Support Our Annual Fund

With your generous support, together we will accomplish our goals for this season and beyond.

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A Blue Heron Christmas Special

December 19, 2020

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OUT NOW: A 14th-Century Salmagundi

Digital Release September 4, 2020

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Blue Heron’s 22nd Subscription Season

Tickets on Sale Now

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Cipriano de Rore, Madrigals for five voices (1542): WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING

“. . .masterfully, sensitively done, and most highly recommended.” – Early Music America (June 2020)

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OCKEGHEM SONGS VOLUME I

“. . .these neglected chansons take on a hitherto unsuspected radiance that touches heart and mind alike.” Bestenliste, Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik (January 2020)

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An Appeal from Blue Heron

Last June, we began to reimagine what would be possible in a time when live performance was put on hold. Inspired by your generous support, responses to our Spring survey, and words of encouragement, we sought novel and meaningful ways to reclaim postponed programs and celebrations while keeping all of us connected.

As we continue this work and work toward our future goals, we look to you to continue your support and dedication. Please take a moment to read the full appeal letter and support the Annual Fund as generously as you are able.

Read the Full Letter

Video: Nunca fue pena mayor

Nunca fue pena mayor
Juan Urrede/Johannes Wreede (c. 1430-after 1482)
Text by García Álvarez de Toledo, Duke of Alba

Washington, D.C.
Margot Rood, soprano
Audio & Video by Mark Willey & Tim Madden

Boston, MA
Scott Metcalfe, harp
Video by Kathy Wittman | Ball Square Films
Audio by Joel Gordon

Upcoming Concerts

A Blue Heron Christmas Special
December 19, 2020

French Songs II: The Next Generation
February 13, 2021

Le grant retthorique: Guillaume de Machaut
April 17, 2021

New this Season!

Spotlight Sessions
Exquisite solo performances, interviews featuring a diversity of interests and expertise, and single classes programmed exclusively for Blue Heron, each 45-60 minutes.

Pamela Dellal: Tuning the Modes
January 20, 2021  7:00 PM

Jessie Ann Owens & Alessandro Quarta: Cipriano de Rore’s Madrigali of 1542
March 31, 2021  7:00 PM

Ockeghem Academy
A 3-part lecture series (90 minutes each) presented by Blue Heron’s Artistic Director Scott Metcalfe and Professor Sean Gallagher of the New England Conservatory, adviser to our Ockeghem@600 project.




» More recordings

“

This highly important [Peterhouse recording] project, one of the most important early choral projects of our time, has unearthed a series of masterly composers hitherto virtually unknown...Such is the authority of Scott Metcalfe and his singers with this repertoire that they negotiate even the most daringly challenging and unexpected passages with utter confidence, and, as previously, with a delicious blend of expressiveness and seemingly inexorable forward momentum.

D. James Ross, Early Music Review (UK)
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a revelation - fresh, dynamic and vibrant...urgent and wondrous music-making of the highest order

Damian Fowler, Gramophone (UK)
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fine gradations of dynamics; pungent diction; telling contrasts of ethereal and earthly timbres; tempos that are more lusty than languid; a way of propelling a phrase toward a goal. ... The singing is both precise and fluid, immaculate and alive...

Alex Ross, The New Yorker
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A listener then would have been lucky to hear these works brought off with such panache. The program is by turns pensive and lively, and the scholarship required to evoke stylistic accuracy is put totally at the service of performance.

David Allen, The New York Times
“

I feel privileged to be able to revel in such a subtle shaped set of performances... This is the kind of recording that makes you sit up and pay attention.. There is plenty that is memorable here, and always the anticipation of something juicy to relish just around the corner. You can't ask much more than that from a CD.

Dominy Clements, MusicWeb International
“

The earthy sensuousness of Blue Heron's singing coupled with the curatorial care behind its programming have clearly earned the trust of audiences

Jeremy Eichler, The Boston Globe
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But Blue Heron’s devotion to this repertory — the ensemble has recorded five albums of music from the Peterhouse Partbooks — is not justified only by its rarity. This is vivid and radiant music. ...
... With two or three singers to a part and women stepping into the shoes of boy choristers, Blue Heron brings a zesty and sensual sound to these works of devotional music.

Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, The New York Times