50th Music in Old Cracow Festival

Collegium Zieleński

Joel Frederiksen – basso profondo

Stanisław Krawczyński – conductor

C. Monteverdi, H. Purcell, J.S. Bach, M. Zieleński.

August 15, Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria, 7 Augustiańska Street

SPOTIFY LINK to the CD with Emma Kirkby, Joel Frederiksen, et al

Monteverdi & Schütz – Italienische Madrigale

We are the Munich ensemble 'versum vocale under the direction of the singer and lutenist Joel Frederiksen. Our focus is on a cappella pieces from the Renaissance period. Our repertoire includes madrigals, motets and chansons from the 16th century, which we interpret with great enthusiasm. With our music, we want to bring the beauty and richness of this era to life

27. Juli 2025, 18 Uhr
St. Barbara,  Infanteriestraße 15, 80797 München

Sopran Malin Eiband, Bryony Preynat
Mezzosopran Sarah Park
Alt Linda Oppermann, Katharina Starzer
Tenor Friedrich Esch, Thomas Padel
Bass Florian Eggers, Robert Schmidt

Tero Saarinen Company 
Boston Camerata

Since its world premiere in 2004, Borrowed Light has fascinated more than 50,000 people worldwide with its hypnotic fusion of movement, music and lighting. 21 years later the signature piece of the Tero Saarinen Company celebrates its Austrian premiere.

For Borrowed Light, choreographer Tero Saarinen found inspiration in the traditional songs and dances of the Shaker, a free church that was founded in the 18th century in the US and is known for its ecstatic Shaker dances and its strong work ethic. But the piece itself is more about universal topics such as community and devotion, than the Shaker movement itself. 

Tero Saarinen Company 
Boston Camerata

Since its world premiere in 2004, Borrowed Light has fascinated more than 50,000 people worldwide with its hypnotic fusion of movement, music and lighting. 21 years later the signature piece of the Tero Saarinen Company celebrates its Austrian premiere.

For Borrowed Light, choreographer Tero Saarinen found inspiration in the traditional songs and dances of the Shaker, a free church that was founded in the 18th century in the US and is known for its ecstatic Shaker dances and its strong work ethic. But the piece itself is more about universal topics such as community and devotion, than the Shaker movement itself. 

With the Tero Saarinen Company and the Boston camerata

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shakers movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

This TSC classic returns to the stage 20 years after its premiere!

American Spirituals, 1770-1870

The Boston Camerata’s pioneering programs of early American music have brought pleasure to thousands of music lovers, and have helped to clarify and define our country’s rich and diverse cultural identity. It traces migratory currents and flows of early American song, largely spiritual but also secular. Among the various communities participating in this rich American mosaic we encounter the Puritans of New England, the Shakers and their visionary monodies, Amish and Mennonites of Pennsylvania, and the newly-freed African-American religious communities. The musical sources of this program are drawn from European and New World oral traditions, hymns, psalms and chants in English, German dialects, early songbooks of Black churches, as well as gems from the still largely unpublished Shaker manuscript archive at Sabbathday Lake, ME.

Boston Camerata
Anne Azéma Soprano, Artistic Director
Camila Parias Soprano
Emily Marvosh Alto
Daniel Hershey Tenor
Colin Balzer Tenor
Joel Frederiksen Bass & Guitar

A Day with Suzanne - French Renaissance chansons meet songs by Leonard Cohen

A great modern singer-songwriter, a "troubadour," passed away in 2016. This program, is a tribute to his art and establishes a link to the French Renaissance chanson.

Leonard Cohen, who liked to call himself a "chansonnier," grew up in French-speaking Montreal, Canada. He is appreciated both as a poet and for his sensitivity to combining words and music. This project connects Cohen musically and poetically with previous generations of songwriters. Orlando di Lasso's famous 16th century chanson Susanne ung jour meets Cohen's Suzanne. Josquin des Prez's Adieu mes amours or courtly dances published by Pierre Attaingnant in Paris in 1529 combine with Cohen's songs and the eras converge. With knowledge of Renaissance musical practices, new diminutions on Cohen's music emerge, including original chordal accompaniments for viola da gamba or lute based on late 16th and 17th century models.

