Past Performances

“A ‘Grande’ Finale!” - Carmina and Illuminare celebrated Vera on her retirement by revisiting some of our favorite music from her 25 years of inspired leadership: Monteverdi’s joyous Beatus vir; the cantata Befiehl dem Engel by Buxtehude; Janequin’s avian extravaganza Le chant des oyseaux; the lively, African-inflected Los coflades de la estleya of Araujo; choral Lieder by Brahms, and more. With Risa Browder & Leslie Nero, baroque violin; John Moran, baroque cello; Tom MacCracken, organ; Paty Costas, harpsichord; Hubert Beckwith & Torry Van Slyke, percussion. (May 21, 2023)
“Reflections of Spring” - This fragrant garland of music by Carmina and Illuminare gathered favorite blooms from concerts of recent years: heartwarming springtime pieces, meditations by Byrd and Tallis and Sheppard, music of hope for treble voices, and touching, historically aware choruses by Brahms and Rheinberger. (April 20 & 22, 2023)
“Honoring Women in History” - Illuminare featured music composed for or by women, from mystical chants by Hildegard von Bingen to progressive early-Baroque pieces by the renowned Barbara Strozzi and women’s-music publishing pioneer Caterina Assandra. Pieces for virginal played by Ms. Kochanowsky and Hildegard-related readings complemented the singing. (March 4 & 5, 2023)
“English and German Masters” - Carmina highlighted music by composers from Renaissance England — including Byrd, Tallis, Sheppard, and Tompkins — and the Germanic Baroque — including the Dutchman J. P. Sweelinck and his German musical heirs Johann Kuhnau and J. Michael, J. Christoph, and J. S. Bach. Ms. Kochanowsky played solos on St. Alban’s organ, one of only two created by builder John G. P. Leek. (February 12, 2023)
“Holiday Lobbying at the Willard” - At this historic grand hotel near the White House — in the very space where “lobbying” got its name — Carmina and Illuminare have decked the hall with lustrous seasonal music every year since 2007. The festivities always conclude with a sing-along of composer Franz Gruber's own early version of his beloved Stille Nacht (Silent Night). (2007-2019, 2021; December 12, 2022)
“Autumn at Asbury” - At Asbury Methodist Village, one of Maryland's major retirement communities, Carmina and Illuminare offered a musical mix that recalled the airy light of summer, contemplated the more serious moods of autumn, and looked forward to Christmas joys, featuring music from Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Britain, and the early United States. (November 14, 2022)
Lecture at the Cosmos Club - Assisted by Illuminare, Vera spoke at the historic Washington social club, tracing the life of Hildegard von Bingen and investigating her music, its craft, and its highly original aesthetic. (October 27, 2022)
“Just for the Fun of It!” - Carmina and Illuminare celebrated a return to public music making with a joyous performance in praise of spring, featuring such delights as the bird calls of Janequin’s Le chant des oyseaux and animal noises of Banchieri’s Contraponto bestiale alla mente, Hildegard’s ecstatic chant O viridissima virga, and Josquin’s ravishing Descendi in ortum meum. (May 22, 2022)
“Green Grow’th the Holly” - Illuminare and hammered-dulcimer artist Jody Marshall reflected on this symbol of life’s renewal amid the bleakest of seasons, presenting chants, carols, canons, dazzling polyphony, and other music of the twelfth through nineteenth centuries. (December 5, 2021)
(Sheltering in place - In 2020-2021, the covid-19 pandemic brought to mind the sobering threats faced by our musical forbears and their patrons and listeners.)
