In the idyllic village of Grafton, Vermont, guest conductor Anthony Trecek-King returns to lead our Billboard-chart-topping Christmas program. Enjoy fresh yuletide tunes like Taylor Scott Davis’ Solstice—and, as always, celebrate the season with fan favorites like O Come All Ye Faithful and Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.

Honey Meconi is the inaugural Arthur Satz Professor at the University of Rochester, where she is also Professor of Musicology at the Eastman School of Music. She is the founding editor of the monograph series “Oxford Studies in Early Music” for Oxford University Press. She is a specialist in music before 1600, and her many publications include Hildegard of Bingen (the first English-language book on Hildegard as composer), Pierre de la Rue and Musical Life at the Habsburg-Burgundian Court, and a continually expanding series of performing editions of Hildegard’s music, freely available online. Her research has been supported by Fulbright, Mellon, and NEH Fellowships as well as numerous other grants. A lifelong performer, she is co-recipient of the American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award “for distinguished contribution to the study and performance of early music.” Her public musicology blog, The Choral Singer’s Companion: Music History with a Soupçon of Snark, is read worldwide.

The Capilla Flamenca was perhaps the most glorious choir ever assembled. A gift from a queen to her grandson, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the elite group of singer-composers dazzled the courts and cathedrals of Spain for centuries with their sublime voices and awe-inspiring music. Now, Seraphic Fire—led by guest conductor Amanda Quist—will bring their legacy to life in a stunning tribute to the Capilla Flamenca. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to witness the splendor of a golden age of choral music.

Andrew H. Weaver is Professor of Musicology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Yale University and a B.Mus. in musicology and viola performance from Rice University. A specialist in nineteenth-century German song and seventeenth-century music at the Habsburg court in Vienna, his books include Narrative and Robert Schumann’s Songs: A New Approach to the Romantic Lied (University of Rochester Press, 2024), A Companion to Music at the Habsburg Courts in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (Brill, 2021), and Sacred Music as Public Image for Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III: Representing the Counter-Reformation Monarch at the End of the Thirty Years’ War (Ashgate, 2012). He also co-edited the volume Leonard Bernstein and Washington, DC: Works, Politics, Performances (University of Rochester Press, 2020). His work, which has been supported by grants from the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, the American Musicological Society, the Renaissance Society of America, and the Riemenschneider Bach Institute, also appears in such journals as Nineteenth-Century Music Review, Music & Letters, Journal of Musicology, Journal of the Royal Musical Association, Journal of Seventeenth-Century Music, Early Music, Schütz-Jahrbuch, Journal of Musicological Research, Journal of the American Viola Society, and more.

Rebecca Cypess is The Mordecai D. Katz and Dr. Monique C. Katz Dean of the Undergraduate Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Yeshiva University. A musicologist and historical keyboardist, Cypess is the author of Curious and Modern Inventions: Instrumental Music as Discovery in Galileo’s Italy (2016) and Women and Musical Salons in the Enlightenment (2022); co-editor of five books including Sara Levy’s World: Gender, Judaism, and the Bach Tradition in Enlightenment Berlin (2018) and Music and Jewish Culture in Early Modern Italy: New Perspectives (2022); and author of over 40 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. Her work has been recognized with the Noah Greenberg Award for contributions to historical performance and the Ruth A. Solie Award for an outstanding collection of essays, both from the American Musicological Society.

Clara and Robert. Fanny and Felix. Experience expressive songs from brilliant, yet underrecognized composers —Clara Schumann, Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor—and from artists who have traditionally defined the era—Robert Schumann, Felix Mendelssohn, and Johannes Brahms. Immerse yourself in hummable melodies and passionate lyrics as we celebrate the beauty and diversity of Romantic choral music.

Explore the vibrant works of Marianna Martines, a star of Viennese Classical music. A pupil of Franz Joseph Haydn and duet partner to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Martines' music radiates simplicity and elegance. In a concert featuring chorus and period orchestra, we highlight the modern world premiere of Martines' O, Virgo, cui salutem, alongside bedrock works by Haydn and Mozart, including the ravishing "Laudate Dominum" from the Vesperae solennes de confessore.

Craig A. Monson is Paul Tietjens Professor Emeritus of Music at Washington University in St Louis, where he taught for three decades. His publications on convent music include Disembodied Voices: Music and Culture in an Early Modern Italian Convent (1995), Nuns Behaving Badly: Tales of Music, Magic, Art, & Arson in the Convents of Italy (2010), and Divas in the Convent: Nuns, Music & Defiance in 17th-century Italy (2012). More recent writings include Habitual Offenders: A True Tale of Nuns, Prostitutes, and Murderers in 17th-century Italy (2016) and The Black Widows of the Eternal City: The True Story of Rome’s Most Notorious Poisoners (2020). In addition to musicological venues, he has spoken at the Kimball Art Center (Fort Worth), the Getty Museum (Los Angeles), the National Gallery of Art (Washington, DC), and on NPR’s Fresh Air and BBC3’s The Early Music Show. His next book, Identity Theft in Renaissance Italy: The Case of Andrea Casali, should appear in 2025.

Journey back to 18th-century Italy, where captivating music blossomed in convents. Antonio Vivaldi, the "Red Priest," composed vibrant choral pieces for Venice's cloistered convent and orphanage, the Ospedale della Pietà, including the beloved Magnificat. Across Italy, talented women like Chiara Margarita Cozzolani and Maria Xaveria Perucona crafted ecstatic compositions that raised eyebrows among religious authorities. Join Patrick Dupre Quigley as he leads chorus and period orchestra in this program that offers a peek into the secret lives of 18th-century nuns.