OUR NEXT CONCERT!
Sisters, Saints, and Goddesses:
Women’s Music for Cecilia’s Day
Sunday, November 24, 2024, 7:30pm
First Parish in Cambridge, 3 Church Street in Harvard Square
Eudaimonia, A Purposeful Period Band (Vivian Montgomery, Director) presents a concert honoring female composers past and present who, in turn, honor biblical, mythological, and historical women through their music. Highlighted social action organizations: Boston Area Rape Crisis Center (BARCC) and Our Bodies Ourselves Today. Eudaimonia, A Purposeful Period Band is Artist-in-Residence at First Parish in Cambridge and is supported by grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
This remarkable program connects vocal and choral pieces by 17th century women with music of living composer/performers, highlighting trouble and triumph revealed by female figures who live in our collective memory: Venus, Mary, St. Cecilia, Alcina, Sarra Copia Sulam, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Inez Milholland.
Works by:
Barbara Strozzi, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Francesca Caccini, Dana Maiben, Rebecca Nelson, Nancy Prescott
Featuring performances by:
Pamela Murray and Janet Youngdahl, sopranos
Eudaimonia’s stellar string ensemble
Eudaimonia Voices, our new vocal ensemble
Directed by harpsichordist Vivian Montgomery
Join Eudaimonia to lift up organizations doing the hard work
of protecting and supporting women’s bodies and rights!
Admission is Pay What You Decide ($20 suggested), scan the QR code below
Information at eudaimonia-music.org
This remarkable program connects vocal and choral pieces by 17th century women with music of living composer/performers, highlighting trouble and triumph revealed by female figures who live in our collective memory: Venus, Mary, St. Cecilia, Alcina, Sarra Copia Sulam, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Inez Milholland.
Works by:
Barbara Strozzi, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Francesca Caccini, Dana Maiben, Rebecca Nelson, Nancy Prescott
Featuring performances by:
Pamela Murray and Janet Youngdahl, sopranos
Eudaimonia’s stellar string ensemble
Eudaimonia Voices, our new vocal ensemble
Directed by harpsichordist Vivian Montgomery
Join Eudaimonia to lift up organizations doing the hard work
of protecting and supporting women’s bodies and rights!
Admission is Pay What You Decide ($20 suggested), scan the QR code below
Information at eudaimonia-music.org
Eudaimonia, A Purposeful Period Band (Julia McKenzie and Vivian Montgomery, co-directors)
presents
Heart of the Sea: Ocean Music from Five Centuries
Sunday November 12, 4:00pm
First Parish in Cambridge Unitarian Universalist Church
3 Church Street, Harvard Square
an engulfing program flowing through two ocean-themed cantatas by Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre
and swirling around music by Telemann, Martin Codax, and Jobim.
The Social Action Partner for this concert is Ocean River Institute (oceanriver.org),
a Cambridge-based organization centered around savvy stewardship of a greener and bluer planet Earth.
Eudaimonia’s artists for Heart of the Sea:
Carrie Cheron, mezzo soprano
Molly McGuire, mezzo soprano
Alison Gangler, baroque oboe
Na’ama Lion, baroque flute
Dana Maiben, baroque violin
Julia McKenzie, baroque violin
Emily Rideout, baroque viola,
Rebecca Shaw, viola da gamba
Vivian Montgomery, harpsichord
Admission is Pay What You Decide ($20 recommended),
make your advance payment here.
presents
Heart of the Sea: Ocean Music from Five Centuries
Sunday November 12, 4:00pm
First Parish in Cambridge Unitarian Universalist Church
3 Church Street, Harvard Square
an engulfing program flowing through two ocean-themed cantatas by Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre
and swirling around music by Telemann, Martin Codax, and Jobim.
The Social Action Partner for this concert is Ocean River Institute (oceanriver.org),
a Cambridge-based organization centered around savvy stewardship of a greener and bluer planet Earth.