“The Orpheus of Amsterdam: J.P. Sweelinck” - with Evanne Browne, soprano; Vera Kochanowsky, virginal; Steven Alan Honley, organ
Carmina and Illuminare celebrated the 400th anniversary of Cantiones sacrae, a masterful collection of Latin motets that exhibit Sweelinck’s command of counterpoint and harmony, his sensitivity to text, and his brilliant use of rhythm and polychoral effects. We also presented choral music by two of Sweelinck’s contemporaries, Peter Philips and William Byrd; works by all three composers on a copy of a 1620 Flemish virginal; and early Baroque monodies by Philips, Giulio Caccini, and Constantijn Huygens. (November 1 & 2, 2019)
“Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Concert” - In our second joint Fringe Concert at this prestigious festival (see June 2017, also June 2015 below), Illuminare and Carmina performed sacred music ranging from the Middle Ages to the High Renaissance, featuring selections from the early Mass of Tournai and compositions by Hildegard von Bingen, Dufay, Brumel, L'Heritier, and others. (June 15, 2019)
“The Soulful Heart of Italy” - Cellist-gambist Doug Poplin and organist-harpsichordist Tom MacCracken joined Carmina and Illuminare to present music in the passionate new Italian style that swept Europe in the seventeenth century. Music by Monteverdi, Mazzocchi, and Alessandro Scarlatti abounded with the vivid touches that inspired vocal works by pioneering German adherents J.H. Schein and Heinrich Schütz and purely instrumental pieces played by Ms Kochanowsky and Messrs. Poplin and MacCracken. (May 11 and 12, 2019)
“Life, Spirit, and Song” - Illuminare wove a broad and magical tapestry of styles, moods, and colors with music of the 12th through 17th centuries. Included were works by Hildegard von Bingen, Dufay, Brumel, Guerrero, Monteverdi, and others. (April 7, 2019)
“Round the Eton Choirbook” - Led by guest conductor Evanne Browne, Carmina and Illuminare sang John Browne’s passionate Stabat Mater and other music from the Eton College collection, one of the few surviving sources of the intricate, expressive Latin church music of pre-Reformation Britain. The program also featured rounds and part-songs by English court composers including King Henry VIII himself. (March 9 and 16, 2019)
“A Remote Beauty” - Illuminare's tenth anniversary season—and the start of Carmina's two-year stint as as a men's ensemble—began with rarely heard early repertoire, including Hildegard von Bingen’s mesmerizing Favus distillans and the dazzling Gloria from the 14th-century Mass of Tournai, as well as Solage’s mysterious Fumeux fume and works of exceptional beauty by Dufay, Spanish masters, and others. (October 21 and 26, 2018)
“Benefit for Hurricane Victims” - Illuminare joined other friends of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Annandale VA in a multifaceted program to raise funds for victims of the horrific hurricanes of 2017. (June 30, 2018)
“Italy at the Crossroads: Gabrieli and Monteverdi” - Carmina, Illuminare, and the Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble reveled in the spectacular sounds of high-Renaissance Venice, presenting Giovanni Gabrieli’s Jubilate Deo and other works, as well as the passionately expressive style of his successor Claudio Monteverdi, masterfully realized in his madrigal cycle Sestina: Lagrime d’amante al sepolcro dell’amata. (April 8, 2018)
“Meditative Magnificence: Music of the English Renaissance” - Illuminare and Carmina joined with Ensemble Gaudior’s consort of viols to present a remarkable Lenten program featuring the stunning Lamentations of Robert White and William Byrd’s lovely verse anthem Christ Rising, along with works by Dowland, Sheppard, Tomkins, and Weelkes. (March 11, 2018)
Both ensembles kicked off this special season with our popular gala, CarminaFest, complete with delicious food and drink, silent auction, and choral gems from our warmly received performance at the Boston Early Music Festival last June—including La Bomba, a wildly entertaining everything-in-one musical “salad” (ensalada) by Mateo Flecha. (November 4, 2017)
Boston Early Music Festival - Carmina and Illuminare presented a mixed concert of music from recent performances and old favorites at a “Fringe Concert” of the Boston Early Music Festival. (June 17, 2017)
“The Play of the Virtues” - Illuminare presented an abridged version of Hildegard von Bingen's morality play, Ordo Virtutum, the composer’s most ambitious musical work and one of the oldest musical plays from western Europe. Tempted by the Devil (actor Wilson Hutton), the Soul (soprano Allison Mondel) strays, but is redeemed with the help of the Virtues. To round out the program, Illuminare sang musical contemplations on the subject of Virtue from the thirteenth-century Carmina Burana manuscript. (May 7, 2017)
