BLUE HERON
Sophie Michaux, Jason McStoots & Aaron Sheehan, voices
Orí Harmelin, lute
Debra Nagy, douçaine & recorder
Scott Metcalfe, medieval fiddle & harp
A more subtle art: the late 14th-century Ars subtilior
A dazzling program featuring the head-spinningly complex, yet ravishing lovely music of the generation following Guillaume de Machaut (c. 1300-1377)—stories of mythological characters, deities, and mortals, set to jazzy, intoxicating polyphony. Three star singers—among them the wonderful Sophie Michaux, a resident of the Pioneer Valley—are joined by players of medieval instruments, including lute virtuoso Orí Harmelin from Basel, Switzerland, and multi-instrumentalist and musical polymath Debra Nagy, artistic director of Cleveland’s Les Délices and a longtime collaborator with Blue Heron.
Preconcert lecture by Anne Stone available online a week before the concert at www.blueheron.org.