New York Early Music to Present A BURGUNDIAN CHRISTMAS

Christmas is always new for Early Music New York and its Founding Director, Frederick Renz. Every year has a different theme - music from different periods, or parts of the world.

In years of the biennial New York Early Music Celebration (NYEMC), the program is inspired by the Celebration theme. NYEMC 2017 focused on the Low Countries (Holland and Flanders), so this year's Christmas program will draw upon works from that part of Europe, which in the Renaissance period was part of the Duchy of Burgundy.

"This holiday season, we will celebrate the golden age of Renaissance polyphony, which reached its zenith in Flanders and Holland," says Frederick Renz, Director of Early Music New York. "Works by such masters as Binchois, Dufay, Brumel, Josquin, Lassus...Theirs was the sound that ultimately found its way to other European musical centers, to the ears of secular and sacred royalty. (Some composers did as well...In Italy, Josquin and Dufay became members of the Papal choir.)

"We look forward to sharing the richness of this repertoire with our audiences in December."

IF YOU GO:

A BURGUNDIAN CHRISTMAS

RENAISSANCE IN THE LOW COUNTRIES

Sunday, December 17, 2017 at 2 pm

Monday, December 25, 2017 at 2 pm and 5 pm

Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, 112th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, NYC

~ Early Music New York, Frederick Renz, Director ~

Vocal Consort Accompanied by Recorder, Lute and Dulcian

Tickets: $40.00 reserved seats, except $50.00 reserved seats for December 25 at 2 pm; $20.00 student (w/valid ID, available at door, day of)

Tickets available by phone (212-280-0330), online (www.EarlyMusicNY.org) and at the door, half an hour prior to performance. Group discounts available by telephone. All major credit cards accepted.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

FREDERICK RENZ - DIRECTOR

Frederick Renz, Founder/Director of the Early Music Foundation, is internationally acclaimed for his work as a conductor, producer, director, performer and scholar, presenting music and music drama from the eleventh through the eighteenth centuries. He has received commissions from the Spoleto Festival, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, individual grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ingram Merrill Foundation, and awarded a doctorate honoris causa by the State University of New York, Fredonia.

EARLY MUSIC NEW YORK / EARLY MUSIC FOUNDATION

Early Music Foundation (EMF), a not-for-profit organization founded in 1974, is Artist-in-Residence at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City. Under the leadership of Frederick Renz, EMF's mission is to foster public understanding and appreciation of music and music drama from the eleventh through the eighteenth centuries.

EMF presents the historical performance ensemble and orchestra EARLY MUSIC NEW YORK - FREDERICK RENZ, DIRECTOR; operates the recording label Ex cathedra Records; and administers a service-to-the-field project, "New York Early Music Central" (NYEMC), sponsoring/managing city-wide festivals serving the NYC historically-informed artist community.

Now in its forty-third season, Early Music New York reaps international acclaim for vibrant and provocative performances of historically informed repertoire from the medieval through the classical eras.

ABOUT THE VENUE

The Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine, adjacent to the Columbia University campus in Morningside Heights, is more than a century old but still a work in progress. Already the largest Cathedral in the world, it was declared a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee in 2017. EM/NY performs in the Chapel of Saint James, one of the oldest parts of the Cathedral (consecrated in 1916), described as "acoustically vibrant" by The New York Times.