“In the Footsteps of Ockeghem” - Carmina presented sacred and secular music by the Franco-Flemish master and some of the many composers taught or influenced by him: Josquin, Busnois, Obrecht, Brumel, and Johannes Prioris, whose Missa de Venerabili Sacramento anchored the program. The second performance marked Carmina’s debut in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in historic St. George’s Episcopal Church. (April 22 & 23, 2017)
“Behind Closed Doors: Music from Italian Convents” - Carmina, Illuminare, cellist Doug Poplin, and organist Thomas MacCracken sampled innovative early Baroque music from Italian convents and other compositions in the modern style. Music by prolific female composers Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana, Isabella Leonarda, and Chiara Margarita Cozzolani shared the bill with works by Francesco Cavalli and Domenico Mazzocchi. (November 5, 2016)
“Treasures of the Italian Baroque” - Illuminare and Japanese harpsichordist Atsuko Watanabe presented passionate and energetic music of the early seventeenth century. Featured were works by Milanese nun Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, as well as music by Monteverdi, Grandi, and Giovanni Gabrieli. (May 22, 2016)
“The Music of William Byrd” - Carmina sampled the master's last great choral collections, which preserve music written for clandestine worship in the household chapels of persecuted English Catholics. The program featured his intimate Mass for Four Voices as well as selections from his motet cycle Gradualia. (April 16 & 17, 2016)
“Praises and Plaints” - Illuminare presented a Lenten program featuring two works by Peter Abelard (1079-1142): his lament on the Biblical tragedy of Jephthe's daughter and his only surviving hymn. The program also included music by Hildegard von Bingen, early Italian devotional songs, and sacred polyphony of the Renaissance. (February 21, 2016)
“A Festival of Carols” - Illuminare joined harpist Beth Mailand to perform Benjamin Britten's beloved A Ceremony of Carols in its original setting for three treble voices and harp. To complement its Middle English text, Illuminare also sang a medley of exquisite English medieval carols. Ms. Mailand performed Handel's Harp Concerto in B Flat Major. (December 4, 2015)
“Voices of the Spanish Golden Age” - Art, music, and literature came to a great flowering in Spain during the sixteenth century. In this program, Carmina explored the musical glories of this "Golden Age," with motets, canciones, and villanescas by Guerrero, Morales, Vivanco, Vasquez, and others. (November 14 & 15, 2015)
Boston Early Music Festival - Illuminare presented highlights from its spring programs at a "Fringe Concert" of the Boston Early Music Festival. (June 13, 2015)
“Rites and Revels of Spring” - Following the success of their 2012 collaboration, Illuminare and the women’s traditional Balkan ensemble Slaveya teamed up to celebrate themes of growth, healing, birth, and the beauties of nature. Folksong arrangements and other selections from eastern Europe complemented medieval and Renaissance music from the West. (May 3, 2015)
“Dancing Through the Labyrinth” - Illuminare traced the shifting and complex dance between poetry and music through the ages. They sang pieces in which music heightens the evocative power of the words, which in turn bring into focus the personal concerns and the fashions of their times. The program included music by Hildegard von Bingen and Francisco Guerrero as well as Italian laude and selections from the 13th-century Carmina Burana manuscript. (March 15, 2015)
Buxtehude, Membra Jesu nostri - This unique and moving work lovingly meditates upon the body of Christ on the cross. The seven cantatas reflect in turn on his feet, knees, hands, side, breast, heart, and face. The period-instrument group Ensemble Gaudior joined Carmina in this work and played chamber music by the composer. (March 7 & 8, 2015)
“From Chapel and Chamber” - Previewed at the 2014 Washington Early Music Festival, this program by Carmina and Illuminare presented sonic gems from the chapels, courts, and great houses of Tudor England. Ethereal motets and dramatic anthems by Taverner, Tallis, Byrd, and Weelkes shared the bill with canzonets and part-songs both genial and melancholy by such eminent names as Cornysh and Morley—whose music was also heard on a virginal modeled on an original from 1620. (preview October 12, 2014; full program November 9, 2014)
“The Cradle of Counterpoint” - For about a hundred years beginning in the mid-15th century, composers from the Low Countries and northern France held a disproportionate share of musical power throughout Europe. Carmina explored sumptuous music by DuFay, Josquin, Clemens, Maillard, and others, performing in Annandale, Virginia and the West Garden Court of the National Gallery of Art. (June 7 & 12, 2014)
