BIO- GRAPHY Tapestry
Tapestry made its debut in Jordan Hall with a performance of Steve Reich’s Cristi Catt, soprano, has performed with Tehillim, deemed “a knockout” by The Boston Globe. The trademark of the leading early music groups including En- Boston-based vocal ensemble is combining medieval repertory and contem- semble PAN, Revels, Boston Camerata porary compositions in bold, conceptual programming. Critics hail their rich and La Donna Musicale. Her interest in the distinctive voices, their “technically spot-on singing” and their emotionally meeting points between medieval and folk charged performances. The LA Times writes “They sing beautifully separately traditions has led to research grants to Por- and together with a glistening tone and precise intonation” and The Cleve- tugal and France, and performances with land Plain Dealer describes Tapestry as “an ensemble that plants haunting HourGlass, Le Bon Vent, Blue Thread, and vibrations, old and new, in our ears.” Most recently, Tapestry has expanded their repertoire to include works of impression- ists including Debussy, Lili Boulanger and Vaughan Williams for a US tour in celebra- tion of the 100-year anniversary of World War One Armistice, culminating with a per- formance at the National Gallery in Wash- ington DC. Their newest program, Beyond Borders, builds on their impressionistic discoveries and expands to works of Duke Ellington, Samuel Barber, and Leonard Ber- nstein programmed with early music and folk songs. Concert appearances include the Utrecht Early Music and the Maastricht Musica Sacra Festivals, Regensburg’s Tage Alter Musik, the Flanders Festivals of Gent and Brussels, a Banco Republico tour of Co- Wilson Susan by Photo lombia, Le Donne in Musica, Rome; Jordan Hall, Boston; Hildegard von Bingen Sympo- sium at the, University of Oregon, Eugene; Kalamazoo Medieval Conference, MI; Frick Collection and Rockefeller University, NY; Harvard University, Da Camera of Hous- ton; Early Music Concert Series, Boulder; Denver’s Newman Performing Arts Center; Da Camera Society LA; Stanford Telltale Crossings. She teaches at the New University, Museum Concert, Cleveland, festivals in Ottawa and Montreal, and England Conservatory and Berklee College many others. Tapestry also performed under the baton of Marin Alsop with of Music and serves as musical director for the Colorado and Cabrillo Festival Symphonies. The ensemble toured Latvia various productions. and performed at the Moscow Conservatory. Recent performances include American Dreams at the Library of Congress and New York City’s Frick Collec- Daniela Tošić, mezzo-soprano, a native of tion and Between Heaven and Hell at the Bucerius Foundation in Hamburg, former Yugoslavia, met Laurie Monahan which was broadcast by the Norddeutsche Radio. The ensemble was founded and Cristi Catt during her graduate studies at the Longy School of Music and is in residence at First Church Congregational at Longy School of Music of Bard College. in Cambridge MA. Over the years she has worked with Ensem- ble P.A.N., Blue Heron, La Donna Musicale, Tapestry has made 4 recordings with Telarc International: Angeli, Music of An- HourGlass, Balmus, Rumbarroco, and Tell- gels; Hildegard von Bingen: Celestial Light; Song of Songs—Come into my tale Crossings. Her most recent collabora- Garden; and The Fourth River. To date Tapestry has made 2 recordings with tion is with marimbist Sylvie Zakarian creat- German Label, Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm (MDG): Sapphire ing programs about immigrant experience. Night and Faces of a Woman. Sapphire Night won the Echo Prize, Germany’s highest honor for a recording and The Fourth River is a past winner of Chamber Tapestry has performed with orchestras, Music America Recording of the Year. choruses, and chamber ensembles. The core ensemble collaborates with extraordinary Laurie Monahan, mezzo-soprano, co-founded Ensemble Project Ars Nova guest artists including percussionist Takaaki (P.A.N.), and also appeared with Sequentia for many years.Laurie worked with Masuko, vocalists Clare McNamara and the Studio der Frühen Musik at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland. Deborah Rentz-Moore. Currently, Tapestry She was a frequent soloist with Newberry Consort, Boston Camerata, Boston is touring with multi-instrumentalist Shira Cecilia Society, and Cantata Singers among others. Laurie teaches at Berklee Kammen, clarinetist James Falzone, and College of Music. pianist Arsentiy Kharitonov. tapestryboston.com GUEST ARTISTS Tapestry
Clarinetist, composer, and improviser James Falzone is an acclaimed member of the international jazz and creative music scenes, a veteran contemporary music lecturer and clinician, and an award-winning composer who has been commissioned by chamber ensembles, dance companies, choirs, and symphony orchestras around the globe. Educated at Northern Illinois University and New England Conservatory, James is also a respected educator and scholar and has been on the faculty of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Deep Springs College, North Central College, and was a fellow at The Center for Black Music Research. At present James is the Chair of Music at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington.
