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Press Releases
University of Chicago's Department of Music hosts vocal ensemble Blue Heron in winter 2023 residency
Chicago (Hyde Park) — Blue Heron visits the University of Chicago for a residency hosted by the
Department of Music this winter. From January 23 through 27, the vocal ensemble presents a series of
public performances, events, and open rehearsals, in addition to hosting workshops and interactive
presentations with Department of Music performance ensembles and students.
Acclaimed by The Boston Globe as “one of the Boston music community’s indispensables” and hailed
by Alex Ross in The New Yorker for the “expressive intensity” of its interpretations, Blue Heron combines
a commitment to vivid live performance with the study of original source materials and historical
performance practices.
Department of Music this winter. From January 23 through 27, the vocal ensemble presents a series of
public performances, events, and open rehearsals, in addition to hosting workshops and interactive
presentations with Department of Music performance ensembles and students.
Acclaimed by The Boston Globe as “one of the Boston music community’s indispensables” and hailed
by Alex Ross in The New Yorker for the “expressive intensity” of its interpretations, Blue Heron combines
a commitment to vivid live performance with the study of original source materials and historical
performance practices.
Founded in 1999, Blue Heron is a 21st-century vocal ensemble that mostly sings music composed
between 1400 and 1600. The ensemble’s expansive repertoire includes 15th-century English and Franco-
Flemish polyphony, Spanish music between 1500 and 1600, and neglected early 16th-century English
music. Blue Heron also regularly performs earlier and later music, from a concert version of Guillaume
de Machaut’s Remede de Fortune to a collaboration with A Far Cry featuring Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, Le
Cantique des Cantiques for twelve voices by Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur (1952), Devran (2017) by Boston’s
Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, and a new setting of Puer nobis nascitur by Chicago’s Kevin Allen, commissioned by
the ensemble in 2020.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to be returning to Chicago to spend a week in residence working with the
University’s exceptional faculty and students. The opportunity to participate in classes, coach singers
and ensembles, rehearse for several days, and perform two programs is a rare one, and one we relish,”
said Scott Metcalfe, Artistic Director of Blue Heron. “The ensemble has the fondest memories of our
concert in Rockefeller Chapel in 2015 and we look forward to singing there again. And what could be
lovelier than Chicago in January! This Vermonter, at least, will enjoy the cold winter weather and all of
us will be grateful for the warm Chicago welcome.”
Blue Heron’s residency week includes several public events. The group hosts a series of open rehearsals
in preparation for a performance of Ockeghem’s Requiem with UChicago Presents on Friday, January 27,
at 7:30 p.m. The ensemble presents a lecture and recital titled Riches d’amour featuring French and
Italian poetry and music from the 14th through 16th centuries at the International House on Thursday,
January 26, at 5:30 p.m., followed by a reception with the artists. The public is also invited to attend and
observe workshops and master classes with musicians from the Department of Music’s Vocal Studies
Program, Early Music Ensemble, and Motet Choir.
In addition to the public events, Blue Heron offers interactive performances and discussions for the
Department of Music’s Harmony and Voice Leading courses and the Uniting Voices Hyde Park Children’s
Choir.
Choir.
Details about Blue Heron’s public performances and events are below. For more information about the
residency and events, visit music.uchicago.edu.
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