“Ah Robyn, Gentil Robyn” - Illuminare celebrated spring with songs of the joys and hardships of love. Included were vocal solos and choral works by DuFay, Cornish, Purcell, Monteverdi, and others, and variations for harpsichord performed by Vera Kochanowsky. The performance helped to support the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. (May 4, 2014)
“Monteverdi, Master of the Passions” - Carmina welcomed guest conductor Joan Catoni Conlon, author of the book Performing Monteverdi: A Conductor’s Guide, for this exciting program. Monteverdi’s compositions reshaped notions of the “beautiful” as he strove to express the full span of human passions. With Lisa Browder and June Huang, violins; Nancy Jo Snider, cello; Vera Kochanowsky, harpsichord. (March 15, 2014)
“Expressions of Praise” - Illuminare joined the District Eight (formerly the Countertop Ensemble) in a program highlighting early musical expressions of praise from throughout Europe: Italian laude, Cantigas de Santa Maria, medieval conductus, Renaissance motets, and much more. (January 12, 2014)
“Holiday at the Mansion” - Carmina returned to Kentlands with a joyous holiday program featuring Spanish villancicos, medieval carols, and traditional favorites including Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria.” Pianist Steven Alan Honley provided musical treats at intermission. (December 15, 2013)
“A Festival of Carols” - For the 100th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Britten, Illuminare and harpist Beth Mailand performed his beloved Ceremony of Carols (1942), along with a medley of English carols conemporaneous with most of the texts Britten used, plus Handel’s Concerto in B Flat arranged for solo harp. (Saturday, December 7, 2013)
“The Genius of Schütz” - Carmina explored a variety of the master’s works, revealing the eloquence and power with which he transformed German sacred music in light of innovations by Gabrieli and Monteverdi. (October 17 and November 2, 2013)
“Venetian Reflections” - Carmina and Illuminare presented music by two musical giants active in Venice around 1600, Monteverdi and Giovanni Gabrieli. Their deep influence was on display in works by contemporaries and disciples such as Grandi, Cavalli, and Schütz. (May 4, 2013)
“Illuminare in Concert” - Illuminare presented a program of diverse works, sacred and secular, featuring the music of Guillaume Dufay, Leonhard Lechner, Heinrich Schütz, Johannes Eccard, and others. (April 7, 2013)
“Something Old, Something New” - Composers have long turned to existing music for inspiration, whether to honor a master, respond to a musical statement, or outshine a competitor. Carmina traced the threads of influence through chant, motet, madrigal, and satirical chanson in music by Josquin, Senfl, Lassus, Morley, Shepherd, and others. (March 9, 2013)
“Lady without Peer” - Illuminare joined Eya, one of Washington's leading women's early music ensembles, in a variety of chants and motets dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Selections from the Finnish Piae cantiones and French courtly love songs rounded out the program. (January 13, 2013)
“Nowell: Arise and Wake!” and “Holiday Lobbying at the Willard” - Carmina and Illuminare returned to the music room of the elegantly decorated Kentlands Mansion with a seasonal sampling of rousing carols, luscious counterpoint, poignant chorales, and modern arrangements of traditional favorites. Encore presentations followed at the historic downtown hotel. (December 14 & 15, 2012)
“Illuminare Sings!” - To celebrate the release of its first CD, Illuminare presented a musical buffet of morsels both sacred and secular at the Church of the Epiphany’s lunchtime concert series. (August 14, 2012)
“Passions and Plaints” - Carmina and Illuminare joined together for the 2011-2012 season finale, presented as part of the Washington Early Music Festival. The theme was Vices & Virtues: Passionate Music of Early Europe. Works by Gesualdo, Victoria, Morley, Sheppard, Guerrero, Hildegard, and others. (June 15, 2012)
“Bouquet of Song” - Whatever its country of origin, or the name it bears—chanson, lied, canción, or ayre—the polyphonic song flourished magnificently in Europe during the Renaissance. Illuminare took listeners on a tour of this genre and beguiled them with works by master composers Morley, Weelkes, DuFay, Guerrero, Gabrieli, and others. (May 6, 2012)
