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"A wonderfully crystalline performance"

- GRAMOPHONE

TALLIS Lamentations 2

"[The Byrd Ensemble] exploit a brighter part of the color palette, enabling perfect intonation and balance."

OREGON ARTS WATCH

NEXT:

MUHLY MEETS BYRD

Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 8:00 PM

St. James Cathedral (Seattle, WA)

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Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 3:00 PM

The Madeline Parish (Portland, OR)

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Opening our 20th Anniversary season and to honor 400 years since the death of our namesake, William Byrd, this program features a world premiere commissioned by the Byrd Ensemble. The new work, Fallings, by American composer Nico Muhly, is based on Byrd's motet, Ne irascaris, Domine and will be conducted by Muhly himself (Seattle premiere only) 

The program also features other favorites by Byrd and his contemporaries and will conclude with a performance of Tallis’s monumental 40-part motet, Spem in alium.  

We are excited to be presented by Portland-based choral ensemble, In Medio, for our program on Sunday, October 22 at 3pm. The program will open with a performance by In Medio and will combine forces for a performance of Tallis's Spem in alium

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20

YEAR ANNIVERSARY SEASON

BIG BYRD

Resonating through time

OCT 21, 2023

OCT 22, 2023

NOV 3, 2023

NOV 4, 2023

NOV 25, 2023

NOV 26, 2023

DEC 2, 2023

FEB 3, 2024

FEB 4, 2024

APR 27, 2024

APR 28, 2024

MAY 4, 2024

MAY 5, 2024

Seattle, WA

Portland, OR

Birmingham, AL

Fairhope, AL

Seattle, WA

Seattle, WA

Seattle, WA

Seattle, WA

San Francisco, CA

Seattle, WA

Seattle, WA

Seattle, WA

Seattle, WA

Resonating through time

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In celebration of our 20th Anniversary Season and in honor of 400 years since the death of our namesake, William Byrd, this season pays tribute to the choral tradition by making contemporary connections with Renaissance masterpieces.

Our season opens featuring a world-premiere commissioned by the Byrd Ensemble. The new work, by American composer Nico Muhly, is based on Byrd's, Ne irascaris, Domine, which will be conducted by Muhly himself. To conclude the occasion will be a performance of Thomas Tallis's monumental 40-part Spem in alium.

Our Christmas program, this year with orchestra, pays homage to the early 20th century English Christmas tradition with Gerald Finzi’s In terra pax and Gustav Holst’s Christmas Day—a time when composers looked to the past for inspiration and brought renewed life into the traditional carol arrangements that live at the heart of the Christmas spirit. 

We juxtapose the old and new in the remaining two programs. Two settings of Salve regina by Renaissance composer William Cornysh and contemporary composer Gabriel Jackson frame the program HAIL, and the season ends most notably with a performance of Allegri's Miserere.

Resonating through time

Markdavin Obenza

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

In addition to our Seattle series we are happy to announce that we will be performing in Portland, San Francisco (debut), and Alabama this season.

 

By pairing old and new pieces together, singing music that transports us to another time, and exploring the themes of love, reverence, and despair that have permeated music since the beginning, we are given a window to the past. A window to look back through, as we honor the present.

We are looking forward to singing for you this season.

NEW CD RECORDING PROJECT 

PENITENCE & LAMENTATION

NOV
3

For our 20th Anniversary season, we are releasing a new recording of Renaissance motets on November 3, 2023. In honor of 400 years since the death of our namesake, William Byrd, the album will also include a world-premiere recording of a work, commissioned by the Byrd Ensemble, by American composer Nico Muhly based on Byrd's motet, Ne irascaris Domine. This musical reflection of grief and loss will be released on the Scribe Records label.

