EarlyMusicNews.Org

“Carmina, directed by Vera Kochanowsky, is an early music vocal ensemble which has been presenting performances regularly in the Washington DC area since 1998. Carmina has been praised by both the Baltimore Sun and the Washington Post and was featured in the Washingtonian magazine articles "Perfect Pitch" and "Good Arts Groups You Might Not Know About." Carmina's sister organization, the women's vocal ensemble Illuminare, formed in 2006, has also established a reputation in the Washington area for tastefully persuasive interpretations of early repetoire.

To learn more about Carmina and Illuminare programs, past and future, please click on History and Upcoming Performances. Many of our programs are free or by donation. We hope to see you at a concert in the near future!”

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Added on: Mar 02, 2012 | Hits: 175

“The Swedish soloist Susanne Rydén is one of Europe's sucessful sopranos specialising in early music. Her love and understanding of the colourful Baroque repertoire regularly has led her to work with internationally acclaimed ensembles and conductors, recent concert seasons having included the part of Dorinda in Handel's opera Orlando at the Handel Festival in Göttingen, at the Drottningholm Court Theatre in Stockholm as well as in San Fransisco under the direction of Nicholas McGegan, the St. Matthew Passion with the Nederlandse Bachvereiniging, a programme of Handel with Harry Bicket and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in Stockholm, Haydn's Creation with the Kölner Akademie, Handel's Messiah with the Bach Collegium Japan under Masaaki Suzuki, concerts with Lars Ulrik Mortensen and Concerto Copenhagen, Mozart Concert Arias with the Australian Brandenburg Baroque Orchestra and Paul Dyer, and European tours with Emma Kirkby as well as Collegium Vocale and Philippe Herreweghe.
In 2009 she could be seen and heard as the soloist at the Nobel Banquet in Stockholm.”

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Added on: Mar 24, 2012 | Hits: 142

“One of the leading vocal consorts in the UK, Alamire has an enviable line-up of some of the finest consort singers under the charismatic directorship of David Skinner. Inspired by the great choral works of the medieval and early modern periods, the ensemble expands or contracts according to its chosen repertoire and often combines with instrumentalists, creating colourful programmes to illustrate musical or historical themes. Recent collaborations with Andrew Lawrence-King (Peñalosa, Siglos De Oro festival, Madrid 2010; Henryʼs Music CD and 500th anniversary celebrations 2009) and QuintEssential Sackbut & Cornett Ensemble (Henryʼs Music) have been extremely well received.

David Skinner and Alamire record exclusively for Obsidian Records, for whom they have won a number of awards. In March 2010 they received critical acclaim (Gramophone Record of the Month) for their ground-breaking CD of the complete motets of the Cantiones Sacrae (1575) of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd. This is the first in the exciting project entitled Library of English Church Music - a series of 30 recordings which will explore the highlights of the repertoire.  …”

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Added on: Mar 28, 2012 | Hits: 197

“The Tallis Scholars were founded in 1973 by their director, Peter Phillips. Through their recordings and concert performances, they have established themselves as the leading exponents of Renaissance sacred music throughout the world. Peter Phillips has worked with the ensemble to create, through good tuning and blend, the purity and clarity of sound which he feels best serve the Renaissance repertoire, allowing every detail of the musical lines to be heard. It is the resulting beauty of sound for which The Tallis Scholars have become so widely renowned. …”

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Added on: Mar 28, 2012 | Hits: 107

“Formed in 2009 by co-artistic directors John Brough and Jolaine Kerley, the Scona Chamber Singers are a professional vocal ensemble, based in Edmonton Alberta, who specialize in the music of the medieval, renaissance and baroque eras.  In their short existence, they have presented programs of rarely performed composers from these eras, including Christopher Tye, William Mundy, Orlando di Lasso, and Heinrich Schütz. 

Added on: Mar 28, 2012 | Hits: 193

“Lionheart is one of America's leading ensembles in vocal chamber music. Acclaimed for its "smoothly blended and impeccably balanced sound" (Allan Kozinn, The New York Times), Lionheart (Jeffrey Johnson, Lawrence Lipnik, John Olund, Richard Porterfield, Kurt-Owen Richards, and Michael Ryan-Wenger) is best known for its interpretation of medieval and Renaissance a cappella music, with Gregorian Chant as the keystone of its repertoire. The ensemble also collaborates with instrumental ensembles, dance companies, and contemporary composers, and was recently selected for inclusion on the Star Spangled Touring Roster, the first year of an initiative by Early Music America.