Eudaimonia’s artists for Heart of the Sea:
Carrie Cheron, mezzo soprano
Molly McGuire, mezzo soprano
Alison Gangler, baroque oboe
Na’ama Lion, baroque flute
Dana Maiben, baroque violin
Julia McKenzie, baroque violin
Emily Rideout, baroque viola,
Rebecca Shaw, viola da gamba
Vivian Montgomery, harpsichord
Admission is Pay What You Decide ($20 recommended),
make your advance payment here.
RECENT CONCERTS FROM OUR 2022-2023 SEASON!
Back to Bach: Baroque Music Swinging into Modern Times
Friday, May 12 at 8:00pm
The Barn Room at First Parish in Cambridge, 3 Church Street, Harvard Square
Baroque tunes have amazing lasting power! For over 300 years, the music of Bach and other baroque composers have influenced composers of every genre, from Rameau to Stéphane Grappelli, Rebel to John Williams, Marais to Dave Brubeck, Bach to Paul Simon and the Beatles. Eudaimonia brings the full sweep to life with their magnificent mélange of period and modern instruments alongside varied voices, curated and arranged by co-director Julia McKenzie.
This concert, supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, partners with Certified Music Practitioner Rebecca Strauss who will share the sounds and stories of her live therapeutic music work that creates a healing environment for those who are ill, experiencing grief or trauma, or in need of respite.
Performances by:
Pamela Murray & Shea Brown (sopranos),
Carrie Cheron (mezzo-soprano) & Matthew Anderson (tenor)
Na’ama Lion (baroque flute) & Diane Heffner (clarinet & saxophone)
Julia McKenzie & Sylvia Schwartz (violins),
Anna Griffis & Elisabeth Westner (violas),
Rebecca Shaw (cello) & Carol Lewis (viola da gamba)
and Vivian Montgomery (harpsichord & piano)
Admission is Pay What You Decide ($20 recommended)
Friday, May 12 at 8:00pm
The Barn Room at First Parish in Cambridge, 3 Church Street, Harvard Square
Baroque tunes have amazing lasting power! For over 300 years, the music of Bach and other baroque composers have influenced composers of every genre, from Rameau to Stéphane Grappelli, Rebel to John Williams, Marais to Dave Brubeck, Bach to Paul Simon and the Beatles. Eudaimonia brings the full sweep to life with their magnificent mélange of period and modern instruments alongside varied voices, curated and arranged by co-director Julia McKenzie.
This concert, supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, partners with Certified Music Practitioner Rebecca Strauss who will share the sounds and stories of her live therapeutic music work that creates a healing environment for those who are ill, experiencing grief or trauma, or in need of respite.
Performances by:
Pamela Murray & Shea Brown (sopranos),
Carrie Cheron (mezzo-soprano) & Matthew Anderson (tenor)
Na’ama Lion (baroque flute) & Diane Heffner (clarinet & saxophone)
Julia McKenzie & Sylvia Schwartz (violins),
Anna Griffis & Elisabeth Westner (violas),
Rebecca Shaw (cello) & Carol Lewis (viola da gamba)
and Vivian Montgomery (harpsichord & piano)
Admission is Pay What You Decide ($20 recommended)
The Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center presents
The Seventh Annual Alfredo and Demitra DiLuzio Concert
Dedicated in loving memory to Richard DiLuzio
Music by Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665-1729)
Curated by WSRC Scholar Dana Maiben
Performed by Eudaimonia, A Purposeful Period Band
Vivian Montgomery, co-director & harpsichord
Julie McKenzie, co-director & baroque violin
Pamela Murray, soprano
Carol Lewis, viola da gamba
Sylvia Schwartz, baroque violin
Rebecca Shaw, baroque cello
Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 3:00 pm
Slosberg Music Center of Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham
Free and Open to the Public, and live-streamed at brandeis.edu/streaming/music
Dessert Reception to follow at the Women's Studies Research Center, Epstein Building, 515 South St
Information at https://www.brandeis.edu/wsrc/events.html
The concert will feature Jacquet de La Guerre’s extraordinary music for solo harpsichord and sonatas for strings, alongside the remarkable dramatic cantata Judith. Jacquet de la Guerre, one of the leading French composers of her generation, began her musical career as a child prodigy, and made her life in music at a time when being a professional woman in any field was something of a rarity. A charismatic and highly accomplished harpsichord soloist and accompanist, as a composer she was an experimentalist and innovator, working on a leading edge aesthetically. Her music combines a fresh Italian verve and sense of drama with the elegant refinements of the French Baroque.
