Halifax/Kjipuktuk, NS) Leaf Music, and Ménestrel (soprano-violinist Janelle Lucyk and tenor-lutenist Kerry Bursey), announce the upcoming release of their new recording, Ménestrel (LM305), in digital and physical formats. For their debut album, Ménestrel reaches backward, not to escape the modern world, but to examine its roots. They gather songs drawn from several centuries and traditions, from the luminous melancholy of John Dowland to the ardent intimacy of Barbara Strozzi, from the refined contours of French Renaissance chanson to the rugged sincerity of Celtic and English folk ballads.
Ménestrel is a Canadian early music ensemble, mixing ancient repertoire with oral folk traditions. Formed in 2019, the ensemble is committed to bringing the transformative magic of music to unexpected places, collaborating with singers and choirs in all of Canada’s thirteen provinces and territories in 2024. They were also in residence in France and Spain last summer for concerts, workshops and recordings. Their concerts aim to demystify early music, juxtaposing it next to folk songs, which are often considered songs of the people.
Album Trailer
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 Mécénat Musica’s 2025 Vocal Discovery of the Year. Performing well over a hundred concerts last year, Janelle across all of Canada.
Janelle is the artistic director of Ménestrel. She is also director of the new series ArtChoral at La Grande Salle du 9e, the recently reopened, iconic Art Deco concert hall in Montreal. Following mentor and arts champion Barbara Butler, Janelle is Artistic and Administrative Director of Musique Royale (est. 1985), a music presenter based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia which enriches historic spaces through the sharing of world class early music, and much more. Programming includes over seventy concerts throughout the year in venues across the spectacular maritime province.
Janelle was invited by legendary organist Xaver Varnus to perform two sold out performances in Hungary, including at the spectacular Bartók National Concert Hall in Budapest. She has had the good fortune of working as a soloist under five-time Grammy winner Paul Halley on many unforgettable concerts including Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 and Selva Morale e Spirituale and multiple Bach Passions.
Janelle graduated in 2014 with distinction from the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles in Belgium and completed her master’s in management at Durham University in the UK, where she was awarded the Best Soloist by Music Durham, and Best Female Soloist by her peers. While in Europe, she 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.
Kerry Bursey is a Canadian tenor and plucked string instrumentalist from Montréal. An early music specialist and a versatile singer, he is acclaimed for his “clear voice, made of dreamy troubadouresque sweetness” (Ôlyrix) and “beneficent tenderness” (Le Temps). He is a sought-after lutenist and guitarist, notably invested in self-accompaniment, from lute songs to folk music. Recently, he made his European debut run as a soloist at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Ruhrtriennale, Manchester International Festival, Bregenzerfestspieler and the Holland Festival.
He regularly works as a tenor soloist or instrumentalist with Canadian early music ensembles such as l’Harmonie des Saisons, Ensemble Caprice, Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, the Toronto Consort, Theatre of Early Music, Les Barocudas, les Idées Heureuses, la Nef, Pallade Musica, Infusion Baroque and Clavecin en Concert. He tours internationally with his ensemble, Ménestrel, co-founded with soprano Janelle Lucyk.
Kerry is frequently hired as a session musician and creative collaborator because of his broad musical output, from pop to video games. He composed and performed the soundtrack of award-winning thriller, 444, which premiered at Fantasia Festival, and worked on the sci-fi movie Mistral Spatial. He frequently works with Ubisoft and notably sang Gregorian chants as a monk in the game Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla.
Kerry holds a master’s degree in classical guitar from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and has studied voice performance at McGill University. He was a winner at the 2011 Grand Prix de Guitare de Montréal.
The album was recorded in May of 2025 in St. John’s Anglican Church, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, with support from the Canada Council of the Arts. Listen to Ménestrel on your favourite streaming platforms or get your CD copy
Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across North America. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf Music is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in North America.