Multi-instrumentalist and occasional vocalist Shira Kammen has spent well over half her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. A member for many years of the early music Ensembles Alcatraz and Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata, the Balkan group Kitka, the King’s Noyse, the Newberry and Folger Consorts, the Oregon, California and San Fran- cisco Shakespeare Festivals, and is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to providing music on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Morocco, Latvia, Russia and Japan, and on the Colorado, Rogue, Green, Grande Ronde, East Carson and Klamath Rivers.
A prizewinner of national and international competitions, pianist and composer Arsentiy Kharitonov has been heard in solo recitals and with orchestras in Russia, Europe, Asia, and the USA. “His style is unlike any of his contemporaries, and harkens back to earlier times...Trumping some of the more prominent musical gymnasts, there is genuine poetry here and a rare sincerity issuing, it seems, from the deeper reaches of the human heart.”(New York Observer) Arsentiy Kharitonov recorded multi-CD series of piano music by Leo Ornstein, as well as the chamber music by Robert Kahn, all of which have been released internationally by Toccata Classics (London, UK). Mr. Kharitonov recorded masterpieces by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Scriabin on Hartshorn Classical, and works by Bach/Siloti, Schubert, Mussorgsky, and Kharitonov on Sound Atlas.
Praised for her “lushly evocative mezzo” and “attentive and precise” musicianship, Clare McNamara brings her signature vocal quality and sensitive interpretation to a wide variety of repertoire throughout the United States and abroad. The 2018 recipient of the prestigious St. Botolph Emerging Artist Award, Clare has performed at Carnegie Hall, Boston’s Symphony Hall, and Tanglewood’s Seiji Ozawa Hall, among other world- renowned venues.
Hailed for her “deep, honeyed voice” (Graham Watts, Ballet.co Magazine) and “low tones of awesome resonance” (Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe), mezzo-soprano Deborah Rentz-Moore performs with some of the most celebrated ensembles in North America, including the Handel & Haydn Society, Emmanuel Music, The Boston Camerata, The Boston Early Music Festival, Aston Magna, New York Collegium, Magnificat, and the Mark Morris Dance Group.
tapestryboston.com RE- VIEWS Tapestry
Simply Perfect! Deutsches Allgemeines Sonntagsblatt
The singing wants nothing in purity or fervor. Allan Ulrich, San Francisco Examiner
Singing in lovely, impeccably delivered harmony or in effortless, mind-boggling, complex counterpoint, the women of Tapestry delivered the Hebrew psalm texts in stirring fashion. (Marin) Alsop and (the Colorado Symphony) offered an ideal accompaniment. Marc Shulgold, Rocky Mountain News
An ensemble that plants haunting vibrations, old and new, in our ears. Donald Rosenberg, Cleveland Plain Dealer
Tapestry wants to engage listeners, rather than merely soothe them. Ken Keuffel, JR., The Arizona Daily Star
The group is remarkable for beauty of sound, exact tuning and precision…an extraordinary blend, but the sound never dissolves into anonymity. Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe
Tapestry’s CDs have been characterized by a particularly stimulating approach to programming. Barry Witherden, Classic CD
The ensemble’s measured, precise tones weave gorgeous patterns… the ensemble’s sound is strong and certain, even fierce in its conviction. Tapestry is fast carving a formidable reputation as one of Rebecca Lindwall, Cedar Rapids Gazette North America’s most polished ensembles. Jonathan Webster, Classic CD These well-matched but subtly nonidentical voices were like something gemlike seen in a clear but shifting light. Hypnotically beautiful…inexhaustible cornucopia of Richard Buell, The Boston Globe sensual pleasures. Jonathan Saville, San Diego Reader They sing beautifully separately and together with a glistening tone and precise intonation, and they like to This is an outstanding performance, such as I have rarely shift gears. heard. Richard Ginell, LA Times Mary Berry, Gramophone ...these particular voices, brightly colored, well-focused The performance was a knockout. Richard Dyer, The Boston Globe and agile, caressed the vowel sounds and shaped gorgeous textures...(they) forged a splendid sense of ensemble. The Washington Post
tapestryboston.com PRO- GRAMS Tapestry
BEYOND BOUNDARIES: music of hope and reconciliation TAPESTRY: Voices, Viola, Piano, Clarinet
Drawing on their 100th-anniversary Armistice Day concert at the National Gallery in Washington DC, Tapestry shapes a new program inspired by early 20th-century impressionists. After WW1, the influence of the impressionists spread throughout the world. Bartok wrote “Debussy’s great service to music was to reawaken among all musicians an awareness of harmony and its possibilities.” The early 20th century also saw the rise of American Jazz, and this program features composers such as Duke Ellington who explored impressionism in their music. Tapestry’s program travels beyond borders and throughout time to explore themes of love, beauty, and peace, weaving together vocal gems of Debussy, Lili Boulanger, and Poulenc; piano works of Bartok and Rachmaninoff; settings of the medieval Latin peace prayer, Dona Nobis Pacem; and ancient Hebrew allegorical love songs. Dona Nobis Pacem returns with Vaughan Williams Reconciliation and Barber’s Agnus Dei (vocal Adagio for Strings). Songs of hope for a better world including Billie Holiday’s God Bless the Child and Bernstein’s Somewhere round out this musical offering that takes inspiration from the idea of “reawakening an awareness of harmony and its possibilities.”
