MOUNT VERNON — The female vocal ensemble Tapestry, whose trademark is combining medieval repertory and contemporary compositions , returns to Cornell College for a performance in King Chapel at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 21 .
This is the third of four concerts in Cornell’s Music Mondays series. General admission is $8 at the door.
Boston-based Tapestry made its Music Mondays debut in 2000. On their encore visit, Laurie Monahan (mezzo-soprano) and Cristi Catt (soprano), joined for the first time at Cornell by Carolann Buff (mezzo-soprano) and Elizabeth Anker (contralto), will perform a concert version of their CD “Sapphire Night.” Tapestry pairs the works of 12th-century German nun Hildegard von Bingen with a song cycle by contemporary composer Patricia Van Ness, “The Nine Orders of the Angels.”
This “vocal symphony” was tailored for the ensemble and is a favorite among their U.S. and international audiences. The cycle progresses through the nine ranks of angels from those closest to man, the guardian angels, to the Seraph Michael, the angel closest to God.
Gramophone magazine described Tapestry’s approach to the music of Hildegard von Bingen as “utter perfection.” The Boston Globe said, “The group is remarkable for beauty of sound, exact tuning and precision of ensemble. … The women can achieve an extraordinary blend, but the sound never dissolves into anonymity. Each individual voice has character, so the ensemble sound is prismatic and multifaceted.”
The remaining concert in the Music Mondays series is the saxophone group Prism Quartet on March 14.