“Fairest Isle” - Always a bit removed from the musical fashions and trends of the continent, England has produced a number of composers of impressive skill and unique influence. In this program Carmina focused on the formidable talents of Henry Purcell, including his moving Funeral Sentences, and the music of Morley, Dowland, Sheppard, and other notable English composers. With Vera Kochanowsky, harpsichord and Howard Bass, lute. (April 22, 2012)
“East Meets West” - This concert showcased two vibrant Washington-area women’s ensembles. Slaveya, which specializes in the traditional vocal music of Eastern Europe and the Black Sea region, joined Illuminare in a program featuring traditional folksongs, contemporary music inspired by folk traditions, and sacred works from Bulgaria and the Republic of Georgia. Selections by Hildegard von Bingen and other early composers of Western Europe were woven into the program and offered a uniquely contrasting listening experience. (March 25, 2012)
“Psallite! Joyous Early Music for the Season” - Carmina and Illuminare offered jubilant holiday fare in the music room of the historic Kentlands mansion, gorgeously decorated for the holiday. This program included enchanting traditional tunes as well as less familiar gems, ranging from intimate carols and Bach chorales to a vigorous American fuging tune, astonishing organum from the Middle Ages, and magnificent choral counterpoint. (December 17, 2011)
“Mediterranean Mosaic” - Listeners shook off the chill of autumn and headed south with Carmina to the warm musical climes of Italy and Spain. This program included splendid Venetian motets by Monteverdi; intimate secular songs of Spanish composers Guerrero, Flecha, and Vasquez; a charming Christmas villancico; and more. (November 13, 2011)
“The Rose of Virtue” - Framed by chants of the medieval visionary Hildegard von Bingen, this concert by Illuminare also featured polyphonic works from Hildegard’s time, such as Perotin’s famous Viderunt omnes and “Ad superni regis” from the 12th-century Codex Calixtinus. English medieval carols and works by Renaissance masters rounded out the program. (November 6, 2011)
“Timor et Tremor” - Carmina explored some most remarkable musical expressions of faith in the unparalleled acoustics of St. Matthew’s Cathedral. Listeners heard the highly florid organum of twelfth-century composer Perotin, who pushed the boundaries of ornamental expansion so far as to make the underlying chant totally unrecognizable. The ear was amazed by the excruciatingly expressive harmonies of Gesualdo’s sacred motets and responsories. Other works included Lassus’s chromatic motet Timor et tremor. (May 20, 2011)
“Illuminare at Strathmore: Art After Hours” - The women of Illuminare displayed their musical versatility, presenting a varied program of sacred and secular masterpieces including works by Guerrero and Victoria. Pianist Steven Silverman joined in for a set of enchanting songs by Brahms. This concert was part of the Art After Hours series at the Strathmore Mansion. (March 30, 2011)
“From Hildegard to Brahms” - While both ensembles focus primarily on music written before 1700, Carmina and Illuminare have recently expanded into some later choral repertories, including those of Johannes Brahms and Samuel Barber. This program showcased an extremely wide range of choral styles, featuring the visionary Medieval monodies of Hildegard von Bingen, contrapuntal works of the high Renaissance, the folksong-like choral creations of Brahms, a lively Spanish villancico, and more. (February 13, 2011)
“Tallis and Byrd” - Listeners savored the rich harmonies and contrapuntal glories of the high English Renaissance. This lunch-hour concert by Carmina featured the expressively intimate Mass for Four Voices by Thomas Tallis. Shorter favorites O Nata Lux and If Ye Love Me, as well as works by Tallis’s younger contemporary William Byrd, rounded out the program. (November 23, 2010)
“Festival of Praise” - The 2010 Washington Early Music Festival focused on the works of early French composers. Carmina and Illuminare presented a diverse program featuring the Mass of Tournai, motets by Franco-Flemish composers, and Abelard’s Planctus virginum Israel, with readings of excerpts from the letters of Abelard and Heloise. (June 11, 2010)
“Old Favorites and New Discoveries” - After twelve years of music making, Carmina looked back and revisited some of its cherished musical memories. At the same time, Carmina performed some relatively unknown gems and works by more “modern” composers. (May 7 & 8, 2010)
“Italian Treasures” - Illuminare joined forces with the Countertop Quartet in a program featuring early music of Italy, including works by Landini, Monteverdi, Ciconia, Palestrina, and the 17th-century Milanese nun Chiara Margarita Cozzolani. (January 24, 2010)
“First Night Alexandria” - Illuminare helped ring in the New Year at the city’s sprawling revel, reviving sounds of days gone by. (December 31, 2009)
