Performance Calendar

Arias from Modern Times

Parthenia joins the Brooklyn College Department of Voice for an unforgettable afternoon celebrating the life and contributions of the late, beloved tenor Paul Sperry, a pioneering advocate for American song and vocal music. The concert will explore new works for voice and viols in a two-day residency culminating in a public performance. Composers commissioned by Parthenia (Will Ayton, Kristin Norderval, Phil Kline, and Richard Einhorn) will be mixed with other repertoire the students are working on by Charles Ives and H.T. Burleigh. This inaugural concert, dedicated to his memory, commemorates his enduring passion for artistry, expression, and the voices of our time.

Hosted by Malcolm J. Merriweather, Tania León Chair and Professor of Music, Brooklyn College

The ensemble will premiere a new work, “Two Songs” for soprano and viol consort by student composer Christopher DiVencenzo.

Buchwald Theater, Leonard and Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts

2920 Campus Road, Brooklyn, NY 11210

Parthenia Viol Consort is a recipient of a 2024 grant from Chamber Music America’s Artistic Projects program, funded through the generosity of The Howard Gilman Foundation, which is supporting Parthenia’s commitment to champion new music for viols in communities across New York City.

New Music Symposium

Parthenia’s New Music Symposium consists of a Master Class with young artists performing the vocal repertoire written for Parthenia Viol Consort by composers Richard Einhorn and Phil Kline. The Master Class will be led by Amy Shoremount-Obra of Brooklyn College, and by Mr. Einhorn and Mr. Kline. A Composers Discussion Panel will follow, led by Jacob Bitinas of the Viola da Gamba Society of America, featuring composers Eleonor Sandresky and Robinson McClellan. Numerous past works premiered by Parthenia will be featured throughout the evening.

In-person attendance is limited, which is why we encourage you to RSVP as soon as possible by emailing info@parthenia.org. Please also RSVP in order to receive online access to the event.

Rehearsal Hall of the National Opera Center

330 7th Avenue at 29th Street, 7th fl, New York, NY 10001

Parthenia Viol Consort is a recipient of a 2024 grant from Chamber Music America’s Artistic Projects program, funded through the generosity of The Howard Gilman Foundation, which is supporting Parthenia’s commitment to champion new music for viols in communities across New York City.

Tech support for this event by Rentacomputer.com, providing webinar camera and mic.

An Elizabethan Christmas

Following a long-treasured tradition of music for Christmas, the viols of Parthenia present a sparkling array of songs, dances and carols from Elizabethan England. Along with music by Thomas Morley, Anthony Holborne, Thomas Ravenscroft, Dr. John Bull and Tobias Hume, this concert features a wide variety of music by the celebrated master composer of England’s Golden Age, William Byrd.

Guest artist: Elisa Sutherland, mezzo-soprano

Sunday, December 8th at 4pm

The Church of Saint Luke in the Fields

487 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014, United States

This concert is part of our 2024-2025 NYC Concert Season

Continental Connections

The English viol consort music that we know and love so much was influenced by many continental musical fashions. Throughout the 16th and early 17th century, court composers and musicians, traveling in the entourage of their respective courts, interacted with their foreign counterparts. Some English and European composers traveled to look for work abroad to escape religious persecution at home. In this workshop we will explore the musical connections that flowed in both directions—from European countries to England and back again. These explorations will include Franco-Flemish music in England at the court of Henry VIII,  Spanish influences at Mary Tudor’s court, the love of Italian music in Elizabethan England, and Danish and German connections with England when Anne of Denmark, the wife of James I, was the Queen.

Guest artist: Caroline Nicolas, treble viol

Sunday, January 26th at 4pm

The Church of Saint Luke in the Fields

487 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014, United States

This concert is part of our 2024-2025 NYC Concert Season

Les Amours de Mai

Our spring concert features French Renaissance songs and dances marked by grace, balance and a wonderful sense of lightness, especially the song settings of poetry of Pierre de Ronsard by such composers as Claude le Jeune, Guillaume Costeley, Claude Goudimel, Eustache du Caurroy and others.
Parthenia, performing on a consort of viols in the style of those used in the 16th century, is joined by soprano Sherezade Panthaki and Renaissance lutenist Christopher Morrongiello.

Sunday, April 27th at 4pm

The Church of Saint Luke in the Fields

487 Hudson St, New York, NY 10014, United States

This concert is part of our 2024-2025 NYC Concert Season