Lionheart has released two CDs on the Nimbus label: "My Fayre Ladye: Tudor Songs and Chant: (1997), and "Paris 1200: Chant and Polyphony from 12th Century France" (1998). The ensemble is also heard on Sony Music's CD companion to A History of Western Music, and on NPR's "Christmas Around the Country II," a collection of favorites from NPR's Performance Today. The grpup recently recorded a new CD of the music of Palestrina and his contemporaries with Koch International which is due for release in October of 2001.  On radio, Lionheart has been featured on Performance Today, on PRI's Harmonia, on WGBH, and appears regularly on WNYC. Lionheart has also received significant air play on Radio Shanghai, which broadcasts Western music to a wide audience in China.”

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Added on: Mar 28, 2012 | Hits: 136

“The liturgical choir Cantores in Ecclesia, established in 1983, began a long and happy residence at St. Patrick's Church in June, 1985, through an arrangement with its pastor, Fr. Frank Knusel, and Bishop Paul Waldschmidt of the Archdiocese of Portland. The choir's first sung Mass at the historic NW Portland Church was the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, for which it sang William Byrd's Mass for Five...

The principal service of Cantores in Ecclesia has been and will remain the task of combining music and liturgy. At its heart will always be the ancient sung prayer of Gregorian chant, surrounded and supported by the sacred music of great masters such as Palestrina, Victoria, and Byrd. In this respect, Cantores in Ecclesia has changed very little since its inception: a choir fully dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony in liturgical context within the Latin Mass of the Catholic Church.”

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Added on: Mar 28, 2012 | Hits: 109

“Blue Heron is a professional vocal ensemble that combines a commitment to vivid live performance with the study of original source materials and historical performance practice. Blue Heron's principal repertoire interests are fifteenth-century English and Franco-Flemish polyphony, ranging from Dunstable and Du Fay through Ockeghem to Josquin; Spanish music between about 1500 and 1575; and neglected early sixteenth-century English music, especially the rich and unexplored repertory of the Peterhouse partbooks (c. 1540). Founded in 1999, Blue Heron presents its own series of concerts in Cambridge, Massachusetts and New York City; it has appeared as part of the Boston Early Music Festival, travelled all over the Northeast, and sung at the Festival Mozaic in San Luis Obispo, California. In 2009 Blue Heron presented the opening concert of the Boston Early Music Festival Concert Series and ended the season with a performance at the Connecticut Early Music Festival. Last season the ensemble performed with Piffaro in Philadelphia, at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC, and on the Music Before 1800 series in New York City. This season they will appear at the Cloisters in New York City and on the Renaissance and Baroque series in Pittsburgh, PA. …”

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Added on: Mar 28, 2012 | Hits: 101

“Internationally renowned, Acadian soprano Suzie LeBlanc has established an extraordinary career specializing in Baroque and Classical repertoire and exploring and recording a substantial amount of unpublished material while living in Europe. Her thirst and curiosity for new vistas now lead her toward the repertoire of French mélodies, lieder, Acadian folk music, contemporary music as well as exploring the art of improvisation with Helmut Lipsky and « Au parfum de Tango ».

Her contribution to Acadian culture with the CDs La Mer Jolie and Tout passe and with the documentary Suzie LeBlanc : A Musical Quest, directed by Donald Winkler, along with her performances of Early Music have earned her honorary doctorates from King’s College University in Halifax and Mount Allison University in New-Brunswick. …

She has worked with many of the world’s leading early music ensembles in concert and opera performances as well as on film and on disc. Concerts have taken her to Festivals all over the world as well as to the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), the Wigmore Hall and the Konzerthaus in Vienna. On the opera stage, she has performed for De Nederlandse Opera, Festival de Beaune, Opéra de Montréal, the Boston Early Music Festival, Tanglewood, Festival Vancouver and Early Music Vancouver.

In recent seasons, she recorded Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte (Pamina) with La Petite Bande (Bayer Records) and Mozart lieder with Yannick Nézet-Seguin (ATMA) and returned to the Brooklyn Academy of Music for Bach’s St-Matthew Passion as staged by Jonathan Miller. Other recent recordings include Lully’s Thésée (CPO), Gluck’s Orphée (Naxos), Buxtehude motets with Emma Kirkby, Peter Harvey and the Purcell Symphony (Chandos), and a Handel Portrait (ATMA). …

Suzie LeBlanc is artistic director of Le Nouvel Opéra (www.lenouvelopera.com) which is ensemble-in-residence at the Montreal Conservatory and co-artisic director of the Elizabeth Bishop Centenary Festival (2011) in Nova Scotia (www.elizabethbishopcentenary.blogspot.com).”

