2024 Concert Series
Concerts are at 7:30pm Tuesdays in Lincoln / Wednesdays in Andover / Thursdays in Boston
Tickets go on sale May 1.
Photo by Caroline Alden
Nota Bene Viol Consort
Joanna Blendulf, Wendy Gillespie, Sarah Mead, Emily Walhout, viols Anney Barrett, Michael Barrett, voices
June 11-13 Nota Bene viol consort
so far from home
The experience of exile can take many forms–from banishment to estrangement to homesickness. The despair of being unwillingly separated from all that is familiar resonates deeply in the human soul. Voices and viols unite in 16th-century polyphony from Spain, France, Holland, Italy, England, and Germany that depicts both physical and psychological exile. From well-known composers Dowland, Rossi, and Ferrabosco to the less known Ruimonte, Camphuysen, and Cavendish, the ensemble has sought out a variety of perspectives on displacement and isolation. Two New England composers, Will Ayton and Roy Sansom, contribute contemporary perspectives on ancient themes. As our society experiences social fragmentation, massive migration, and wars between neighbors, the themes of exile and separation resonate with many of us. This concert connects us across time with people who experienced similar upheavals and sought hope through music just as we do today. Learn More
June 18-20 miryam
shir levi’im: a song of levites
MIRYAM traces the thread of Jewish resilience and creativity from medieval Iberia to Baroque Amsterdam. Shir Levi’im (the song of the Levites) refers both to the ancient Levites who sang psalms of worship in the Temple, and 11th c. Sephardic poet Yehuda Halevi, whose surname evokes this musical heritage. In 1593, Portuguese Jews began to resettle in Amsterdam, and by 1675 the thriving community had built the Esnoga or synagogue. Its library contains a wealth of historical documents including Hebrew-language musical scores spanning the late Baroque and early Classical eras. This collection allows a glimpse into the rich musical life of the Portuguese Jews of Amsterdam, who commissioned works from both Christian and Jewish composers. The program features music of Caceres and Lidarti, mystical poems by Yehuda Halevi, and a new setting of the Kaddish Shalem, a central prayer of thanksgiving and praise. Learn More
Photo by Alex Koppel
MIRYAM
Alicia DePaolo, soprano
Hilary Anne Walker, mezzo-soprano
Marika Holmqvist, violin
Emily Hale, violin
Sarah Freiberg, cello
Juan Mesa, harpsichord
The Pandora Consort
Kendra Comstock, Angie Tyler,
Shea Brown, voices
June 25-27 the pandora consort
hildegard reanimated: vision in vision
The Pandora Consort explores the mystical visions of Hildegard von Bingen through her illuminations and music. Hildegard is an impressive figure in many regards; she was a theologian, philosopher, botanist, doctor, magistra (mother superior), and one of the first named composers of music. Hildegard experienced visions (“umbra viventis lucis” or “the reflection of the living light”) from the age of three up to her death, and many of her writings and illuminations are a result of these visions. Hildegard’s writings, visions, and music are inextricably linked in her life and philosophy. Taking inspiration from her life, we weave them together in a concert program focused on four of her most famous visions that influenced her spiritual philosophy. Working with visual artist Cate Duckwall to bring these visions to life, this concert features music from Hildegard’s vast oeuvre accompanied by artistic animations of key illuminations, creating a multimedia experience. Learn More
>>> July 2-4 VACATION <<<
No concerts this week!
July 9-11 guts baroque
Fantasticus!
Guts Baroque with featured guest Andrus Madsen will perform whimsical, varied, and fantastical instrumental music from the 17th-century courts of what is now Germany and Austria. Emperor Leopold I, himself a musician and composer, brought several prominent Italian musicians across the Alps to Vienna. These guests, including violin virtuoso Antonio Bertali, received good salaries and plenty of opportunities to perform, to compose, and to teach the new generation of German musicians the Stylus Fantasticus: the Italian style of purely instrumental fantasies made popular by Italian composers such as Girolamo Frescobaldi. Bertali’s student Johann Heinrich Schmelzer further developed the style, and his innovations helped spread it throughout what is now Germany, teaching and inspiring other prominent composers including Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber. Learn More
Photos by Ben Williams and Desiree Walters
Guts Baroque
Sylvia Schwartz, violin
Rebecca Shaw, viola da gamba
Andrus Madsen, harpsichord
The Berlin Trio
Mary Oleskiewicz, flute
Georgina McKay Lodge, viola
David Schulenberg, fortepiano
July 16-18 the berlin trio
The 18th-century Salon: Music by Bach’s Son
The Berlin Trio will present a set of quartets featuring the enchanting and unusual instrumentation of flute, viola, and fortepiano. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach composed these distinctive quartets in 1788, and they embody the expressive and innovative style characteristic of Berlin court composers during this transitional period between the late Baroque and early Classical eras. The writing is equitable for all three instruments, with elegant motives and virtuosic embellishments gracefully exchanged between them. Autographs from arts patron Sara Levy’s personal library suggest that she commissioned these quartets for her salon, which served as a hub for intellectuals, attracting some of the most talented composers associated with King Frederick “the Great’s” court.
july 23-25 sempervirens
Let’s Make arrangements
Sempervirens presents a brand new program spanning the Middle Ages to the present day. Four virtuoso recorder players join forces to perform music originally written for lute, organ, piano, voice, saxophone and even the Romantic Era symphony orchestra, all arranged to highlight the remarkable sound of the recorder consort. This highly varied repertoire includes vocal works by 15th-c. Franco-Flemish masters Busnois and Josquin, keyboard variations of Bach and Sweelinck, selections from Ligeti’s Bagatelles and Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, and dances ranging from the Medieval estampie to the Romantic tango. You’ll discover music that’s so compelling, Sempervirens just had to make arrangements to play it!
Sempervirens
Heloise Degrugillier, Daniel Meyers,
Emily O’Brien, Roy Sansom, recorders
Xacarilla
Camila Parias, soprano
Christa Patton, harp
Jason Priset, guitar
Heloise Degrugillier, recorder
Dan Meyers, percussion
July 30-August 1 xacarilla
cantos y suspiros
Xacarilla explores the sumptuous sound world of 17th-c. Spanish songs and dances. “Cantos y Suspiros” tells of the pleasures and treacheries of love as depicted in nature by the birds, wind, sea, and forest. This rich poetic landscape is illuminated by the music of master composers Juan Hidalgo, Juan de Návas, José Marín, Cristóbal Galán, Santiago de Murcia, Diego Fernández de Huete, and others. Selected songs from a collection held at the Hispanic Society of America in New York City round out the program. Colombian soprano Camila Parias’ crystalline tone joins eloquent plucked strings, plaintive winds, and colorful percussion to bring to life these rarely-heard love songs. Learn More
Kim Leeds, mezzo-soprano
Dani Zanuttini-Frank, lute
August 6-8 Kim Leeds & Dani Zanuttini-Frank
blistering passions
Kim Leeds and Dani Zanuttini-Frank make their SoHIP debut with a compelling program of English and Italian music that explores imagery of burning love and icy rejection. Lute songs of the 17th century prominently feature these amorous themes, often through surprising allegories of pastoral idylls, militaristic conquests, and discordant bodily organs. Across its different allegorical incarnations, love pushes our 17th century poets to the physical breaking point: blazing heat and bitter cold express love's blistering sensation throughout this program. The duo performs works by Girolamo Frescobaldi, Barbara Strozzi, Francesca Caccini, Henry Purcell, William Lawes, and others. Learn More