October 11, 2023, Santa Fe, New Mexico – Press Release from Performance Santa Fe
Secret Byrd: AN IMMERSIVE JOURNEY INTO THE HEART OF SACRED MUSIC: CELEBRATING 400 YEARS OF WILLIAM BYRD
Featuring The Gesualdo Six and Abendmusik in a Unique Staged Mass Experience
Commemorating the 400-year legacy of William Byrd, England’s finest Renaissance composer, Performance Santa Fe presents the New Mexico debut of an unparalleled immersive concert: Secret Byrd. This unique production comes from the mind of Bill Barclay, director, writer, composer, and Artistic Director of Concert Theater Works and Music Before 1800 and was commissioned by St Martin in the Fields and Washington National Cathedral for Byrd400.
William Byrd, a beacon of musical genius in the tumultuous times of the Protestant Reformation in England, continued to compose clandestine pieces even in the face of brutal persecution due to his covert Catholic faith. This concert seeks to recapture Byrd’s 'Mass for Five Voices' in its most genuine form: sung one-on-a-part in the strictest secrecy. Performed in the stunning ballroom at the Scottish Rite Center, Secret Byrd is an immersive journey placing the audience at the heart of a discourse on freedom of belief in contemporary times.
During the production, audience members are invited to move freely throughout the space, break bread, and engage with the experience as active participants, not simply passive observers. In a recent feature, Financial Times eloquently captures the essence of the audience experience: “Music-making is a social activity, and Byrd’s masses were not the concert pieces we hear today — they had a social and ceremonial purpose and meaning that existed beyond the music’s duration and cemented social bonds. Secret Byrd brings this together again into something real and profound."
Starring in the performance is The Gesualdo Six, the groundbreaking British vocal group renowned for stellar interpretations of classic choral works, and the NYC-based Abendmusik viol consort.
New Mexico is poised for the debut of this unique, unforgettable performance. Join us for an experience of unforgettable music, heartfelt emotion, and genuine reflection on the 400-year legacy of William Byrd.
Event Details
Secret Byrd. An immersive staged Mass featuring The Gesualdo Six and Abendmusik exploring the legacy of William Byrd. Presented by Performance Santa Fe at Scottish Rite Temple, 463 Paseo De Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501. November 14 + 15, 7:30 pm. Tickets: $95. (505) 984 8759. PerformanceSantaFe.org
$20 Rush tickets (for 30 and under) available day of the performance, based on availability.
Student/educator and family discounts available
Visit https://performancesantafe.org/box-office-information/ for more information.
Credits
Secret Byrd: An immersive staged mass on the 400th anniversary of William Byrd
with The Gesualdo Six and Abendmusik
Created + Directed by Bill Barclay
THE GESUALDO SIX
Guy James, countertenor Alasdair Austin, countertenor Joseph Wicks, tenor Josh Cooter, tenor Michael Craddock, baritone Owain Park, director and bass
ABENDMUSIK
Patricia Ann Neely, treble viol
Rosamund Morley, treble viol
Lawrence Lipnik, tenor viol
Daniel McCarthy, tenor viol
Mary Springfels, bass viol
John Mark Rozendaal, bass viol
Secret Byrd is presented through the support of three anonymous donors
23–24 Season Sponsors: Ann Murphy Daily and William W. Daily, Gina Browning and Joe Illick, Robin Black, Leah Gordon
Special Events
Creative Connections – Mass in Secret: The Underground Music of William Byrd
With conductor and arts educator Oliver Prezant
Saturday morning coffee, doughnuts, and Mass in Secret! Conductor and arts educator Oliver Prezant previews the upcoming performance of Secret Byrd, the immersive staged Mass exploring the legacy of William Byrd, one of the greatest English composers of the High Renaissance, who took the risk of expressing his Catholic faith in music during the Protestant Reformation.
Wednesday, Nov 4 | 10 am | Santa Fe Woman’s Club | $40
Radio broadcast on KHFM
A special preview of Secret Byrd presented by KHFM and sponsored by Performance Santa Fe
Tuesday, November 7 | 6 pm
95.5 or https://khfm.org
About the Artists
BILL BARCLAY, the former Director of Music at Shakespeare’s Globe, is the Artistic Director of Concert Theatre Works and Music Before 1800, NYC’s premiere early music presenter. With Broadway and West End credits including Farinelli & The King, Twelfth Night, and Richard III, all starring Mark Rylance, his original music has been showcased worldwide, including performances for President Obama and the British Royal Family.