The Seventh Annual Alfredo and Demitra DiLuzio Concert
Dedicated in loving memory to Richard DiLuzio
Music by Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665-1729)
Curated by WSRC Scholar Dana Maiben
Performed by Eudaimonia, A Purposeful Period Band
Vivian Montgomery, co-director & harpsichord
Julie McKenzie, co-director & baroque violin
Pamela Murray, soprano
Carol Lewis, viola da gamba
Sylvia Schwartz, baroque violin
Rebecca Shaw, baroque cello
Sunday, March 12, 2023 at 3:00 pm
Slosberg Music Center of Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham
Free and Open to the Public, and live-streamed at brandeis.edu/streaming/music
Dessert Reception to follow at the Women's Studies Research Center, Epstein Building, 515 South St
Information at https://www.brandeis.edu/wsrc/events.html
The concert will feature Jacquet de La Guerre’s extraordinary music for solo harpsichord and sonatas for strings, alongside the remarkable dramatic cantata Judith. Jacquet de la Guerre, one of the leading French composers of her generation, began her musical career as a child prodigy, and made her life in music at a time when being a professional woman in any field was something of a rarity. A charismatic and highly accomplished harpsichord soloist and accompanist, as a composer she was an experimentalist and innovator, working on a leading edge aesthetically. Her music combines a fresh Italian verve and sense of drama with the elegant refinements of the French Baroque.
Our last BOUNDARY ISSUES concert was wonderful!
The Nightingale’s Unending Song (Our 4th Annual Boundary Issues Concert)
was held
Saturday, January 28, 8:00 pm
at
Sanctuary, 82 Main Street in Maynard
This crossover cabaret de chambre brings together the many passions, styles, instruments, and eras found among Eudaimonia's spirited members. We celebrate French women in love through music of Pauline Viardot, Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre,
& Julie Pinel and regale the nightingale’s beautiful persistence through cabaret numbers,
medieval ballades, and Sandra Boynton’s hilarious “Chanson Profonde.”
Wander with this uncommon ensemble into unending songs of darkness, delight, longing, and loss.
Our boundary-breaking excursion features soprano Pamela Murray, mezzo Carrie Cheron,
flutist Na’ama Lion, period & jazz reeds player Diane Heffner, violinist Julia McKenzie, violist Anna Griffis,
harpsichordist/accordionist Vivian Montgomery, cellist Claire Garabedian, and gambist Guinevere Conner.
Eudaimonia’s Social Action Partner for this event is Shelter Music Boston whose presentation will highlight newly commissioned music on poems by writers experiencing housing insecurity.
General admission is $20 in advance (tickets here) or $25 at the door,
with a “Pay What You Decide” option for smaller or larger payments according to income.
Make Advance Payment for Eudaimonia's Pay What You Decide Admission here!
The Nightingale’s Unending Song (Our 4th Annual Boundary Issues Concert)
was held
Saturday, January 28, 8:00 pm
at
Sanctuary, 82 Main Street in Maynard
This crossover cabaret de chambre brings together the many passions, styles, instruments, and eras found among Eudaimonia's spirited members. We celebrate French women in love through music of Pauline Viardot, Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre,
& Julie Pinel and regale the nightingale’s beautiful persistence through cabaret numbers,
medieval ballades, and Sandra Boynton’s hilarious “Chanson Profonde.”