“...these particular voices, brightly colored, well-focused and agile, caressed the vowel sounds and shaped gorgeous textures...(they) forged a splendid sense of ensemble.” —The Washington Post
Program: Program duration: Vocal works of Debussy, Lili Boulanger and Poulenc Approximately 90’ with intermission. Suitable for Piano works of Bartok and Rachmaninoff a resonant medium size church or concert hall Medieval settings of Agnus Dei Hebrew Cantillations Agnus Dei (vocal version of Adagio for Strings) Samuel Barber Dona Nobis Pacem (excerpt) Ralph Vaughan Williams Somewhere Leonard Bernstein Jazz standards including God Bless the Child Billy Holiday/ Arthur Herzog
tapestryboston.com PRO- GRAMS Tapestry Starry Night “Tapestry was nothing short of BRILLIANT. Their programming and performance was incredible. It’s in my Top 10 Chamber Music in Historic Sites concert experiences pairing ‘site and sound.’” Kelly Garrison, General Director, The Da Camera Society, Los Angeles Tapestry takes their audience beyond the stars in their newest program designed for The Mount Wilson Observatory in Los Angeles. Tapestry has long been “known for their stimulating approach to programming.” CD Classic. The LA Times writes: “(Tapestry) is more than just another gathering of early music specialists. They sing beautifully, separately and together and they like to switch gears....” Over the years, Tapestry has been invited to design programs for specific venues and occasions including the American Song Festival at the Library of Congress and the Between Heaven and Hell exhibit at the Bucerius Kunst Forum in Hamburg, at Argonne Laboratories and other venues in the United States and abroad.
For this exploration of the Night Sky, Tapestry brings together gorgeous music and imagery for a one-of-a-kind experience. The program opens with a solar eclipse as the world teeters on the edge of a black hole in medieval France, and then takes flight weaving together 16th-century Spanish Villancicos with works of David Lang, Hildegard von Bingen, Alan Hovhanness, Claude Debussy, Ivan Moody and Patricia Van Ness. Hovhanness’ beautiful melody, In Early Dawn Song, serves as a common thread through the concert as Tapestry explores the cycles of the moon and stars, as well as human life from childhood to young love, and finally to the wisdom of age. Tapestry breathes life into the beautiful lyrics of this program in which “hearts rejoice,” “souls tremble” and “a thousand stars fall and rise in concert.” Performers: Tapestry’s voices with special guest James Falzone (clarinet, whistles, chimes and shruti box) Program: Notre Dame Chant and Polyphony (12–13th) century Works of: Claude Debussy (1862–1918) Alan Hovhannes (1911–2000) David Lang (b. 1957) Patricia Van Ness (b.1951) Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179) 16th century Villancicos
A holiday version of this program is also available for vocal trio with clarinet, pipes and shruti box. Program duration: approximately 90’ with intermission suitable for a concert hall or a resonant medium-sized church tapestryboston.com PRO- GRAMS Tapestry
Song of Songs: Return to the Garden TAPESTRY: Voices, harp, and vielle
“Tapestry looked like a glamorous girl group…they radiated femininity as they swayed their bodies, threw back their heads and lifted their clear voices in sensuous love songs…singing with passionate expressiveness, Tapestry gave the ancient music modern relevance.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer Tapestry looks back on one of their most popular programs and widens their scope to include music of the Ottoman Empire. This one-of-a-kind concert brings together a multitude of interpretations, both sensual and spiritual, of Song of Songs, a 3,000 year-old text, which has been variously classified as an erotic love song, and as Jewish and Christian allegories. The program weaves an- cient Hebrew, Medieval Latin, Arabic and Spanish songs into a program that the San Diego Reader describes as “an inexhaustible cornucopia of sensual pleasures.” On its face, Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is alternately a richly elaborated compendium of figurative language and an exquisitely sensual portrait of love between a young woman and a young man, set in Jerusalem and its environs in the flush of springtime. Yet the meaning of this text has varied widely in its long, and continuing, history as a vital work of scripture, literature and music. It is one of the shortest books in the Bible, consisting of only 117 verses and its antecedents are far older, including pre-biblical Egyptian and Assyrian lyrics. The Frankfurter Rundschau writes: ”The singers of Tapestry effortlessly carried through the enormous Dominikanerkirche with their full voices in a program of Song of Solomon texts that brought together Jewish and Christian traditions. The dramatic presentation was particularly convincing as they moved throughout the church performing ancient and modern compositions that revealed both erotic and holy interpretations of the texts. A specialty of this ensemble is their creative approach to their material. The relationship with the ancient music was creative fantasy, driven by artistic interpretation rather than a desire to present authentic representation.” This program has been recorded by Telarc International.
