11/16: TENET Vocal Artists Presents Story of Mythological Heroine Ariadne via Works by Caccini, D’India, Strozzi, and Monteverdi

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mallory McFarland | Morahan Arts and Media
mallory@morahanartsandmedia.com | (646) 241-0899

TENET Vocal Artists Presents
Ariadne Unbound on Saturday, November 16

TENET Shares the Story of Mythological Heroine Ariadne through
Works by Caccini, D’India, Strozzi, and Monteverdi

 “among the wonders of the New York music world" –Arts Journal

www.tenet.nyc

New York, NY (October 8, 2024) — TENET Vocal Artists – the acclaimed early music ensemble led by Artistic Director Jolle Greenleaf – concludes its fall 2024 concerts with Ariadne Unbound, a performance curated by Elisa Sutherland on Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 6:00 pm at Park Avenue Christian Church with stage direction by Alyssa Weathersby.

In this concert, TENET retells the story of the Cretan princess Ariadne in a lively and dramatic pastiche of 17th-century Italian music. With an intimate cast of six, each singer embodies the main characters of Ariadne, Theseus, and the inhabitants of the island of Naxos. The tale is told through duets, arias, madrigals, and opera scenes by Francesca Caccini, Sigismondo D’India, Barbara Strozzi, and Claudio Monteverdi.

“I am thrilled to share Ariadne Unbound, a beautifully curated program by Elisa Sutherland, as it offers a surprising and powerful telling of Ariadne’s story through 17th-century Italian repertoire” Artistic Director Jolle Greenleaf remarks. “Featuring guest curators is a primary focus of TENET’s activities for the 2024-25 season because it gives our audience a chance to hear our exploration of new ideas and interpretations of beloved gems from the baroque with an all-star cast of singers and players. It’s just one of the many ways TENET works to highlight our artists through their many creative abilities. Ariadne Unbound stands as our most robust project of the season! “

“The idea for this program came from my love of 17th-century Italian laments,” shares curator Elisa Sutherland. “The most famous is Monteverdi's 'Lamento d'Arianna,' an excerpt from his lost opera telling the myth of Ariadne and Theseus. I loved the idea of reconstructing this particular story, but I wanted to feature a lament written by a woman, and I was thrilled to discover Francesca Caccini’s devastating Lasciatemi qui solo. The rest of the storyline grew organically from there. The myth is told by our excellent cast of six singers who, through solos, duets, and quartets, each embody Ariadne, Theseus, and the inhabitants of the island of Naxos. By staging this pastiche, we’re hoping the audience will be able to fully enter into the story, and feel like they are living these events on the island with the characters. We also hope that by showing the story through movement, the audience will be able to focus on the remarkable 17th-century poetry.”

This concert will be viewable online from November 30, 2024–January 30, 2025.

Additional 2024-25 season programming from TENET Vocal Artists includes Sisters of the Moon on Friday, February 21, 2025 at 6:00 pm at St. Malachy’s-The Actors Chapel, Confessions on Saturday, March 22, 2025 at 6:00 pm at St. Luke in the Fields, and Rosettes on Saturday, April 26, 2025 at 6:00 pm at Good Shepherd-Faith Pres Church.

Concert Information
Ariadne Unbound
Saturday, November 16, 2024 at 6:00 pm
Park Avenue Christian Church | 1010 Park Avenue | New York, NY
Tickets: $16-$60
Link: https://tenet.nyc/unbound 

Program:
Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
          Silencio nocivo
          I baci
          L’affetto humano
          La riamata da chi amata
Sigismondo D’India (1582-1629)
          Odi quel rosinguolo
          Io vidi in terra
          Voi ch’ascoltate in rime sparse
          Ardo, lasso, o non ardo?
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643)
          A quest’olmo
          Al lume delle stelle
          Altri canti d'Amor
          Tempo la cetra
Francesca Caccini (1587-1640)
          Lasciatemi qui solo
          Io veggi i campi
          Excerpts from La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina