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Added on: Mar 28, 2012 | Hits: 185

“Now in its 136th season, The Bach Choir has long been established as one of the world's leading choruses. A succession of eminent musical directors, including Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, Dr Ralph Vaughan Williams, Sir David Willcocks and now David Hill, has each ensured that the Choir performs to the highest standards; excellence which has resulted in invitations to sing in prestigious venues, and with the very best professional orchestras and soloists.

The Bach Choir has some 220 active members, talented singers from all walks of life, all of whom are committed to a challenging schedule of up to twenty concerts in a season, as well as recordings, overseas tours and special engagements. In April 2008 the Choir returned from a three-week tour to Sydney and Melbourne, where it gave six concerts with the late Richard Hickox, Oleg Caetani and David Hill. In July 2009 the Choir was invited back for a third visit to Dresden, where it gave a performance of Haydn's The Seasons in the city's beautifully restored Frauenkirche. The Bach Choir regularly undertakes film score work, featuring prominently on the soundtracks of Kingdom of Heaven, Disney's Chronicles of Narnia, Dreamworks' Shrek the Third, Ridley Scott's Robin Hood and, most recently, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.

David Hill has been Musical Director of The Bach Choir since 1998, and has earned enormous respect for his musical acumen and high standards. Under his direction the Choir has extended its repertoire with new and challenging works, including regular new commissions. The performance in March 2011 of Vaughan Williams' A Cambridge Mass at the Fairfield Halls was The Bach Choir's fifth world premiere since 2001, and a further new commission is planned for first performance in 2012. In May 2009 the Choir marked the 100th anniversary of the premiere of Delius's A Mass of Life with a concert in the Royal Festival Hall, and the Choir has recorded this work with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra for release in 2012. …”

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Added on: May 01, 2012 | Hits: 161

“Blackdowns Early Music Projects have been happening every year since 2004.  The Project was principally conceived  to draw together groups of experienced singers to work under the expert guidance of specialist music directors on programmes of infrequently performed early music (mostly pre 1720).   The singers are invited from all over Europe and the UK and spend 3 or 4 days working together on music that is performed in Blackdown Hills area venue.  The resulting choral concerts  have become a mainstream event in the Blackdowns calendar for anyone who loves renaissance or baroque vocal music.”

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Added on: Nov 08, 2012 | Hits: 132

“… A versatile countertenor equally at home on both the opera and concert stage, Iestyn has sung the roles of Ottone (L'incoronazione di Poppea’Monteverdi) for Zürich Opera and Glyndebourne Festival Opera; Arsace (Partenope/Handel) for New York City Opera; Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream/Britten) for Houston Grand Opera; Apollo (Death in Venice/Britten) for English National Opera and Hamor (Jephtha/Handel) for Welsh National Opera and Opera National de Bordeaux.

Performing across the world, Iestyn has made appearances in concert at Teatro alla Scala, Milan with Dudamel, the Concertgebouw and Tonhalle with Koopman, the Barbican, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Lincoln Centre and at the Royal Albert Hall in the BBC Proms. He has worked with many of the leading orchestras including the OAE, AAM, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia, Concerto Köln, Concerto Copenhagen, Ensemble Matheus and Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. …“

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Added on: Nov 08, 2012 | Hits: 136

“Collegium Cantorum is a concert choir, organized in 1986, specializing in "large forms for small choirs" and drawing most of its repertory from the great masterpieces of medieval and Renaissance Europe. The Latin name, loosely translated above, was chosen to suggest a concentration on "early music"; to us, this means music composed before 1600.

Our performances, held in Washington-area churches with acoustics appropriate to medieval and Renaissance "cathedral music", are open to the public without charge, though voluntary, tax-deductible donations are solicited.  …“

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Added on: Nov 12, 2012 | Hits: 97

“Larksong is a troupe of harmonious voices that loves the sound and performance of fine a cappella music.

We are available for hire for social events, festivals, or other get-togethers in the Baltimore/Annapolis (Maryland) area.

We have a wide repertoire of a cappella music from 16th to 20th century, sacred to secular, and love songs to holiday favorites. We will perform in Renaissance style clothing, Victorian era costumes or formal wear for your occasion.”

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Added on: Nov 12, 2012 | Hits: 215

“The Maryland Cantabile is a community chorus dedicated to exploring music from the early to contemporary period.  Our current focus is early music and we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with other music groups.”

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Added on: Nov 12, 2012 | Hits: 205