by Daniel Hathaway
Quire Cleveland will begin its 2014-2015 season under its founder and artistic director Ross W. Duffin with three performances of “The Flower of Flanders: Masterpieces of Renaissance Polyphony.” The concerts, which will concentrate on Franco-Flemish composers of the fifteenth and sixteenth century including Josquin, DuFay, Lassus and Ockeghem, will take place on Friday, September 26 at 7:30 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, on Saturday, September 27 at 7:30 pm at Mary Queen of Peace Church in Old Brooklyn, and on Sunday, September 28 at 4:00 pm at Historic St. Peter’s Church in downtown Cleveland.
For Quire’s sixth cycle of “Carols for Quire,” the professional vocal ensemble will join an ensemble of baroque instruments in Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Messe de minuit pour noël, a midnight Christmas mass setting based on popular French Noëls, along with Duffin’s own arrangements of the traditional carols. Again, there will be three identical performances, on Friday, December 19 at 7:30 pm at Trinity Cathedral in downtown Cleveland, on Saturday, December 20 at 7:30 pm at Mary Queen of Peace Church, and on Sunday, December 21 at 4:00 pm at Historic St. Peter Church.
Canadian conductor David Fallis, artistic director of the Toronto Consort and Choir 21, will come to Cleveland as guest conductor for Quire’s third program on the Helen D. Schubert Concert Series at St. John’s Cathedral in downtown Cleveland on Friday, February 27. Fallis will be in residence for a week, preparing a program of settings of the Song of Songs or Song of Solomon from the last portion of the Hebrew scriptures ranging from the middle ages to the present.
Fans of Quire Cleveland can revisit performances from last season this fall when the ensemble will release compact discs of “The Land of Harmony: American Choral Gems,” and the 2013 “Carols for Quire” concerts.
For further details and ticket information, visit the Quire Cleveland website.
Published on ClevelandClassical.com August 19, 2014.
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