01 Nicolas Gombert - Lugebat David Absalon

02 William Byrd - Domine secundum actum meum

03 Thomas Tallis - In jejunio et fletu

04 Thomas Tallis - Absterge Domine

05 Thomas Crecquillon - Pater peccavi

06 Robert Ramsey - How are the mighty fallen

07 William Byrd - Emendemus in melius

08 William Byrd - Ye sacred muses

09 William Byrd - Ne irascaris Domine

10 Nico Muhly - Fallings 

11 Robert Carver - O bone Jesu

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Broadcasts

Broadcasts

Byrd Ensemble
01:24
BIG BYRD: Music by William Byrd
59:12
Byrd Ensemble

BIG BYRD: Music by William Byrd

This special program features our namesake, English Renaissance composer William Byrd. One of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, Byrd wrote an array of sacred and secular compositions for both public and private consumption. As a devout Catholic, Byrd had the challenge of composing for the Protestant church. Perhaps it was this inner conflict that allowed him to produce some of the most beautiful compositions of Renaissance vocal music ever written. Support us by making a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=SNFN2RJUY8QFL 00:00 Introduction 01:38 BYRD Magnificat 12:15 BYRD Nunc dimittis 17:55 About William Byrd 20:30 BYRD Quomodo cantabimus 29:11 BYRD Ne irascaris, Domine 37:08 A Catholic Byrd 40:55 BYRD Ave verum corpus 44:56 Byrd's later life 47:09 BYRD Ad Dominum cum tribularer 57:51 Thank you and Credits A BIG thank you to those who have supported this program! Your contributions help offset lost ticket revenue and encourage us to produce more musical broadcasts while we cannot perform for you in person. PROGRAM: Music by William Byrd (1540-1623) Magnificat & Nunc dimittis Quomodo cantabimus Ne irascaris, Domine Ave verum corpus Ad Dominum cum tribularer SINGERS Soprano: Ruth Schauble, Margaret Obenza Alto: Danielle Reuter-Harrah, Sarra Sharif Doyle, Joshua Haberman, Willimark Obenza Tenor: Orrin Doyle, Carson Lott Bass: Kevin Wyatt-Stone, Clayton Moser DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY Markdavin Obenza, Scribe Records PROGRAMMING Markdavin Obenza Margaret Obenza VIDEOGRAPHERS Willimark Obenza, Willi Pixel Lauren Kastanas Markdavin Obenza Recorded at St. James Cathedral, Seattle. October 2021 This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission. This project was supported, in part, by 4Culture/King County Lodging Tax.
NEW WORLD POLYPHONY: Treasures from the Cathedral of Mexico City
43:56
Byrd Ensemble

NEW WORLD POLYPHONY: Treasures from the Cathedral of Mexico City

Byrd Ensemble presents a program of sacred music from the Two Mexico City Choirbooks of 1717. We will perform music by composers Antonio Rodríguez Mata, Antonio de Salazar, and Manuel de Sumaya, alongside music by old world icons that had an unmistakable influence on the Mexican polyphonic style—Tomás Luis de Victoria, Alonso Lobo, and G.P. da Palestrina. Program Translations: https://d999fd7f-7e26-4f91-8977-4ceadb42648d.filesusr.com/ugd/7885b1_05b584b8f7834269aa59b76cacd6597a.pdf *Singers in this video recorded their audio and video separately. Their footage and was combined in post production so they appear on the same stage. We hope you can support the broadcast by either purchasing a virtual ticket or making a donation. Thank you for your support. Buy a virtual ticket: https://www.byrdensemble.com/newworldpolyphony Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=SNFN2RJUY8QFL PROGRAM 04:18 PALESTRINA: Sicut lilium inter spinas 11:58 VICTORIA: Ave Regina caelorum 16:56 LOBO: Versa est in luctum 21:47 MATA: Lamentations 30:30 SUMAYA: Adjuva nos Deus 34:19 SALAZAR: O sacrum convivium a8 ENCORE: 37:45 HARRIS: Faire is the heaven *** BYRD ENSEMBLE, directed by Markdavin Obenza SOPRANO Margaret Obenza Danielle Reutter-Harrah Ruth Schauble ALTO Sarra Sharif Joshua Haberman Willimark Obenza TENOR Orrin Doyle Sam Faustine BASS David Hoffman Jared White DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY Markdavin Obenza, Scribe Records PROGRAMMING Margaret Obenza Markdavin Obenza VIDEOGRAPHERS Julia Baker Lauren Kastanas Markdavin Obenza Margaret Obenza Recorded at Trinity Parish Church, Seattle. January 2021 This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission. This project was supported, in part, by 4Culture/King County Lodging Tax.
Portuguese Polyphony: Magalhães, Cardoso, and Duarte Lobo
50:21
Byrd Ensemble