Ensemble Phoenix Munich
Emma-Lisa Roux - soprano, lute
Hille Perl - viola da gamba
Domen Marincic - viola da gamba
Joel Frederiksen - bass, lute, direction

est-ce mars - Harmonies of love and power, Paris in the Renaissance

In the field of tension between Venus, the goddess of love, and Mars, the god of war, this program reflects the musical scene at the French courts of the Renaissance. Antoine Boësset's “Ballet du Roy” contains amusing remarks about music and a wonderful hymn to Mars, composed for a bass voice. This is followed by the song - “Eau vive”, in which the fire of love cannot be extinguished by water alone, and “N'espérez plus, mes yeux”, with virtuoso variations and in “Amour grand vainquer”, a battle between love and beauty breaks out. Instrumental music by Robert Ballard and the song “Adorable Princesse” by Pierre Guédron, dedicated to Maria de Medici, can also be heard. The last part of the concert revolves around the song “Est-ce Mars”, which plays with the contrasting characters of the famous mythological lovers Mars and Venus.

Ensemble Phoenix Munich
Emma-Lisa Roux - soprano, lute
Hille Perl - viola da gamba
Domen Marincic - viola da gamba
Joel Frederiksen - bass, lute, direction

On the trail of Palestrina – A trip from Füssen to Rome

Works of Palestrina, Lasso, Senfl, Morales, Victoria, Ferrabosco, Marenzio

Füssener Festtage Alter Musik

with AuxAntiqua, Stefan Steinemann, Ltg.

Lute songs of Elizabethan England performed by three young female artists and a charismatic bass. An afternoon concert will take us to the courts of King James I and Queen Elizabeth I.

Performers

Lucie Strejcová – soprano
Barbora Hulcová – lute
Magda Uhlířová – viola da gamba

Joel Frederiksen – lute, bass

I am pleased to be part of the Smetana's Litomyšl Festival!

The captivating voice of Joel Frederiksen will be your guide on a journey through the night in Litomyšl and into the world of the mythical Orpheus. This fascinating trip into the realm of English, French, and Italian music from the Renaissance to the early Baroque will present songs that address two of life’s significant questions – love and war.

Joel Frederiksen will lead a small group of listeners through several locations in the historic core of the town. The lute, guitar, and the velvety bass of the American artist will resonate acoustically in various places with distinct atmospheres.

A Gallery of Kings: Uses and Abuses of Power ca 1300

Songs and stories of powerful Kings, both good and bad, abound in the Middle Ages. “May he reign forever!” sings the crowd, but the monarch’s power is limited: by his fallible judgement, his formidable adversaries, his love of power, and his own, precarious mortality. These ancient songs of kingship and its snares in Latin, German, Galician, Old English and French resonate strongly down the centuries, into our own, turbulent time.

Est-ce Mars - Court songs from 17th century Paris

Trio Joel Frederiksen (USA/France/Luxembourg)

I am very much looking forward to Leipzig! Thank you, Amarcord, for the wonderful invitation!

In the field of tension between Venus, the goddess of love, and Mars, the god of war, the program reflects the musical scene at the French courts around 1600. The program opens with Antoine Boësset's “Ballet du Roy” with amusing remarks about music and a hymn to Mars, composed for a bass voice. This is followed by the song - “Eau vive”, in which the fire of love cannot be extinguished by water alone, and “N'espérez plus, mes yeux”, with virtuoso “Doubles”, in “Amour grand vainquer” the battle between love and beauty breaks out. Instrumental music by Robert Ballard and the song “Adorable Princesse” by Pierre Guédron, dedicated to Maria de Medici, can also be heard. The last part of the concert revolves around the song “Est-ce Mars”, which plays with the contrasting characters of the famous mythological lovers Mars and Venus.

Ensemble Phoenix Munich
Giovanna Baviera (mezzo, gamba)
Emma-Lisa Roux (soprano, lute)
Joel Frederiksen (bass, lute, conductor)

est-ce mars - Harmonies of love and power, Paris around 1600

In the field of tension between Venus, the goddess of love, and Mars, the god of war, the program reflects the musical scene at the French courts around 1600. The program opens with Antoine Boësset's “Ballet du Roy” with amusing remarks about music and a hymn to Mars, composed for a bass voice. This is followed by the song - “Eau vive”, in which the fire of love cannot be extinguished by water alone, and “N'espérez plus, mes yeux”, with virtuoso “Doubles”, in “Amour grand vainquer” the battle between love and beauty breaks out. Instrumental music by Robert Ballard and the song “Adorable Princesse” by Pierre Guédron, dedicated to Maria de Medici, can also be heard. The last part of the concert revolves around the song “Est-ce Mars”, which plays with the contrasting characters of the famous mythological lovers Mars and Venus.

