"An extraordinary acoustic and visual experience" awaits you this weekend! CONCORA sings at Trinity College Chapel Sunday at 4PM

"Breathtakingly beautiful"

"On a par with Pomerium
and the Tallis Scholars"

"An extraordinary acoustic
and visual experience"

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Those were just a few of the reactions from the sold-out audience at CONCORA's early-music concert in Trinity College Chapel in 2016.

This Sunday, March 19, at 4PM, CONCORA returns to Trinity College Chapel for a program of chant, madrigals, and motets, from old Gregorian chant to a brand-new motet recently commissioned by CONCORA.

Not sure you'll like the newer music? Come and listen — each selection in this program, whether ancient or modern, is rich with beautiful melodies, lush harmonies, and gorgeous textures.

The program opens with a joyous Gregorian chant intoned by CONCORA's tenors and basses; what follows is an outpouring of chant-inspired melody, harmony and polyphony, ancient and modern, all inspired — and connected — by the contours of those ancient chants. Eric Whitacre's Sainte-Chappelle takes us to that celebrated Gothic chapel (shown in the photo above) where angels seem to emerge, singing, from the famous stained glass. Thomas Tallis' breathtaking motet Blessed are those that be undefiled soars as you may never have heard Tallis soar before. Eleanor Daley's Requiem captures the ebb and flow of high Renaissance motet style, with beautiful melodies and moments of grandeur and searing passion.

The second half of the program offers up a feast of madrigals old and new, from classic English "fa-la" madrigals to Italian settings infused with longing. A featured work is the ethereal setting by Martin Sedek of William Blake's poem "Ah! Sun-flower" — as this music (literally) blossoms, you'll feel the warmth of the summer sun.

Every moment of this program is lovely — Do join us for what is sure to be a memorable experience.

CONCORA's 2016 concert at Trinity College Chapel was extraordinary not only because of the beautiful music and the quality of the performance, but because of the many, many people like you who gathered to share the experience of hearing beautiful choral music in a space especially suited for its performance. We hope that you will be part of this rare experience on Sunday afternoon at Trinity College Chapel.

Read on for more details and features, including an audio clip from the sold-out 2016 concert and a sneak peak at Chris Shepard's program notes for this weekend's program.

Don't wait to buy tickets at the door; last year's concert sold out!

Yes, reserve my seats for "Making the Old New" Sunday, March 19, 4:00 pm, Trinity College Chapel

CHORAL CONCERT
Making the Old New
Sunday, March 19, 2017 at 4:00 PM
Trinity College Chapel
300 Summit Street, Hartford, CT

CONCORA returns to Trinity College Chapel, where last year a sold-out audience thrilled to the acoustic miracles of Renaissance motets and masses sung by a small choral ensemble beneath the soaring arches of the Chapel’s Gothic cathedral-esque architecture. This year’s program offers more Renaissance motets and madrigals paired with newer music inspired by the originals. The concert will include the second performance of Ellen Gilson Voth's new work Of Distant Skies, recently commissioned by CONCORA and premiered on February 12 at the sold-out Art & Music concert at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art.

The program repertoire is shown below, and you can get a sneak preview of Chris Shepard's program notes here: http://www.concora.org/making-the-old-new.html

Click HERE to enjoy a video from CONCORA's 2016 concert at Trinity College Chapel, with the ensemble singing Palestrina's motet Sicut Cervus.

Yes, reserve my seats for this wonderful concert!

Making the Old New

GREGORIAN CHANT and works inspired and influenced by chant

Sanctus Plainchant – Liber Usualis
Sainte-Chapelle – Eric Whitacre (b. 1970)
Requiem – Eleanor Daley (b. 1955)

MOTETS

Blessed are those that be undefiled – Thomas Tallis (c. 1505-1585)
Of distant skies – Ellen Gilson Voth (b. 1972)

MADRIGALS

Italian Madrigals
O bella fusa– Orlando di Lasso (1532-94)
Dissi a l’amata mia lucida stella – Luca Marenzio (1553-99)
Il bianco e dolce cigno – Orazio Vecchi (1550-1605)

Excerpts from Six Italian Madrigals by William Hawley (b. 1950)
Vita de la mia vita
Siepe, che gli orti vaghi
Io son la primavera

English Madrigals
My bonnie lass she smileth– Thomas Morley (1557/8-1602)
Weep, O mine eyes– John Bennet (c. 1575-after 1614)

Modern English Madrigals
Ah, Sun-flower – Martin Sedek (b. 1985)
My spirit sang all day– Gerald Finzi (1901-56)

I'll be there -- save me a seat!

If you can't attend this concert but would like to support CONCORA's artistic and educational programming, click here to make a contribution at our secure donor site. Thank you!

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