Sarah Kay bio:

Currently Professor Emerita at New York University and a Life Fellow of Girton College Cambridge, Sarah Kay has taught French and Medieval Occitan at the universities of Liverpool, Cambridge, and Princeton, as well as at NYU. Her many publications range widely over medieval literature in French, Occitan, and Latin, especially in relation to medieval and modern thought. Her most recent book, Medieval Song from Aristotle to Opera, was published by Cornell in 2022 together with a companion website that hosts experimental performances by Christopher Preston Thompson and Concordian Dawn of many of the songs discussed in her book.

Concordian Dawn bio:

Concordian Dawn specializes in twelfth- through fourteenth-century vocal repertoire, drawing on primary source material and focusing on socio-philosophical similarities between texts from centuries ago and the mindset of modern society. In so doing, Concordian Dawn produces a musical experience accessible to contemporary audiences, relating the human condition of the past to the familiar experiences of the present. The ensemble’s “mesmerizing” (Early Music America) debut album, Fortuna Antiqua et Ultra (MSR Classics), was released in December of 2021 to critical acclaim, and in July of 2022, Cornell University Press published a collaborative book-recording project between the ensemble and medieval studies scholar, Sarah Kay, entitled Medieval Song from Aristotle to Opera. Since its inaugural concert in 2012, Concordian Dawn has performed regularly on the east coast and annually with Gotham Early Music Scene, NYC. The ensemble has given performances and led workshops and lectures for Princeton University, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the Universities of California-Berkeley and Davis, Bard College, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, and the Medieval Academy of America, among others.

Details of Concordian Dawn:

Concordian Dawn, Ensemble for Medieval Music

Amber Evans, soprano

Clifton Massey, countertenor

David Dickey, recorder and countertenor

Thomas McCargar, baritone

Niccolo Seligmann, vielle

Christopher Preston Thompson, artistic director, tenor and medieval harp