Clerestory: The Cathedral and the Lady October 30, 2011

Sunday, October 30, 4pm

The Bay Area's acclaimed 10-man vocal ensemble performs a tribute to Paris' Cathedral of Notre Dame, with ethereal polyphony spanning nearly a thousand years. Harmonies from Perotin and Machaut to Poulenc and Part evoke the splendor of the Gothic age.

Clerestory's singers, from countertenor to bass, are professional veterans of San Francisco's finest vocal groups, including Chanticleer, Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists and others. Since its founding in 2006, Clerestory has performed across the Bay Area, including regular concerts in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Palo Alto, along with appearances in Sonoma, Santa Cruz and Lodi. The ensemble has been featured on National Public Radio and on San Francisco's KDFC. Clerestory's concert recordings are available for free listening or download at http://clerestory.org/music.php. The ensemble's 2010 debut studio-recorded release, Night Draws Near, explores life, death, and mysticism in music inspired by the temporally and thematically close celebrations of Halloween, All Soul's Day, and El Dia de los Muertos. Writing about the CD, critic Jason Serinus noted the "exceptional sincerity and beauty of the singing."

Clerestory is named for cathedral windows that let in daylight; the group tells the "clear story" of music through sophisticated performances grounded in decades of experience singing together. Clerestory is a tax-exempt non-profit organization with a mission of providing high quality performances to local audiences at affordable prices.

Official Website: http://www.clerestory.org