Portuguese Polyphony: Magalhães, Cardoso, and Duarte Lobo

PORTUGUESE POLYPHONY Premieres FRI SEPT 10 at 7:00 p.m. PST By the 17th century, the transition to the Baroque style was well underway. Portuguese Renaissance composers, however, were not quick to change with the times. Rather than adopting Baroque writing techniques, they kept developing the Renaissance style and incorporated new harmonic flavors from the emerging Baroque movement, yielding some of the most exotic sounding Renaissance motets of the era. This program features Duarte Lôbo, Filipe de Magalhães, and Manuel Cardoso. Join us online for this program of music from the golden age of Portuguese polyphony, recorded and filmed at St. James Cathedral. 0:00 Introduction 04:45 MAGALHÃES: O Rex gloriae 07:15 MAGALHÃES: Missa O Soberana luz 26:48 CARDOSO: Sitivit anima mea 30:51 CARDOSO: Lamentatio 38:39 LOBO: Audivi vocem 41:16 LOBO: Magnificat secundi toni A BIG thank you to those who have supported this program! Your contributions help offset lost ticket revenue and encourage us to produce more musical broadcasts while we cannot perform for you in person. You can still support the broadcast by making a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=SNFN2RJUY8QFL Program Notes and Text and Translations https://d999fd7f-7e26-4f91-8977-4ceadb42648d.filesusr.com/ugd/7885b1_55ff011792224024b72b578e1a5d1e80.pdf *** BYRD ENSEMBLE, directed by Markdavin Obenza SOPRANO Ruth Schauble Margaret Obenza Christina Siemens Jane Long ALTO Sarra Sharif-Doyle Joshua Haberman Willimark Obenza Erin Calata TENOR Orrin Doyle Sam Faustine Jacob Buys Tim Blok BASS Kevin Wyatt-Stone Doug Fullington Ben Merrill DIRECTED AND PRODUCED BY Markdavin Obenza, Scribe Records PROGRAMMING Markdavin Obenza Doug Fullington VIDEOGRAPHERS Willimark Obenza, Willi Pixel Lauren Kastanas Markdavin Obenza Recorded at St. James Cathedral, Seattle. August 2021 This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Washington State Arts Commission. This project was supported, in part, by 4Culture/King County Lodging Tax.
ARVO PÄRT: Sunset at Joshua Tree
01:09:46
Byrd Ensemble

ARVO PÄRT: Sunset at Joshua Tree

Listen in place, with the commitment of your attention to music by Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, over a sunset at Joshua Tree National Park. Support us by making a donation. Your contributions help us perform and record Renaissance and vocal chamber music. https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=SNFN2RJUY8QFL "Arvo Pärt" (2013) Available on Scribe Records https://www.scribemusic.com/arvo-prt 1. Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Weisheit 2. Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Adonai 3. Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Sproß aus Isais Wurzel 4. Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Sclüssel Davids 5. Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Morgenstern 6. Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O König aller Völker 7. Seven Magnificat Antiphons: O Immanuel 8. I Am the True Vine 9. The Woman with the Alabaster Box 10. Tribute to Caesar 11. Berlin Mass: Kyrie 12. Berlin Mass: Gloria 13. Berlin Mass: Erster Alleluiavers zum Weihnachtsfest 14. Berlin Mass: Zweiter Alleluiavers zum Weihnachtsfest 15. Berlin Mass: Erster Alleluiavers zum Pfingstfest 16. Berlin Mass: Zweiter Alleluiavers zum Pfingstfest 17. Berlin Mass: Veni Sancte Spiritus 18. Berlin Mass: Credo 19. Berlin Mass: Sanctus 20. Berlin Mass: Agnus Dei 21. Magnificat Listen to the album: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/7vWbENl0aphBlL0ov1soYp?si=U7LRNaJCTmyDzRTxXnPmqA iTunes: https://music.apple.com/us/album/arvo-p%C3%A4rt/735708382 --- The Byrd Ensemble Markdavin Obenza, director Produced by Markdavin Obenza and Joshua Haberman for Scribe Records Soprano: Maria Mannisto, Margaret Obenza, Christina Siemens, Linda Strandberg Alto: Joshua Haberman, Sarra Sharif Doyle Tenor: Orrin Doyle, Markdavin Obenza Bass: Gustave Blazek, Willimark Obenza, Omaldo Perez, Jonathan Silvia, Thomas Segen Organist: Sheila Bristow Recorded in 2013 at Church of the Redeemer, Kenmore, WA Footage from Joshua Tree National Park, November 22, 2020.
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