Program: Performers: Hebrew Cantillations This program tours with 4 performers Shir Hashirim William Sharlin (1920-2012) Awake North Wind Shira Kammen (b.1961) Program duration: Canticum Canticorum Ivan Moody (b.1964) approximately 90’ with intermission. Suitable for Worcester and St. Martial Repertory (12th c.) a resonant medium size church or concert hall Sephardic, Turkish, Arabic, and Israeli folk songs and instrumentals I Lie David Lang (b. 1957) and more....
tapestryboston.com PRO- GRAMS Tapestry
Faces of a Woman TAPESTRY: Voices, harp, and vielle
This spirited program crisscrosses borders and centuries to tell tales of remarkable women who inspired nations and captured the imaginations of artists, composers, and writers throughout the ages. Here, Tapestry weaves a mix of tales, music, and poetry to reveal the many faces of a woman, ranging from 12th-century abbess and mystic Hildegard von Bingen to 16th-century Irish pirate, Grace O’Malley, to 20th-century Russian poet Anna Akhmatova. Music of female troubadours, traditional songs, and lullabies round out this fascinating portrait of a woman.
“The selections range from Medieval motets to European and American folk song to Romantic choral music to newly composed pieces. Most of the pieces have an early music/folklike simplicity and purity that give them an immediate, direct appeal. The performances are wonderfully appealing as well; the singing is impassioned and unaffected, and the instruments—harp, vielles, and fiddles—provide a colorful, atmospheric accompaniment… They sing with clear, straight tone and flawless intonation, and their voices are colorfully varied. The programming of complementary repertoire is inspired—the contemporary pieces fits seamlessly with the oldest, a ninth-century chant. This lovely collection should be of interest to fans of early music, world folk music, and the sound of the blend of women’s voices.” --All Music Guide This program has been recorded by MDG
Program: Songs of troubadour Comtessa Beatrice de Dia and her contemporaries Joan Szymko’s Nada te turbe, a setting of poetry by Teresa of Avila, paired with medieval chant Margaret McAllister’s Grainne Mhaol (Grace O’Malley) paired with Irish folk songs Music of Hildegard von Bingen paired with medieval polyphony Ivan Moody’s setting of Anna Akhmatova poetry framed with prayer settings by Rachmaninov Medieval songs in praise of the Queen of Sheba paired with Israeli and Sephardic songs Lullabies and instrumental dances Program duration: approximately 90’ with intermission suitable for a resonant medium size church or concert hall
tapestryboston.com PRO- GRAMS Tapestry
Web of Lace—Women Composers from the impressionists to the present day TAPESTRY: Voices, Viola, Piano
Tapestry celebrates exceptional women including:
° French composers Lili Boulanger, the first woman to win the Prix de Rome; Pauline Garcia Viardot, a renowned and influential singer and composer who championed Chopin and made Dickens weep; and Germaine Tailleferre, the only female member of the famed Les Six ° Florence Price, the first African American woman composer to have her work played by a major symphonic orchestra and the arranger of My Soul is Anchored in the Lord performed by Marion Anderson on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial ° Ethyl Smith, an English composer and suffragette who conducted a female choir with a toothbrush out of her prison cell window ° British-American composer Rebecca Clarke, also a renowned violist and the first woman to play in a professional orchestra
The program resounds with choral, chamber and solo works with echoes of impressionism and a touch of jazz. Modern works by Ysaye Barnwel, Sheena Phillips, Emily Lau and Joan Szymko round out this program for voices, piano and viola.
