is co-creator of Gay4Nature Collective, an eco-indie opera+ collective based in lək̓ʷəŋən territory (Victoria BC).

TIM CARTER

Calgarian-born tenor Tim Carter currently resides in Victoria BC and recently completed his Master of Music at the University of Victoria, studying under Benjamin Butterfield. Taking a round-a-bout path to becoming a singer, Tim studied Psychology at the University of Calgary for years before making the switch, completing his Bachelor of Music at UofC under Dr. Laura Hynes. Having a keen passion for the study of languages, as well as a deep love of performing, opera was a natural fit. Tim is in the early stages of his career and is particularly excited about showcasing queer narratives through this art form. Recently, he premiered a new art song cycle by queer Edmontonian composer Stuart Beatch, Still Running, which describes a modern gay man's experience growing up in the prairies.

PERRI LO

Perri Lo is a Vancouver-based pianist and vocal coach working in opera, chamber music, and dance. She has worked with opera companies across Canada including Montreal's Institut Canadien d'Art Vocal, Toronto's Opera Atelier, and the Banff Arts Centre's Opera in the 21st Century Program. Perri has performed and coached with local companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, City Opera Vancouver, Re:Naissance Opera, Burnaby Lyric Opera, and Sound The Alarm Music Theatre – both in traditional and contemporary repertoire.
As an active performer and recitalist, Perri has collaborated with baritone Luka Kawabata on a staged theatre and art song work, HAFU with City Opera Vancouver. She recently performed with baritone Lucia Lucas in a recital presented by the Trans Awareness Conference in Victoria, BC.
Perri is a company pianist for Ballet BC and Arts Umbrella Dance Company, and enjoys creating new works with dancers and singers. She recently performed works by Georg Gurdjieff with Ballet BC dancers in the world premiere, Obsidian, choreographed by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schreiber.

MARIA WANG

Maria (Yun-Hsuan) Wang, cellist, was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. She began her musical training on the piano before switching to the cello at age 13. In 2008, she received a full tuition scholarship to study cello performance at West Virginia University. She later completed a Master of Music at the University of Victoria under Pamela Highbaugh Aloni of the Lafayette String Quartet.

Now based in Victoria, Maria is an active performer and music teacher. She has taught cello and directed school ensembles at several Vancouver Island institutions, including Brentwood College School, Harmony Project Sooke, and the Victoria Conservatory of Music. In addition to classical and chamber music, Maria enjoys playing baroque cello and is the founding cellist of the Breakwater Quartet, known for its contemporary song arrangements.

MIKYLA JENSEN

Mikyla Jensen is a performer and music educator based in Vancouver BC, specializing in early music. She is currently the assistant director at the Mastery School of Music where she builds music study programs and competitions for all students. Jensen teaches flute, piccolo, Baroque flute, piano, music theory, and music history. She began piano lessons at the age of three and completed her ARCT in piano performance from the Royal Conservatory of Canada at the age of only 17. Jensen fell
in love with the flute, graduating from the University of Regina (Saskatchewan) in June 2015, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree with great distinction in flute performance under the tutelage of Marie-Noelle Berthelet (Regina Symphony Orchestra). She completed her first master's degree in flute performance at the University of Manitoba, under the direction of Laurel Ridd (Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra), studying there under the prestigious University of Manitoba Graduate Scholarship while researching the history of solo-flute music.  Jensen graduated from the University of British Columbia with a MA in music theory (2020), focusing in performance analysis of late Classical and early Romantic music in tempo fluctuations at deceptive and evaded cadential passages, under the tutelage of Dr. Ève Poudrier and Dr. Alan Dodson. She maintains a busy performance career, specializing in early music, having studied with Soile Stratkauskas (Victoria). She has performed across BC with various ensembles including Victoria Baroque, Contrasts Armonico, Early Music Vancouver, the Chillliwack early music ensemble, and the UBC early music program.