We're very excited to announce our first concert of 2018, How sweet the torment: Madrigals of Monteverdi and his contemporaries. We will offer the concert in Cambridge, MA on Friday, January 19 at 7:30 pm at Cambridge Friends Meeting House, and again on Sunday, January 21 at 6:00 pm at the Brattleboro Music Center in Brattleboro, Vermont.

In a program themed around the pains of love (a favorite subject of composers in the early seventeenth century, as now!), duets from Monteverdi's Seventh Book of Madrigals will be paired with pieces by lesser-known composers such as Bellerofonte Castadi and Benedetto Ferrari. We will perform Monteverdi's duets with soprano and cornetto -- instead of the more usual two sopranos -- and the unique sound of the cornetto imitating and blending with the sound of the voice is part of what will make this concert so exciting. The rich texture of theorbo and baroque guitar will also be featured in works by Francesco Corbetta and Bellerofonte Castaldi.

We are very pleased to work for the first time with guitarist and theorbist Simon Martyn-Ellis, who will add nuanced continuo playing as well as fiery guitar rhythms! You can read more about Simon at his website.

We're also looking forward to performing for the first time at the newly-built Brattleboro Music Center. Nathaniel had his first trumpet lessons in the attic of the old BMC, but the new building, with two dedicated performance spaces, is quite another matter! We got a tour while it was still under construction and couldn't wait to plan our own concert there.

You can buy tickets at the door (cash or check), or for a slight discount you can buy in advance online! Online tickets are for general admission only and cost $20 + a small processing fee. Tickets for Cambridge are available here and tickets for Brattleboro here.

Stay tuned on the blog for some previews of the repertoire, and meantime mark your calendars. We look forward to seeing you in January.