Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 22, 2011
CONTACT: Kathleen Fay, Executive Director
617-661-1812 | kathy@bemf.org

MEDIA ALERT: Boston Early Music Festival concludes its 2010–2011 Season with the 22nd annual performance of The Tallis Scholars on April 1, 2011.

ARTIST:	The Tallis Scholars (vocal ensemble; United Kingdom) Peter Phillips, director
WHEN:	Friday, April 1, 2011 at 8pm St. Paul Church, Bow & Arrow Streets, Cambridge, MA
PROGRAM:	Celebrating Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611) Francisco Guerrero: Regina Caeli Guerrero: Hei mihi, Domine Juan Gutiérrez de Padilla: Lamentations Francisco de Peñalosa: Sancta Mater Alonso Lobo: Versa est in luctum Sebastián de Vivanco: Magnificat Octavi Toni Tomás Luis de Victoria: Requiem
TICKETS:	Tickets priced at $19, $38, $49, and $66 each can be purchased at WWW.BEMF.ORG and 617-661-1812; a $5 discount for students, seniors, and groups is offered by calling 617-661-1812.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM: The Boston Early Music Festival’s 2010–2011 Boston Concert Series concludes with a return performance by The Tallis Scholars, directed by Peter Phillips. This extraordinary ensemble introduced the world to the glorious vocal music of the Renaissance over 30 years ago, and continues to lead the field today in packed concert halls around the globe. Boston audiences have been especially enthusiastic supporters of The Tallis Scholars, who return for the 22nd annual appearance on the BEMF stage with this concert. The program celebrates Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548–1611), the greatest composer of the Spanish Renaissance, during the 400th anniversary of his death. The selections will place this master in context as The Tallis Scholars explore repertoire by his contemporaries, predecessors, and successors before culminating in his astonishing Requiem of 1605, an undisputed masterpiece of spiritual intensity and awe-inspiring beauty. ABOUT THE ENSEMBLE: The Tallis Scholars were founded in 1973 by their director, Peter Phillips. Through their recordings and concert performances, they have established themselves as the leading exponents of Renaissance sacred music throughout the world. Peter Phillips has worked with the ensemble to create, through excellent tuning and blend, the purity and clarity of sound which he feels best serve the Renaissance repertoire, allowing every detail of the musical lines to be heard. It is the resulting beauty of sound for which The Tallis Scholars have become so widely renowned. The Tallis Scholars perform in both sacred and secular venues, giving around 70 concerts each year across the globe. Recordings by The Tallis Scholars have attracted many awards throughout the world including a Gramophone award, the Diapason d'Or de l'Année, and a Grammy nomination. ABOUT THE DIRECTOR: Peter Phillips has made an impressive if unusual reputation for himself in dedicating his life’s work to the research and performance of Renaissance polyphony. He founded The Tallis Scholars in 1973, with whom he has now appeared in over 1600 concerts and made over 50 discs, encouraging interest in polyphony all over the world. Apart from The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips continues to work with other specialist ensembles including Collegium Vocale of Ghent, the VoxVocal Ensemble of New York, and Musix of Budapest. He has made numerous television and radio appearances, on BBC Radio 4 and the World Service as well as on German, French, Canadian and North American radio. Peter also works extensively with the BBC Singers with whom he gave a Promenade concert, in collaboration with The Tallis Scholars, from the Royal Albert Hall in July 2007, which was broadcast live and attended by over five thousand people. RESOURCES: Download artist photos http://www.bemf.org/pages/press/images.htm ABOUT THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL: Recognized as the preeminent early music presenting organization in North America, the Boston Early Music Festival has been credited with securing Boston’s reputation as “America’s early music capital” (The Boston Globe). Founded in 1981, the Boston Early Music Festival offers diverse programs and activities, including three Grammy-nominated opera recordings, an annual concert series that brings early music’s brightest stars to the Boston and New York concert stages, and a biennial week-long Festival and Exhibition recognized as the “world’s leading festival of early music” (The Times, London). The fully staged operatic centerpiece of the 16th Festival and Exhibition in 2011 will be the North American premiere of Agostino Steffani’s Niobe, Queen of Thebes led by BEMF Artistic Directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, and Stage Director in Residence and Set Designer Gilbert Blin. The international cast will include soprano Amanda Forsythe in the title role and countertenor Philippe Jaroussky as Anfione. The 2010–2011 Boston Early Music Festival concert season is presented with support from the Dante Alighieri Society, Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, ConstellationCenter, WGBH Radio Boston, Harpsichord Clearing House, Zuckermann Harpsichords International, The Gregory E. Bulger Foundation, and U. S. Trust/Bank of America Private Wealth Management. Dates, times, venues, artists, and programs are subject to change. Dates, times, venues, artists, and programs are subject to change. For more information, images, press tickets, or to schedule an interview, please contact Kathleen Fay at 617-661-1812 or email kathy@bemf.org ###