Wander with this uncommon ensemble into unending songs of darkness, delight, longing, and loss.
Our boundary-breaking excursion features soprano Pamela Murray, mezzo Carrie Cheron,
flutist Na’ama Lion, period & jazz reeds player Diane Heffner, violinist Julia McKenzie, violist Anna Griffis,
harpsichordist/accordionist Vivian Montgomery, cellist Claire Garabedian, and gambist Guinevere Conner.
Eudaimonia’s Social Action Partner for this event is Shelter Music Boston whose presentation will highlight newly commissioned music on poems by writers experiencing housing insecurity.
General admission is $20 in advance (tickets here) or $25 at the door,
with a “Pay What You Decide” option for smaller or larger payments according to income.
Make Advance Payment for Eudaimonia's Pay What You Decide Admission here!
Eudaimonia & Improbable Beasts Celebrate St. Cecilia’s Day
Sunday, November 20, 2022, 7:30pm
United Parish in Brookline, 210 Harvard Street, Brookline, Massachusetts
Sunday, November 20, 2022, 7:30pm
United Parish in Brookline, 210 Harvard Street, Brookline, Massachusetts
Here’s your chance to delight in a collaboration between two unusual Boston musical groups – crossover historical ensemble Eudaimonia, A Purposeful Period Band and Boston’s premiere (and only) bass clarinet ensemble Improbable Beasts – to honor St. Cecilia, the 3rd-century patron saint of music, with early works re-conceived and new works folded in. Presented in social-action partnership with Tunefoolery Music, a Boston-based organization for musicians in mental health recovery.
Admission is Pay What You Decide, look for further information here at eudaimonia-music.org or on Facebook.
This program consists of august music for an auspicious occasion by Handel, Purcell, and Telemann, along with compositions and arrangements by Improbable Beasts director Jonathan Russell. Featured Eudaimonia performers are Carrie Cheron (mezzo soprano), Anna Griffis (violin), Diane Heffner (clarinet/chalumeau/saxophone), Na’ama Lion (period flutes) Colleen McGarry (baroque cello), Julia McKenzie (violin/co-director), Vivian Montgomery (harpsichord/accordion/co-director), and Pamela Murray (soprano), and other Improbable Beasts include Amy Advocat, Monica Duncan, Celine Ferro, Gary Gorczyca, Bill Kirkley, Marguerite Levin, Kathy Matasy, and Julie Stuckenschneider.
We’re excited to be sharing this program with Improbable Beasts, an ensemble that explores the deep and varied sound world of low reeds vibrating together in a full range of repertoire, and its expert members are some of the most sought-after clarinetists in the Boston area, regularly appearing with groups such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and numerous regional orchestras, new music groups, and chamber ensembles.
And we’re happy to return to a partnership with Tunefoolery Music, a community of over 60 musicians in mental health recovery where musicians find purpose and identities as creative performing artists, performing for over 200,000 people at mental health centers, shelters, hospitals, conferences, nursing homes, and for the general public. They emphasize their musicians’ strengths in performance, education, and paid work to help them become artists who can share the gift of music and hope with others.
Admission is Pay What You Decide, look for further information here at eudaimonia-music.org or on Facebook.
This program consists of august music for an auspicious occasion by Handel, Purcell, and Telemann, along with compositions and arrangements by Improbable Beasts director Jonathan Russell. Featured Eudaimonia performers are Carrie Cheron (mezzo soprano), Anna Griffis (violin), Diane Heffner (clarinet/chalumeau/saxophone), Na’ama Lion (period flutes) Colleen McGarry (baroque cello), Julia McKenzie (violin/co-director), Vivian Montgomery (harpsichord/accordion/co-director), and Pamela Murray (soprano), and other Improbable Beasts include Amy Advocat, Monica Duncan, Celine Ferro, Gary Gorczyca, Bill Kirkley, Marguerite Levin, Kathy Matasy, and Julie Stuckenschneider.
