Quinta Vox will perform at St. Simon and St. Jude Church in Tignish Monday. From left are Danalee Lynch, Shannon Lawson, Michael van der Gaag, Andrea Ellis and Jacques Arsenault. Submitted photo

TIGNISH — They call themselves Quinta Vox, which, in Latin, means fifth voice. Formed in February and comprised of past and present students of the UPEI music program, they are one of P.E.I.’s newest choral ensembles.
The group performs sacred and secular works from the Baroque and Renaissance periods. And their name comes from the fact they’ve adapted the music to suit their ensemble.
“Music written in the renaissance period was originally written for four parts,” explained pianist and mezzo soprano Andrea Ellis from Summerside, They’ve arranged it for a fifth part.
The ensemble launches a four-day, four-stop tour on Monday with a performance in Tignish as part of the St. Simon and St. Jude church’s organ recital series. They finish off with a recital series performance at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Charlottetown on Aug. 6.
Included are works by Gesualdo, Clemens non Papa and Tomkins. Their accompanist is Frances McBurnie, organizer of the St. Peter’s Cathedral recital series.                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
Second soprano Danalee Lynch from Fortune Cove takes on the ensemble’s role of fifth voice. During her studies at UPEI, Lynch won several awards and was a featured soloist in the auditioned National Youth Choir of Canada.
“A lot of us had sung together in the past,” said Ellis, explaining their general interest in forming a quintet.
“As far as leading the group, we look to Jacques for that,” added Ellis.
That’s baritone Jacques Arsenault, a native of Wellington and a recent graduate of the UPEI music program. He is currently pursuing his masters of music degree at the University of Alberta. He sings with Pro Coro Canada, Alberta’s only professional choir, and has been
featured as a soloist with many ensembles, including
the Confederation Singers and the Edmonton
Symphony Orchestra.
Soprano Shannon Lawson is going into her fourth year in the bachelor of music program at UPEI. She recently performed as the soprano soloist in the Confederation Centre performance of Dvorak’s
“Stabat Mater”.
Tenor Mike van der Gaag is starting his fourth year at UPEI, studying voice under the tutelage of Stephen and Sung-Ha Shin-Bouey. He performed during the podium event of the 2008 National Youth Choir in Sackville N.B.

Take Note

Aug. 3 St. Simon and St. Jude Church, Tignish

Aug. 4 St. Andrew's Church in Pictou, N.S.

Aug. 5 St. John the Baptist Church, Miscouche

All performances are at 7:30 with the exception of the Pictou one which is scheduled for 7 p.m. Music is from the Baroque and Renaissance periods and includes works by Gesualdo, Clemens non Papa and Tomkins.