Met Museum's Cloisters Concerts in 2014-15 to Feature Expanded Range, New Locations

The pioneering early music series Concerts at The Cloisters will expand its offerings in winter and spring 2014-15 to include musical performances from the Latin and Byzantine traditions; songs from northeastern France; a scholarly reconstruction of a Palm Sunday procession; and a mesmerizing concert of medieval, Baroque, and contemporary music set to the text of Psalm 116. Concerts will take place within the historic apse of the 12th-century church of San Martín from Fuentidueña near Segovia, Spain, or -- new this season -- in galleries at The Cloisters. The unique settings and superb acoustics at The Cloisters provide audiences with an unforgettable concert experience.

The Cloisters is The Metropolitan Museum of Art's branch museum dedicated to the art and architecture of the Middle Ages.

• Saturday, December 6, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., $45
On the feast day of Saint Nicholas, the world-renowned Ensemble Organum (Marcel Pérès, Director) from France joins virtuoso chanter Christos Chalkias of Thessaloniki, Greece, in the program In Praise of Saint Nicholas with Latin and Greek Byzantine chants in honor of the beloved bishop saint.

• Saturday and Sunday, December 13 and 14, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., $45
New York City's acclaimed Waverly Consort reprises the perennial favorite The Christmas Story under the direction of Michael Jaffee. Arranged as a narrative, this thoughtful program combines vocal and instrumental music.

• Sunday, December 21, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., $45
The six-man a cappella ensemble Lionheart performs Veni Emmanuel: Chant and Polyphony for Advent and Christmas. Organized around the seven "O" antiphons sung on days leading up to Christmas as well as musical settings by medieval, Renaissance, and contemporary composers including Arvo Pärt, the program leads listeners through the penitent expectation of Advent to the joyful fulfillment of Christmas.

• Sunday, March 1, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., $40
The Boston Camerata (Anne Azéma, Artistic Director) performs Portes du Ciel (Gates of Heaven): Sacred Songs of Medieval France, sacred and secular songs from the regions of Champagne, Picardy, and Lorraine. The concert will be presented in the Early Gothic Hall, where medieval sculptures and stained glass from the same regions are on display. (The Boston Camerata are currently Artists in Residence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.)

• Saturday, March 28, 12 p.m. and 3 p.m., $65
Two unprecedented performances of Palm Sunday Procession -- a scholarly reconstruction of such devotions in Chartres, France, ca. 1190 -- will feature chants performed by the ensemble Lionheart and a children's choir, and commentary by Xavier Seubert, OFM. By moving with the performers through several galleries, the 21st-century audience will understand the devotional experience of the procession in late 12th-century Chartres.

• Saturday, April 4, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., $40
In this Holy Saturday concert, Pomerium, one of the most highly acclaimed American choral ensembles today, under director Alexander Blachly, will perform hauntingly expressive plainchants and their elaborations by Guillaume Du Fay and Ludwig Senfl; the intense Lamentations by Robert White; affective evocations of Holy Week by Claudio Monteverdi and Carlo Gesualdo; and the grand and exuberant motets of Orlande de Lassus and William Byrd.

• Sunday, April 19, 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., $40
The season concludes with the Leipzig-based a cappella ensemble Calmus in its debut appearance at The Cloisters. The powerful text of Psalm 116 from the Protestant Bible provides the focus for Mythos 116, which includes chants from the Middle Ages; five-part compositions by Baroque composers including Heinrich Schütz and Johann Herrmann Schein; and a 2010 commission by the German composer Bernd Franke.

About The Cloisters - The Cloisters museum and gardens-the branch of The Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe -- is located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan with a spectacular view overlooking the Hudson River. The Cloisters Collection includes sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, metalwork, and stained glass housed in a building that evokes the period in which these splendid objects were produced.

Concert tickets include same-day admission to The Cloisters museum and gardens. All tickets are for general seating. To purchase tickets, or for further information, call (212) 650-2290 or visit our website at www.metmuseum.org/cloisters.

Directions - Subway: A train to 190th Street, exit by elevator and walk through the park or transfer to M4 bus (Fort Tryon Park-The Cloisters). Bus: M4 Madison Avenue (Fort Tryon Park-The Cloisters) to last stop. Car: Henry Hudson Parkway north to first exit after George Washington Bridge. Free parking available.

Visitor Information (212) 923-3700; Educational programs (212) 650-2280; Concerts at The Cloisters (212) 650-2290. For more, go to www.metmuseum.org/cloisters.