“The Musical Milieu of Judith Leyster” - Carmina, with mezzo soprano Anne-Marieke Evers, lutenist William Simms, and virginalist Vera Kochanowsky, presented a concert in honor of an exhibition of paintings by Judith Leyster (1609-1660) and her circle on display at the National Gallery of Art. Music by Sweelinck, Dowland, Clemens non Papa, Padbrue, Philips and others. (October 21, 2009)
Washington Early Music Festival Benefit Concert - Illuminare sang works by Landini, Monteverdi and Ciconia. (July 18, 2009)
“Johannes Brahms and Early Music” - Carmina and Illuminare, with clarinetist Brian David Jones and pianist Diane Winter Pyles, performed early works collected, published, or conducted by the enthusiastic music antiquarian Johannes Brahms, as well compositions in which he himself experimented with techniques of the past. Illuminare also sang music Brahms composed or arranged for women’s choruses he founded and directed, including his Frauenchor of Hamburg—one of the first ensembles of its kind to perform publicly. (May 8 & 10, 2009)
“The Lily and the Lion” - Illuminare explored the remarkably rich repertoire of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance in a program featuring the works of DuFay, Ciconia, Landini and others. The cultural and financial power of Italy drew many composers from the Low Countries and France (the Lily) to seek their livelihoods in its many flourishing principalities, most notably, Florence (the Lion). It was here that national styles met and in some cases blended. (March 27 & 29, 2009)
“Gloria in Excelsis” - Carmina and Illuminare, with Douglas Wolters, viola da gamba and Vera Kochanowsky, harpsichord, performed a cornucopia of musical delights for the season—including Monteverdi’s exuberant Exultent caeli, Gesualdo’s moving and mysterious Ave dulcissima Maria, and the Christmas motet Gloria in altissimis Deo by the renowned Milanese nun Chiara Margarita Cozzolani. These and many other early treasures were sung to a standing-room-only crowd in the lovely music room of Anderson House. (December 13, 2008)
“Ave Maria: Lady without Peer” - Gabriel’s greeting to Mary at the Annunciation, “Ave Maria,” has been set to music innumerable times by countless composers over the centuries. In this program Carmina focused on two giants of the Renaissance, Josquin and Victoria. Their settings of this famous text framed the program, which included both sacred and secular works of the period: poignant Song of Songs settings, delightful Spanish love songs by Vasquez, Flecha, and Guerrero, and Josquin’s playful Italian works, including his famous “El Grillo.” (November 2, 2008)
“The Poetry of Song” - As part of the Washington Early Music Festival, Carmina and Illuminare presented a program focusing on the works of Hildegard von Bingen and other medieval composers who explored the expansive poetic-musical form of the sequence. Originally an extension of the Alleluia within the Roman Mass, the sequence took on an independence which other embellishments to chant did not, becoming a canvas for remarkable literary and musical creativity. Click here to read the review in the Washington Post! (June 28, 2008)
“Love and War” - Showcasing Clement Janequin’s admired chanson “La guerre,” this concert found Carmina exploring composers’ fascination with these two seemingly contradictory concepts. Included were the rambunctious Marche before the battell by Byrd; tender chansons by Sermisy and Janequin; dramatic madrigals by Wert, Monteverdi, and d’India; and lyrical Song of Songs settings by a variety of Renaissance composers. (April 26 & 27, 2008)
“A Star of Light” - Illuminare’s first solo program, in the stunningly beautiful sanctuary of St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral. Surrounded by the painted images of the saints, listeners found themselves transported to an earlier time when music was seen as a vehicle for contemplation and a path toward an elevated state of understanding. Featured was be the Mass of Tournai, the oldest complete polyphonic setting of the Ordinary of the Mass. Also included on the program were medieval carols, conductus, and motets and songs from Piae cantiones, as well as a special work in honor of St. Nicholas. (December 2, 2007)
“Magnificat & Masterworks” - Carmina began our tenth season with an exciting collaboration with two other fine Washington area early music ensembles, the Washington Kantorei chorus and the Bach Sinfonia, a period-instrument orchestra. Five outstanding soloists joined us for our featured major work, Johann Sebastian Bach’s Magnificat. Other works included Monteverdi’s Beatus vir and madrigal cycle Lagrime d’amante, selections from Telemann’s New Year’s cantatas, and works by Pärt, Rautavaara, and Mauersberger. (September 30, 2007)