A multifaceted talent, as recognized by the London Times as a “personal polymath,” Barclay is a director, writer, composer, actor, producer, and conductor. He is renowned for creating major concert events, such as The Chevalier and Secret Byrd and has been commissioned by institutions like The Boston Symphony Orchestra. His works have graced iconic venues from The Hollywood Bowl to Buckingham Palace, and he's collaborated with the likes of Max Richter and The Brodsky Quartet.
Barclay frequently collaborates with early music ensembles including The Sixteen, Orchestra for the Age of Enlightenment, The English Concert, The Gesualdo Six, Fretwork, Barokksolistene, Music of the Baroque, Handel & Haydn Society, and Cathedra.
He regularly appears in major festivals including Aldeburgh, Tanglewood, Spoleto USA,
Chautauqua, Caramoor, Oxford Festival of the Arts, Virginia Arts Festival, Brighton Early Music, National Centre for Early Music, and many more.
A contributor to the Guardian and Songlines, Barclay is published on the music of Shakespeare by both Cambridge and Oxford University Presses, and lectures on Shakespeare and the music of the spheres around the world.
THE GESUALDO SIX is a British vocal ensemble comprising some of the UK’s finest consort singers, directed by Owain Park. Praised for their imaginative programming and impeccable blend, the ensemble formed in 2014 for a performance of Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsories in Cambridge and has gone on to perform at numerous major festivals across UK, Europe, Canada and Australia. Notable highlights include a concert as part of the distinguished Deutschland Radio Debut Series in 2018, and collaborations with the Brodsky Quartet, London Mozart Players, Luxmuralis, William Barton, and Matilda Lloyd.
The ensemble often incorporates educational work into its activities, holding workshops for choirs and composers and giving concerts alongside local performers. The Gesualdo Six has curated two Composition Competitions, with the 2019 edition attracting entries from over three hundred composers around the world. The group have recently commissioned new works from Joanna Ward and Kerensa Briggs, alongside a coronasolfège from Héloïse Werner.
Videos of the ensemble performing a diverse selection of works filmed in Ely Cathedral have been watched by millions online. The group released their debut recording English Motets on Hyperion Records in early 2018 to critical acclaim, followed by a festive album of seasonal favorites in late 2019, Christmas. G6’s latest recording is an album of compline-themed music titled Fading. Learn more at www.thegesualdosix.co.uk.
OWAIN PARK, Director, was born in Bristol in 1993. As well as directing The Gesualdo Six, he maintains a busy schedule of conducting projects with ensembles including the BBC Singers, the Academy of Ancient Music and London Mozart Players. He is also the Musical Director of Cambridge Chorale.
Owain’s compositions are published by Novello and have been performed internationally by ensembles including The Tallis Scholars and the Aurora Orchestra. While at Cambridge University he studied orchestration with John Rutter, before undertaking a master’s degree in composition. Recent works include “Antiphon for the Angels” for VOCES8 and Rachel Podger and “Footsteps” for Tenebrae and Nigel Short. Under Stephen Layton, The Choir of Trinity College Cambridge recorded an album of his compositions which was nominated for the BBC Music Magazine Awards in 2019.
Owain is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists (FRCO), and was awarded the Dixon Prize for improvisation, having been Senior Organ Scholar at Wells Cathedral and Trinity College Cambridge. He was a Tenebrae Associate Artist for two seasons, and has worked with ensembles including The Sixteen, Gabrieli Consort, and Polyphony. Learn more at www.owainpark.co.uk.
ABENDMUSIK presents rarely performed repertoire from the 17th and early 18th centuries composed for string consort. The term “Abendmusik” refers to the free concert series established by the organist Franz Tunder in Lübeck churches in the 17th century and cultivated further by North German composer Dieterich Buxtehude in the early 18th century. The ensemble focuses its programming on the rich exchange of musical ideas between countries and cultures such as the British influence on north Germany, the Italian influence on German and East European cultures, and the unearthing of composers of color and their contributions to culture in their European country of residence.
Although it serves mainly an eclectic community of early music enthusiasts in the United States, Abendmusik is committed to actively broadening its outreach so that audiences represent the many ethnicities and cultures of America and the global society. With that in mind, Abendmusik is sensitive to the way in which cultures are shaped by social and religious values, visual images and allegory, and science and mathematics, ideas that mutually support themes through which it tells a story.
About Performance Santa Fe
Performance Santa Fe has been bringing the world’s best music, dance, and theater to iconic Santa Fe locations since 1937. The organization upholds excellence in the performing arts and brings joy and enrichment to the community. Alongside its extensive performance season, the organization runs dynamic, exciting, and inclusive educational programs for students in the community. Experience the extraordinary: Performance Santa Fe’s 2023–24 season, featuring 24 performances of music, dance, and theater. Learn more at www.PerformanceSantaFe.org. Performance Santa Fe is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.