Lionheart

Immanuel Presbyterian Church
Albuquerque, NM
Friday 4/16/2010  7:30pm

Lionheart is one of America's leading ensembles in vocal chamber music.Acclaimed for its "smoothly blended and impeccably balanced sound" (AllanKozinn, The New York Times), Lionheart (Jeffrey Johnson, Lawrence Lipnik,John Olund, Richard Porterfield, Kurt-Owen Richards, and Michael Ryan-Wenger)is best known for its interpretation of medieval and Renaissance a cappellamusic, with Gregorian Chant as the keystone of its repertoire. The ensemblealso collaborates with instrumental ensembles, dance companies, andcontemporary composers, and was recently selected for inclusion on the StarSpangled Touring Roster, the first year of an initiative by Early MusicAmerica.

Lionheart has released two CDs on the Nimbus label: "My Fayre Ladye: TudorSongs and Chant: (1997), and "Paris 1200: Chant and Polyphony from 12thCentury France" (1998). The ensemble is also heard on Sony Music's CDcompanion to A History of Western Music, and on NPR's "Christmas Around theCountry II," a collection of favorites from NPR's Performance Today. Thegrpup recently recorded a new CD of the music of Palestrina and hiscontemporaries with Koch International which is due for release in October of2001. On radio, Lionheart has been featured on Performance Today, on PRI'sHarmonia, on WGBH, and appears regularly on WNYC. Lionheart has also receivedsignificant air play on Radio Shanghai, which broadcasts Western music to awide audience in China.

In 1998 the six men of Lionheart began a continuing collaboration withAnonymous 4, joining forces to explore rare and ravishing repertoire tocreate a combined sound that is "mystical... resonant with haunting beauty"(The New York Times). In December 2000, Lionheart furthered its commitmentto presenting the work of living composers by premiering a new piece bycomposer Julia Wolfe as part of the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next WaveFestival.

In New York City Lionheart performs regularly on the distinguished seriesMusic Before 1800, at The Cloisters, and in its own concert series at SaintIgnatius of Antioch Episcopal Church. The ensemble has also appeared at TheMetropolitan Museum of Art, at Lincoln Center, and at Carnegie Hall's WeillRecital Hall (in collaboration with composer Steve Reich). Out-of-town venuesinclude the Kennedy Center, the National Cathedral and the Folger Library inWashington, D.C., the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, the Friends of ChamberMusic series in Kansas City, and the campuses of Stanford, UCLA, and YaleUniversity. In Europe they have participated in festivals includingmusikpodium in Stuttgart, Tage Alte Musik in Regensburg, and the CoventGarden Festival in London.