Ensemble Phoenix Munich
Giovanna Baviera (mezzo, gamba)
Emma-Lisa Roux (soprano, lute)
Joel Frederiksen (bass, lute, conductor)

We are the Munich ensemble 'versum vocale under the direction of the singer and lutenist Joel Frederiksen. Our focus is on a cappella pieces from the Renaissance period. Our repertoire includes madrigals, motets and chansons from the 16th century, which we interpret with great enthusiasm. With our music, we want to bring the beauty and richness of this era to life.

We are the Munich ensemble 'versum vocale under the direction of the singer and lutenist Joel Frederiksen. Our focus is on a cappella pieces from the Renaissance period. Our repertoire includes madrigals, motets and chansons from the 16th century, which we interpret with great enthusiasm. With our music, we want to bring the beauty and richness of this era to life.

The Woods so Wild - ballads to listen to and dances to dance along to!

Sunday, May 18, 2025, 3 p.m. - Bavarian National Museum, Mars-Venus Hall

1.00 pm - 2.30 pm - Introduction to Renaissance dance styles with Véronique Daniels

Bawdy songs and entertaining dances from the streets and theaters of London! Ballads with secular themes or news of the latest scandals were printed in England and sold on street corners. We will perform such ballads and juxtapose their arrangements for a mixed ensemble of unusual instruments, a so-called "Broken Consort". And there will be dancing!

We will entertain you with a mixture of courtly and peasant dances and invite the audience to dance along after the concert. Under the guidance of dancers experienced in historical practice, we will explore the steps of the Renaissance melodies together.

Performers:
Emma-Lisa Roux - soprano, lute
Giovanna Baviera - mezzo, viola da gamba
Félix Verry - Renaissance violin
Tabea Schwarz - recorder, one-handed flute and drum, viola da gamba, dance
Sam Chapman - cittern, lute
Joel Frederiksen - bass, bandora, lute, conductor

Véronique Daniels - Dancing master

4th Concert of the XVII Series “Between Mars and Venus”

With the kind support of the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the District of Upper Bavaria.

AUXantiqua // AUXnova

Sa., 3 May, Augsburg

Sacred Renaissance compositions and vocal polyphony!

Troubadour: 800 years of Song from Walther von der Vogelweide to Leonard Cohen

We will present highlights from our programms “Walther von der Vogelweide - Courtly Songs of the Middle Ages” and “A Day with Suzanne - A Tribute to Leonard Cohen with Renaissance Chanson”. Looking forward to this exceptional program uniting the Minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide (ca. 1180-1230), whose poltical texts are especially timely, with music of Renaissance Chanson composers and connecting it to music of the modern troubadour, Leonard Cohen. Loosely used, a troubadour could be anyone singing a song, preferably his own, and perhaps accompanying himself on an instrument. More specifically, we can speak of troubadours and trouvères in Medieval music, without whose written music, passed down in manuscripts, we would have fewer melodies for Walthers songs. Cohen called himself a Chansonnier and I see myself in the larger picture, carrying the tradition along.

Ensemble Phoenix Munich:
Vincent Kibildis - Harp
Félix Verry - Fiddle
Emma-Lisa Roux - Lute, Voice
Hille Perl - Viola da Gamba
Domen Marinčič - Viola da Gamba 
Joel Frederiksen - Voice, Lute, Citole, Direction

My love, how beautiful you are - arias and cantatas by Schütz pupil Caspar Kittel

Sunday, March 30, 2025, 3 pm - Bavarian National Museum, Mars-Venus Hall

2 pm Pre-concert talk with Dr. Sven Schwannberger

Caspar Kittel (1603-1639) was a composer of the Baroque era who is rarely heard today. As a pupil of Heinrich Schütz, he was accepted into the Dresden court chapel and sent to study in Venice. He returned to the Dresden court as a theorbist and royal chamber singer and replaced Heinrich Schütz as director of the court chapel from 1638. His arias and cantatas for one to four voices were published in the same year. They are among the early examples of the stile nuovo, the modern, monodic style that Kittel brought with him from Italy to Dresden and had a significant influence on the development of the sacred and secular cantata in Germany.

