2010-11 Season

Our season opens with a musical exploration of the relationships between the three great cultures (Muslim, Jewish, and Christian) that coexisted peacefully on the Iberian Peninsula in the Middle Ages and the early years of the Renaissance. Medieval and Middle-Eastern songs and dances alternate with 16th century Spanish polyphony for voices, viols, lutes, and winds.

Special guest artists: Tom Zajac (historical winds & percussion), Annette Bauer (recorders), & Kamran Hooshmand (santur & oud).

In collaboration with UT musicologist and Neapolitan Dr. Guido Olivieri, we celebrate the 300th anniversary of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi's birth with this inspiring collection of Neapolitan sacred music from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Our program will cover the groundbreaking music of the late Renaissance avant-garde composer Gesualdo, the 17th century composers Scipione Stella and Francesco Provenzale, as well as the beautifully crafted music of the late-Baroque composer Pergolesi. A small orchestra of period instruments led by our acclaimed concertmistress, Laurie Young Stevens, will accompany TEMP soloists and vocal ensembles.

We honor the season with a diverse selection of Christmas music from the cultures and the composers who created our holiday traditions! Serenely passionate chants and dance-like carols from Germany France, beautiful Celtic lullabies and festive English wassails, performed by solo voices, small chorus, harps, violin, and continuo will delight your ears and hearts.

Special guest artists: historical harpists Therese Honey & Becky Baxter.

Our award-winning concertmistress leads a performance of superlative Baroque chamber music, featuring Dutch recorder virtuoso Paul Leenhouts, who was recently named the Director of Early Music Studies at the University of North Texas in Denton. This group of international artists comes together once a year for the pleasure of collaborating with Ms. Stevens on a concert that is always of the highest professional and musical quality.

From meditative chant to rousing polyphony, this concert explores the groundbreaking and innovative music of Léonin and Pérotin, the most important members of the 12th century School of Notre-Dame, whose contributions to the world of sacred music were the foundation for almost all the music we enjoy today in the Western world. TEMP is proud to be collaborating with Dr. Rebecca Baltzer, recognized worldwide as an expert on the music of Notre-Dame Cathedral during the Middle ages. This a cappella concert will be performed by ten voice, male ensemble in the resplendent acoustic of St. Mary Cathedral.

Special guest artists: We are pleased to feature the return of Dr. Christopher LeCluyse, one of TEMP’s founding members, & Temmo Korisheli.

This sensual and exotic music illuminates the lives of Sephardic Jews after their expulsion from Spain. Flavors of the Iberian Peninsula, the Middle East, and the Balkans swirl through the melodic ornaments and hypnotic rhythms, exhibiting the fruits of Artistic Director Daniel Johnson’s continue research into this repertoire and its traditions.

Special guest artists: Annette Bauer (recorders) & Kamran Hooshmand (santur, oud)