Elysium explores a woman’s life in early America. Readings interspersed throughout the program provide a moral backdrop for songs of love and marriage, child rearing and loss, prayer and the church community.  The simple melodies of Shaker songs, spirituals, and ballads are enriched with elements of vocal improvisation, introducing both contemporary and medieval textures.

Religious music in medieval Italy was not restricted to the Mass on Sunday.  While high holidays were celebrated with the festive performance of liturgical dramas in Latin, religious communities joined daily to sing laude in their vernacular Italian: songs praising Mary and the saints, songs retelling biblical tales, songs of mourning for the death of their saviour.  The pious gathered in cloisters or took to the streets in procession, sometimes beating themselves in penitence along the way and seeking pardon in heaven in return. 
Elysium presents several different programs which draw upon the spectacular legacy of medieval Italian religious song. 

With Piety and Passion, Elysium presents a selection of Marian laude, culminating in the Easter play from Cividale del Fruili.  Stage directions from the original Cividale manuscript provide the guidelines for a dramatic interpretation of Mary’s suffering at the foot of the cross.  We envision a sisterhood of faith, women for whom singing is both a profession of deepest love and a vehicle to salvation. Women who look to Mary, weeping with her and praising her, begging her to intercede on their behalf, and taking on her burden in the reenactment of her deepest sorrow.  The spectrum of their devotion ranges from intimate ballads of longing to joyful rhythmic celebrations. 

Out of the wintry darkness, a single voice heralds the good news of the season: Christo è nato. 
A colorful and joyous program of Christmas music from medieval and renaissance Italy follows, drawing primarily from the rich tradition of monophonic and later polyphonic laude.  The many aspects of the holiday story are reflected in the variety of the pieces performed.  Harp and drum join the dancelike celebration of the birth of the messiah, while the miracle of the holy family is rendered in intimate a capella settings.  The declamatory style of the opening lauda is contrasted with the pastoral harmony of later pieces.  Recurring imagery of light and color in the song texts becomes the basis for subtle visual effects which enhance the musical performance.

Folk music, like language, is constantly evolving.  Auvergne Chants is a new interpretation of traditional French songs.  The ethereal melodies, seamlessly sung, float over atmospheric accompaniment provided by a chamber ensemble.  The arrangements are inspired by such varied sources as contemporary serial music, medieval drone textures, and orchestral film music