Miller Theatre's Early Music Series Opens With Belgian Group VOX LUMINIS, October 19

Miller Theatre at Columbia University School of the Arts opens its 2019-2020 Early Music series with the Belgian vocal ensemble Vox Luminis in Stabat Mater

Saturday, October 19, 2019, 8:00 p.m.
Church of St. Mary the Virgin
(145 West 46th Street between 6th & 7th Avenues) Tickets starting at $30; Students with valid ID: starting at $7

The first piece Belgian ensemble Vox Luminis ever sang together was Stabat Mater, Scarlatti's masterpiece about the Virgin Mary that pays homage to the great tradition of polyphony. This signature work anchors a collection of powerfully moving compositions depicting the suffering of the Mother of God at the foot of the cross, fittingly performed in the Church of St. Mary the Virgin.

Program:
Domenico Scarlatti Stabat Mater for ten voices
Alessandro Della Ciaia Lamentatio Virginis in despositione Filii de cruce
Claudio Monteverdi Lamento della ninfa
Claudio Monteverdi Adoramus te Christe
Anonymous Lamentation de la Vierge au Croix
Antonio Lotti Crucifixus a 8

Vox Luminis, founded in 2004 in Namur, Belgium, is an ensemble specializing in the performance of 16th-18th century vocal music. Every year, the ensemble releases on average two discs and offers its audience more than 60 concerts on Belgian, European, and international stages.

Vox Luminis defines itself as a group of soloists with a variable combination (with a base from the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague) and of a continuo, additional instrumentalists or a full orchestra, depending on the repertoire. The repertoire is essentially Italian, English, and German and spans the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Since its creation, the ensemble has been noted for its cohesion and it charms with the personality of every timbre and the homogeneity of the voices.

The ensemble can count thirteen recordings to its name. It has won many awards including the prestigious Gramophone Recording of the Year (2012), for Musicalische Exequien by Heinrich Schütz. Recent releases from Alpha Classics are the Abendmusiken by Buxtehude and King Arthur by Purcell. In 2018, Vox Luminis won the BBC Music Magazine Award in the category "Choral Award Winner," and KLARA named them "ensemble of the year."