Performers:
Hannah Ely - soprano
Michaela Riener - soprano
Ivo Haun - tenor, lute
Jacob Lawrence - tenor
Michael Eberth - harpsichord
Sven Schwannberger - theorbo, flute
Joel Frederiksen - bass, lute, conductor

3rd Concert of the XVII Series “Between Mars and Venus”

With the kind support of the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the District of Upper Bavaria.

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Borrowed Light

Back in 1994 I made a CD with the Boston Camerata called “Simple Gifts” in an original Shaker Meeting House at Sabbathday Lake, Maine, wth the last remaining Shakers. The result was powerful and the CD became a bestseller. Later, the songs we recorded would be incorporated into a piece with modern dance. Although I sang on the original recording, I never performed the piece with dance, until now. I’m looking forwar to it!

In collaboration with the Tero Saarinen Company (TSC), Borrowed Light captures the ritualistic essence of dance and the profound strength of community. Inspired by the radical Shaker movement of the 1700s and 1800s, the work explores total surrender and devotion to a community. The live performance of original Shaker hymns by The Boston Camerata fills the space with ethereal harmonies that echo through the repetitive rituals of the movement. Collective identity can carry towards something greater, but at what point do its rigid values push the individual to the very limits of their devotion?

Franz Schubert: Die Winterreise (The Winter Journey)

Pre-Concert Lecture: Jan Golch (LMU) at 7 pm

Based on texts by Wilhelm Müller, Franz Schubert completed the monumental song cycle "Die Winterreise" (Op. 89) in the fall of 1827, one year before his death. The 24 songs in the cycle contain some of his greatest works. Schubert was particularly proud of these songs and wrote to his friend and fellow composer Josef von Spaun: "I will sing you a cycle of haunting songs. I am eager to see what you have to say about them. They have affected me more deeply than any other songs ever have." Spaun reported: "He now sang us through the whole of 'Winterreise' with an impassioned voice. We were completely taken aback by the sombre mood of these songs." The bleakness and desolation of the landscape sung about by the traveler, who tells of happy days in a summer of love and then of lost love, the barren trees, the snow, the dogs chasing him out of the village, the crows perched in the trees, the organ grinder playing his ghostly melody in a swirl of snow, left them perplexed.

The facsimile of the autograph (1827) and the Urtext edition are being used to prepare this performance. Schubert himself transposed his works, and the songs of Winterreise exist in different keys. We will perform the cycle in the version for bass voice. Some ornamentation will be subtly added to the vocal part, as Schubert and his singer Johann Michael Vogl did. As carefully as we approach the performance practice of the early repertoire, we also proceed with the same sensitivity when interpreting early romantic music. Joel Frederiksen will be accompanied by an historical fortepiano, as Schubert might have played.

Performers:

Joel Frederiksen - Bass
Lukas Sehr - Fortepiano

2nd concert of the XVII series "Between Mars and Venus"

With the kind support of the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts and the District of Upper Bavaria.

Lecture: Le Nuove Musiche and the art of self-accompanied monody

The preface to Giulio Caccini's “Le nuove Musiche” (1601) is a philosophical statement and an irreplaceable source of reference for us in the interpretation of baroque monody. We will take a closer look at Caccini's ideas, including his plea for self-accompaniment as the most affective form of performance.

Tage Alter Musik 2025 / Early music Days 2025

Forum historische Musikinstrumente / Forum for historical musical instruments

Vocal and instrumental Monodie

22 - 26 January 2025
Organizer and venue: Germanisches Nationalmuseum and Nuremberg University of Music

Contact: Dr. Frank P. Bär

Programm und Infos

Daniel: A Medieval Masterpiece Revisited

The fiery prophecies of Daniel, young captive in corrupt Babylon, ring forth again. This stunning, contemporary new production by Anne Azéma of the greatest musical play from the French Middle Ages involves lights, movement, urgent poetry, and a sterling cast including seasoned professionals, children, and Longy School of Music of Bard College students, to make 1310 happen again, in 2025. Our singers and musicians are supported by Peter Torpey’s deeply evocative lighting and special effects.