ENSEMBLE ALTERA

Join Ensemble Altera, a chamber choir of "seamless ensemble perfection" (Boston Musical Intelligencer), described by the BBC as "something extraordinary", for an evening of 'Feminine Voices'. Feminine Voices is a groundbreaking concert almost three years in the making, featuring the upper voices of Ensemble Altera and the exquisite artistry of harpist Li Shan Tan. Music by women composers has until very recently, shamefully, been a relative rarity in classical music. We applaud and wish to amplify the ongoing movement to redress this imbalance. In that spirit, our program includes music by eight different women: Hildegard von Bingen, Imogen Holst, Germaine Tailleferre, Cecilia McDowall, Joanna Marsh, Barbara Strozzi, Elizabeth Poston, as well as a new commission for Ensemble Altera by Kerensa Briggs.

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The cherry on top is Benjamin Britten's beloved Ceremony of Carols, a work largely associated with boys' choirs these days, but originally written for the women of the Fleet Street Choir. Our version restores Britten's original vision. The music is a kaleidoscope that makes the perfect backdrop for the changing of the seasons, as we move from the stark beauty of autumn into the wondrous period of winter to follow.