Stile Antico: Heavenly Harmonies October 27, 2009

Stile Antico (pronounced STEE-lay an-TEE-ko) is an ensemble of young British singers who have quickly established themselves as one of the most original and exciting new voices in the field. Working without a conductor, the members perform as chamber musicians with a repertoire ranging from the glorious legacy of the English Tudor composers to the works of the Flemish and Spanish schools and the music of the early Baroque. For this UMS debut performance, they feature the program “Desire of Heavenly Harmonies,” which intersperses Thomas Tallis’s concise Nine Tunes from Archbishop Parker’s Psalter with William Byrd’s most personal and evocative settings of motets that reflected the persecution and desperation Byrd and his fellow Catholics felt during the religious turmoil of 16th-century England. The group’s second CD, Heavenly Harmonies, received astonishing reviews, including a placement of Alex Ross’s “Ten Best Classical Music Recordings of 2008” in the New Yorker.

Presented by the University Musical Society, www.ums.org.

Official Website: http://www.ums.org/s_current_season/artist.asp?pageid=535