ARCHIVE OF PAST SEASONS
BOSTON's PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING MUSIC OF WOMEN COMPOSERS FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
BOSTON's PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING MUSIC OF WOMEN COMPOSERS FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
BOSTON's PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING MUSIC OF WOMEN COMPOSERS FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
BOSTON's PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING MUSIC OF WOMEN COMPOSERS FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
BOSTON's PROFESSIONAL CHORAL ENSEMBLE PERFORMING MUSIC OF WOMEN COMPOSERS FROM THE 9th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT DAY
Photo: Eric Antoniou
ANNOUNCING our 2025-2026 Season!
“‘The Fall of a Sparrow’: Contemporary Classics”
November 15th at 4 PM - Grace Episcopal Church on Newton
November 16th at 4 PM - Emmanuel Church in Boston
“Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.” -Mary Oliver, Wild Geese (excerpt)
What is it about the natural world that makes us reflect on our humanity? This program features music about nature, identity, and grief - and how these three themes seem to go together naturally in music and art.
Featuring music by: Caroline Shaw, Evelin Seppar, Melinda Wagner, Patricia Van Ness, and others
"'in tongues': Ruehr’s “Cassandra”
January 24th at 4 PM - Grace Episcopal Church on Newton
January 25th at 4 PM - Emmanuel Church in Boston
Magic spells, prophecies, secrets, prayers; what happens when words mean more than what they say? Speech has the power to persuade, clarify, distort, and to move. It can even affect the way we remember things, the ways our minds encode memories. This program, centered around Elena Ruehr’s magnificent choral opera “Cassandra”, considers these questions. The figure of Cassandra, from Ancient Greek mythology, provides perspective for understanding these questions. In myth, Cassandra’s blessing is that she can see the future; her curse is that no one believes or understands her prophecies.
Featuring music by: Elena Ruehr, Julia Wolfe, Alissa Voth, and Isaac Roth Blumfield
“Blood and Honey; Modern Visions of Hildegard"
This is a story about a girl named Ursula.
Ursula’s father wanted her to get married, but Ursula had already devoted herself her true love; and, this being the fourth century, her true love was the Christian church. Instead of marrying, she led a movement of thousands of young women to embrace their independence and choose to serve God instead of serving a husband.
Hildegard von Bingen - the “patron saint” of Cappella - wrote an abundance of vivid music and poetry about Saint Ursula. These chants celebrate womanhood and independence: women do not need anyone to “complete” them, and they are “complete-in-themselves”.
In this program, we present Hildegard’s music for Saint Ursula interspersed with micro-commissions from five emerging composers from the Boston area. These commissions will comment on and take their inspiration from the Hildegard chants.
Featuring music by: Hildegard von Bingen and up-and-coming local composers!
March 21st at 4 PM - Grace Episcopal Church on Newton
March 22nd at 4 PM - Emmanuel Church in Boston
“Worthy of the Highest Praise: Bembo and Vivaldi”
Are you familiar with the name “Antonia Bembo”? How about “Antonio Vivaldi”? I’d wager that you’re familiar with the latter but not the former - which is exactly the point.
Antonia Bembo was an Italian composer and singer of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The reason you haven’t heard of her isn’t because her music is underwhelming: Bembo’s talent actually took her from Italy to France, where she was employed by King Louis XIV as a composer and singer. Her music has been unduly neglected because of her gender; she is every bit as good as her male contemporaries, and we’re proving it by putting her music side-by-side with the Vivaldi Gloria - one of the classics of the choral repertoire - and letting you draw your own conclusions.
According to one etymology, the name “Antonia/o means “worthy of praise”. In this little-heard work by Antonia Bembo, you’ll hear that she’s just as praiseworthy as any Antonio.
Featuring music by: Antonia Bembo, Antonio Vivaldi, and others
May 16th at 4 PM - Grace Episcopal Church on Newton
May 17th at 4 PM - Emmanuel Church in Boston
A Note from Holly!
About our 2025-2026 Season
Cappella Clausura’s 2025-2026 season is here!!
We’re so happy to invite you to four programs of incredible music by women, trans, and non-binary composers. We hope you’ll join us - you might just find your new favorite piece.
See you in November!
Warmly,
Holly