Artists:
Jolle Greenleaf, Soprano
Madeline Healey, Soprano
James Reese, Tenor
Elisa Sutherland, Mezzo-soprano
Andrew Padgett, Baritone
Jacob Perry, Tenor
Beth Wenstrom, Violin
Ravenna Lipchik, Violin
Ben Matus, Recorder
Sian Ricketts, Recorder
Adam Cockerham, Lute
Daniel Swenberg, Lute
Matt Zucker, Gamba/Cello
Jeffrey Grossman, Keyboards

Jolle Greenleaf, Artistic Director
Elisa Sutherland, Program Curator
Alyssa Weathersby, Stage Director

About TENET Vocal Artists
Preëminent New York City-based early music ensemble TENET Vocal Artists celebrates its 16th season in 2024-25. Under Artistic Director Jolle Greenleaf, TENET Vocal Artists has won acclaim for its innovative programming, virtuosic singing, and command of repertoire that spans the Middle Ages to the present day. 

Highlights from the past decade involve performances of all of J.S. Bach’s vocal masterworks including St. Matthew Passion, St. John Passion, Christmas and Easter Oratorios, Bach's motets, and Mass in B Minor. TENET has offered multiple performances of Handel’s Messiah and has appeared on tours of Italy, Germany, and the UK. Other special projects featured Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien, a three-year cycle of Carlo Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories, a staged production of Charpentier’s Les plaisirs de Versailles, works by Purcell and his contemporaries celebrating music’s patron St. Cecilia, two surveys of medieval music, commissioned works by Reena Esmail and Caroline Shaw, and original theatrical performances highlighting works composed by, for, and about women in 17th century Italy.

Renowned for their interpretations of Renaissance and Baroque repertoire, TENET Vocal Artists' distinguished soloists have been praised for their pristine one-voice-to-a-part singing “to an uncanny degree of precision” (The Boston Globe). From 2010-2020, TENET's highly praised Green Mountain Project gave annual performances honoring Claudio Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 and other reconstructed Vespers featuring music by Monteverdi, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Giovanni Gabrieli, Antoine Charpentier, Michael Praetorius, and their contemporaries. The project’s final appearance in 2020 culminated in several concerts in Venice, Italy.

A driving force in cultivating the New York City early music community, TENET Vocal Artists has collaborated regularly with acclaimed instrumentalists, instrumental ensembles, and performing organizations. Some of our most memorable collaborations have been with Dark Horse Consort, Ensemble Caprice, Five Boroughs Music Festival, Quicksilver Baroque, and the Sebastians.

TENET Vocal Artists performs regularly at venues across New York and the Tri-state area including Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Caramoor, Columbia University, Yale University, and more. Further afield, TENET Vocal Artists has performed at the Festival Casals de Puerto Rico, Berkshire Bach Festival, Cambridge Early Music Festival, Connecticut Early Music Festival, Costa Rica International Music Festival, Kultursommer Nordhessen, Montreal Baroque Festival, and many other prominent locations throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe. www.tenet.nyc

About Elisa Sutherland
Known for her “soul-infused expressiveness and unselfconscious joie de vivre” (New York Music Daily), Elisa Sutherland is a mezzo-soprano dedicated to detailed, stylistic performances of early and new music. Highlights from this upcoming season include a performance of Jacquet de la Guerre’s Judith with TENET Vocal Artists, a European tour with Ekmeles, and three collaborations with Alkemie medieval ensemble. Elisa was a core member of Ekmeles, a sextet dedicated to exploring microtonal tuning and extended vocal techniques. She has appeared in art song recitals with the Brooklyn Art Song Society (BASS) and Philadelphia’s Lyricfest. Elisa is also one of the co-founders of the Philadelphia-based vocal sextet, Variant 6. In addition to chamber music, Elisa frequently appears with the top vocal ensembles in the United States including The Crossing, TENET Vocal Artists, Roomful of Teeth, Lorelei, and Seraphic Fire. 

Image at top of release courtesy TENET Vocal Artists

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