“They sing beautifully separately and together with a glistening tone and precise intonation, and they like to shift gears.” —Richard Ginell, Los Angeles Times
Program Features: Boulanger Les Sirenes Clarke Ave Maria, Short Pieces for Viola and Piano Price The Moon Bridge Tailleferre La Rue Chagrin Ella Jenkins Wake up, Little Sparrow Choral works by Barnwel, Lau, Phillips, and Szymko
Program Duration: approximately 90’ with intermission suitable for a resonant medium size church or concert hall
tapestryboston.com OUT- REACH Tapestry
Tapestry offers educational programs for all ages including a choral residency, workshops, masterclasses and interactive lecture recitals. Tapestry frequently tailors workshops and other activities to suit the needs of a particular venue. Photo by Susan Wilson Susan by Photo
Past residencies include: Tapestry offers a choral residency program for Weeklong residency with the Chamber Music Society of high school, college and community programs St. Cloud featuring lectures and workshops at several area A winner of the Echo Klassik for best Choral recording, colleges, outreach programs in the public schools and at a Tapestry offers a residency program resulting in a concert local senior center in addition to the main concert. of medieval and contemporary vocal music. Tapestry will Weeklong residency with the Kalamazoo Sacred Music introduce choristers to singing medieval music from original Festival and University of Western Michigan, Kalamazo— notation and will share their experiences in working with coached Freshman Women’s choir for performances with leading composers such as Robert Kyr, Patricia Van Ness, Tapestry, master classes for voice majors and local choruses. and Steve Reich. The final concert will feature performances by Tapestry, the choir, and the combined forces of Tapestry Weeklong residency at the University of Oregon in and choir. In addition, a workshop for percussionists is Eugene included a Hildegard von Bingen Symposium and available as part of the residency. Tapestry will work with workshops with student composers who wrote and refined faculty and staff to tailor a residency to best suit the needs pieces for the ensemble. of the students. Weeklong residency in Riga, Latvia in as part of the Hermana Braun Festival that featured numerous workshops, For young audiences: Tapestry’s world tour and performances with the vocal ensemble Putni. In this interactive workshop, Tapestry invites their audience on a world tour. The children learn about melody, harmony, Tapestry has presented mini-residencies and workshops rhythm and musical form through songs from Italy, Greece, at Harvard University, Stonybrook University, Shorter Bulgaria, Spain and Israel. The workshop helps children College, Williams College, Cornell College, and several learn how to listen to music, as well as giving them a taste other venues. of several foreign languages. The children’s participation includes singing two-part organum, drones and a canon, distinguishing between duple and triple meter, and joining the ensemble on the refrains of the grand finale
tapestryboston.com DISC- OGRAPHY Tapestry
Faces of a Woman “The selections range from Medieval motets to European and American folk song to Romantic choral music to newly composed pieces…The performances are wonderfully appealing as well; the singing is impassioned and unaffected, and the instruments -- harp, vielles, and fiddles -- provide a colorful, atmospheric accompaniment…This lovely collection should be of interest to fans of early music, world folk music, and the sound of the blend of women’s voices.” All Music Guide
Sapphire Night Songs of Hildegard von Bingen—The Nine Orders of the Angels by Patricia Van Ness “‘Dominationes’ from the Nine Orders is meditative, ecstatic and ethereal, surprisingly clear and beautiful as offered by Tapestry. The vocal ensemble masters its repertoire so brilliantly that this old and spiritual sound must enchant the listener. In short: a pleasure!” Suedwestfunk (Germany)
Song of Songs: Come into my Garden Ancient Hebrew and Latin chant, Israeli Folk Song, New works written for Tapestry, vielle, harp and percussion. “...an inexhaustible cornucopia of sensual pleasures.” San Diego Reader
Celestial Light Music of Hildegard von Bingen, medieval polyphony and a song cycle by Robert Kyr “This is an outstanding performance such as I have rarely heard, beginning with a smooth legato of utter perfection in a low restricted range, then gradually expanding upwards with ecstasy to reach a top D with amazing control. ” Gramophone Magazine
Fourth River: the Millenium Revealed Hildegard, Hebrew Chant, Bulgarian Folksong, a new setting of an ancient Greek text by Ivan Moody, Medieval chant and polyphony, new vocal works—voices and percussion “I am struck by the beauty and harmony that we as humans can create when voice, heart and mind unite....” Bay Windows (Boston)
Angeli: Music of Angels Tapestry and Ensemble PAN—men and women’s voices with lute, vielle and harp “With soaring dynamics for two sopranos and unusually closely wrought harmonies for male singers, the music was immediately beguiling.” The Louisville Courier Journal
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