This Tyrant, Love | Lorelei Ensemble

Please note that while the City of Cambridge will lift its mask mandate on March 13, 2022, we ask that audiences remain masked indoors for this performance.

Traverse through ancient and modern tales of love and longing with the impeccable voices of Lorelei Ensemble. Featuring virtuosic 17th century madrigals alongside striking modern works by Pulitzer-Prize winning composer Caroline Shaw, Icelandic performance-artist Björk, and British songwriter Laura Mvula. Closing the program are selections from David Lang’s love fail, a meditation on the timelessness of love that weaves together details from retellings of the story of Tristan and Isolde.

Heralded for its “warm, lithe, and beautifully blended” sound (The New York Times), “impeccable musicality” (Boston Globe), and unfailing display of the “elegance, power, grace and beauty of the human voice” (Boston Music Intelligencer), Lorelei Ensemble is recognized across the globe for its bold and inventive programs that champion the extraordinary flexibility and virtuosity of the human voice. Led by founder and artistic director Beth Willer, Lorelei has established an inspiring artistic vision, curating culturally-relevant and artistically audacious programs that stretch and challenge the expectations of artists and audiences alike. Recognized for its rich and diverse vocal palette, the ensemble is celebrated for its compelling delivery of Willer’s “exact, smooth, and stylish” programming (The Boston Globe).

Driven by its mission to advance and elevate women’s voices, and to enrich the repertoire through forward-thinking and co-creative collaboration, Lorelei is committed to bringing works to life that point toward a “new normal” for vocal artists, and women in music. The ensemble frequently collaborates with composers from the U.S. and abroad, delivering more than 60 world, U.S. and regional premieres since its founding in 2007. Collaborating composers include David Lang, Julia Wolfe, George Benjamin, Kati Agócs, Lisa Bielawa, Kareem Roustom, Jessica Meyer, Christopher Cerrone, Sungji Hong, Reiko Yamada, Peter Gilbert, Scott Ordway, James Kallembach, and John Supko. Recent recordings include David Lang’s love fail (Cantaloupe, 2020), and Impermanence (Sono Luminus, 2018) featuring the premiere recording of Peter Gilbert’s Tsukimi, motets of Guillaume Du Fay, and selections from the Turin Manuscript and the Codex Calixtinus.

Lorelei Ensemble maintains a robust national touring schedule, including recent collaborations with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra, A Far Cry, and Cantus, and performances at celebrated venues across the country, including Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tanglewood Music Center, Boston’s Symphony Hall, Trinity Wall Street, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Education is an important and integral part of Lorelei’s work, including residencies with young artists at Harvard University, Yale University, Duke University, Bucknell University, University of Iowa, Cornell University, Luther College, Vassar College, Macalester College, Mount Holyoke College, Connecticut College, Hillsdale College, Keene State College, Gordon College, the Pennsylvania Girlchoir, and the Connecticut Children’s Chorus.