Washington Early Music Festival Benefit Concert, “Seven & Seven” - Carmina joined with other professional early music ensembles in an evening of favorite music on previous festival themes—England, Spain & the New World, and Italy—to benefit the upcoming June 2008 festival. Other performers included Armonia Nova, Ensemble Gaudior, Hesperus, Modern Musick, organist Keith Reas, and the Suspicious Cheese Lords. (July 7, 2007)
“Cori spezzati: Renaissance Polychoral Music” - For the exciting finale of the 2006-2007 season, Carmina joined forces with the Capitol Hill Chorale and a group of talented period instrumentalists to present works for multiple choirs. Music for cori spezzati (“broken” choirs) emerged as an influential style in sixteenth-century Italy, initially cultivated by composers such as Willaert and Gabrieli. The style’s popularity soon spread outside of Italy. This program featured the Magnificat for three choirs, SWV 468, by Heinrich Schütz, Gabrieli’s most famous pupil. (June 2 & 3, 2007)
“Tears and Lamentations” - In St. Veronica’s spacious and acoustically live sanctuary, Carmina presented a program devoted to Lenten themes. Included in this program were Crecquillon’s masterful Lamentationes Jeremiae for five voices, as well as works by Josquin, Mouton, and others. The Carmina women’s ensemble, Illuminare, performed the dramatic Planctus Virginum by Peter Abelard (1079-1142), which tells the story of Jepthe’s tragic return home from his daughter’s point of view. (March 25, 2007)
“Nowell Sing We” - This holiday program featured some of the most beloved early melodies to grace the season, including works by Praetorius, Schütz, and J.S. Bach; medieval carols; and more. Carmina’s new women’s ensemble, Illuminare, made its first public appearance on this program! (December 13, 2006)
“English Splendour” - The musical glories of England’s “Golden Age.” Two of the monarchs of this period, King Henry VIII and his daughter Queen Elizabeth I, warmly embraced the musical arts and supported the work of many great composers. In this concert, Carmina explored the sacred works of this period, including those of Tallis, Byrd, Sheppard, White, and others. The Mass for Four Voices by Thomas Tallis was featured. (October 14 & 15, 2006)
“Floating Notes: Venetian Choral Music by Caldara and Lotti” - Guest conductor Philip Cave led Carmina’s singers in a program of works by Venetian composers Caldara, Lotti and Monteverdi. Featured were Caldara’s Mass in G and the Miserere mei and Crucifixus a 8 by Lotti. (June 4, 2006)
“Ce Grand Univers: Music of Orlande de Lassus” - Guest conductor Hubert Beckwith led Carmina in sampling the wide universe of the master’s music, including motets (the astonishing Timor et tremor and ravishing Osculetur me for double choir), chansons both light and serious, and the intimate Susanne un jour Mass, based on the music of Lassus’s well-known spiritual chanson. (April 1 & 2, 2006)
“Rimante in Pace” - Under the direction of guest conductor Keith S. Reas, Carmina served up a musical feast from two early seventeenth-century Northern Italian masters, including the eloquent double-choir Requiem Mass of Francesco Cavalli and a sampling of Salamone Rossi’s Jewish liturgical pieces and Italian madrigals. (November 20, 2005)
“Ensalada Español” - Carmina, with organist Keith S. Reas, offered an enticing musical menu for voices and organ, including selections by Vasquez, Ximeno, Flecha, Victoria, Aguilera, and Bruno. This performance was a part of the second annual Washington Early Music Festival. (June 22, 2005)
“The Lighter Side of Beethoven,” presented by Carmina at the German Embassy by invitation of The Beethoven Society of America in honor of Beethoven’s 234th birthday, included chamber music and selected vocal canons and settings of Scottish songs, plus a trio from Joseph Weigl’s Viennese comedy L’Amor marinaro and the master’s boisterous instrumental variations on it. The program ended with a rousing tutti to mark the day by Carmina’s own Hubert Beckwith. (December 16, 2004)
“Italian Innovations,” a program of inventive Italian vocal compositions from the 14th through the 17th centuries, sung by Carmina at the Waterford Concert Series, Waterford, Virginia. (October 26, 2003)
“The Son of Getron,” Carmina’s fully staged and costumed production of the French 12th-century miracle play about St. Nicholas. Washington DC and Alexandria, Virginia. (July 26 & 28 and December 6, 2002) Click here to see pictures.
“The Music of Guillaume DuFay and Josquin Deprez” was the focus of Carmina’s performance at Washington National Cathedral, as part of its annual summer concert series. (July 13, 2001)

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