Parthenia Viol Consort to Perform SEMPER DOWLAND at The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Parthenia, New York's premiere viol consort, will perform Semper Dowland, a concert on Saturday, May 7 at 3:00 and 7:00 PM at the Vélez Blanco Patio of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan as part of MetLiveArts, the performance series at The Met.

The program will be Semper Dowland, the complete Lachrimae collection of 1604 by John Dowland. Released in 1604, Lachrimae, or Seaven Teares Figured in Seaven Passionate Pavans with divers other Pavans, Galiards and Almands, set forth for the Lute, Viols, or Violons, in Five parts was a landmark publication. The work has since entranced interpreters from Julian Bream, to Christopher Hogwood, to Sting through the ages. Special guests will be Paul O'Dette, lute, and Christel Thielmann, viol. More about the program at www.metmuseum.org/tickets.

Tickets are $70, which includes Museum admission, and are available at www.metmuseum.org/events/ticketed-event-purchase-form?eid=143432. For more concert information, call 212-570-3949 or visit www.metmuseum.org/tickets.

Paul O'Dette studied early music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Basel, Switzerland; medieval and Renaissance performance practice with Thomas Binkley and the Studio der Fruhen Musik; guitar with Christopher Parkening and Michael Lorimer; lute with Eugen Dombois. He is the Artistic Director of the Boston Early Music Festival. He regularly presents concerts, master classes, lectures and media appearance throughout Europe, North America, Japan, Australia, Russia and South America.

Parthenia is a dynamic quartet of viols which animates ancient and contemporary repertoires with a superb sound and a remarkable sense of ensemble. Parthenia is presented in concerts and festivals across America including Bargemusic, Music Before 1800, Maverick Concerts, The Rockport Chamber Music Festival, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Miller Theatre and the Yale Center for British Art, and in Europe at the Regensburg Tage Alter Musik. The ensemble produces its own concert series in NYC, collaborating regularly with the world's foremost early music specialists including Piffaro, Julianne Baird, Paul O'Dette, Blue Heron and ARTEK. Parthenia actively commissions and premieres works by today's composers including Eleonor Sandresky, Richard Einhorn, Phil Kline, Frances White, Max Lifchitz, Will Ayton, Nicholas Patterson and Kristin Norderval. Parthenia records on the MSR Classics label, and is represented by GEMS Live artists management. Visit them at www.parthenia.org.

Parthenia's concert season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Parthenia is a sponsored organization of the New York Foundation for the Arts, and is a member of Early Music America and Chamber Music America.

MetLiveArts is a groundbreaking live arts series at The Metropolitan Museum of Art explores contemporary performance through the lens of the Museum's exhibitions and unparalleled gallery spaces with singular performances and talks. MetLiveArts invites artists, performers, curators, and thought-leaders to explore and collaborate within The Met, leading with new commissions, world premieres, and site-specific durational performances that have been named some of the most "Memorable" and "Best of" performances in New York City by the New York Times, New Yorker, and BroadwayWorld.