After a two-year pause, Cantores in Ecclesia is bringing back the William Byrd Festival with a celebration of the music of Thomas Tallis and William Byrd with a focus on the work of Tallis, Byrd’s teacher and mentor, alongside music by Byrd himself, and will include services, concerts and lectures.
Mark Williams, Informator Choristarum & Organist at Magdalen College, Oxford, UK, returns to share the direction of Cantores in Ecclesia with the Choir’s resident director, Blake Applegate. Lectures will be given by Dr. William Mahrt of Stanford University, Dr. Ross Duffin of Case Western University and Portland’s own Dr. Kerry McCarthy, whose book, Tallis, was recently published by Oxford University Press.
The Festival will open with a concert of choral music including Tallis’s famous Lamentations in the Church of St. Philip Neri Friday, August 5 and will culminate in a concert, also at St. Philip Neri Sunday, August 21, featuring works by both Tallis and Byrd, including Tallis’s magnificent Mass Puer natus est nobis and Byrd’s moving Ne irascaris, Domine. Masses and lectures will be held at Holy Rosary Church and there will be an organ recital and Evensong at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral Sunday, August 14.
The full program and further details may be found at byrdfestival.org. Tickets for the August 5 and 21 concerts are available at the door or in advance ($25 general admission/$20 seniors and students) at brownpapertickets.com or by calling 800.838.3006. All other events are free admission with a freewill offering.Â
