A Toast to French Culture
Salisbury Singers celebrated the
music of French composers with Fauré
& Friends, a sell-out concert at
Assumption College in Worcester on March 25. Accompanied
by orchestra, the chorus sang the rich melodies
of Gabriel Fauré, featuring his well-loved
Requiem, Camille Saint-Saëns, Maurice Duruflé
and Canadian composer Calixa Lavalleé.
Following the performance, a tour
of the College’s French Institute was offered,
and a champagne reception continued the celebration
in the Salon at La Maison Francaise. In honor
of the concert and the coinciding Semaine de la
Francophonie, Canadian consulate Neil J. Le Blanc
offered these special greetings:It is with pleasure
that I greet everyone present at today’s
performance by the Salisbury Singers. This concert
at Assumption College with Fauré’s
famous Requiem and a motet by Calixa Lavallée,
the composer of Oh Canada, is an extraordinary
way to close these celebrations of the Semaine
de la francophonie 2007.
The history of Assumption College
and the French Institute is as long as the history
of Franco-Americans in New England. Franco-Americans
founded towns, worked in factories and maintained
their language and culture in the towns of Central
Massachusetts. These communities had good relations
with Canada and with their relatives in Quebec
and Acadia.
The International Semaine de la
francophonie gives us an opportunity to celebrate
not only the French language and its worldwide
culture, but it gives us here in New England the
opportunity to reflect on the past and to celebrate
our Francophone heritage. Large populations of
Québécois and Acadian people emigrated
to Central Massachusetts, and their presence is
still felt in the 21st century. All one needs
to do to be reminded of this fact is to look at
a local phone book or to go purchase a hammer
at Aubuchon Hardware.
It is thanks to Dr. Claire Quintal
and to you that we have such a rich and complete
archive of the history of our people. The archives
of the Institute demonstrate the social, political,
cultural, religious and literary importance of
Franco-Americans in New England. I congratulate
you and thank you for your work and your devotion
to Franco-Americans.
I wish everyone in attendance today
a good concert and a happy Semaine de la francophonie!
Sincerely yours,
Neil J. Le Blanc
General Consul of Canada
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