We’re excited to be sharing this program with Improbable Beasts, an ensemble that explores the deep and varied sound world of low reeds vibrating together in a full range of repertoire, and its expert members are some of the most sought-after clarinetists in the Boston area, regularly appearing with groups such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and numerous regional orchestras, new music groups, and chamber ensembles.
And we’re happy to return to a partnership with Tunefoolery Music, a community of over 60 musicians in mental health recovery where musicians find purpose and identities as creative performing artists, performing for over 200,000 people at mental health centers, shelters, hospitals, conferences, nursing homes, and for the general public. They emphasize their musicians’ strengths in performance, education, and paid work to help them become artists who can share the gift of music and hope with others.
Read a nice piece about Eudaimonia on
the Everything Sundry blog by Kathy Sands-Boehmer,
promoter for Harbortown Music.
And another, about our November 20 Social Action Partner, Tunefoolery
the Everything Sundry blog by Kathy Sands-Boehmer,
promoter for Harbortown Music.
And another, about our November 20 Social Action Partner, Tunefoolery
PAST YEARS' BOUNDARY ISSUES CONCERTS WERE THRILLING!
For Boundary Issues II, Eudaimonia’s versatile female component pushed the boundaries in a passionate and playful St. Cecilia’s celebration. The audience was treated to an unusual array of repertoire with a Latin bent, spanning Sephardic songs, baroque arias, early jazz, 17th-century folias and chaconnes, tango, swing, and new music for baroque flute with percussion. This performance excursion featured soprano Pamela Murray, mezzo Carrie Cheron, flutist Na’ama Lion, period & jazz reeds player Diane Heffner, recorder virtuoso Cléa Galhano, violinists Julia McKenzie & Anna Griffis, harpsichordist/accordionist Vivian Montgomery,
cellist Claire Garabedian, and percussionist Deborah Welsch Ibanez.
In keeping with Eudaimonia’s social action mission, the concerts were held in connection with a social service organization, in this case the agency associated with our Boston venue, Villa Victoria. IBA – Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción empowers and engages individuals and families to improve their lives through high-quality affordable housing, education, and arts programs. Representatives for IBA and co-director Vivian Montgomery spoke at each performance to describe IBA's work toward addressing local quality of life issues. Printed materials on these efforts were made available at the concerts, their work was highlighted in our publicity and program, and attendees were encouraged to make contributions to their efforts, in addition to becoming involved and staying informed. You can learn more here: http://www.ibaboston.org/
cellist Claire Garabedian, and percussionist Deborah Welsch Ibanez.
In keeping with Eudaimonia’s social action mission, the concerts were held in connection with a social service organization, in this case the agency associated with our Boston venue, Villa Victoria. IBA – Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción empowers and engages individuals and families to improve their lives through high-quality affordable housing, education, and arts programs. Representatives for IBA and co-director Vivian Montgomery spoke at each performance to describe IBA's work toward addressing local quality of life issues. Printed materials on these efforts were made available at the concerts, their work was highlighted in our publicity and program, and attendees were encouraged to make contributions to their efforts, in addition to becoming involved and staying informed. You can learn more here: http://www.ibaboston.org/
OUR PROGRAM
Ladino songs from the Spanish and North African Sephardic tradition
A Frolic of Folias!
Yo Soy Locura (Henry de Bailly, d. 1670)
Bossa Nova Folia (David Solomons)
Dos estrellas le siguen (Manuel Machado)
“Unser trefflicher,” an aria from Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet (JS Bach)
Folia (A. Vivialdi) - a virtuosic trio sonata with percussion
Sultry Arrangements by Julia McKenzie and Diane Heffner:
La Llorona (traditional Mexican song, arr. J. McKenzie)
Rolls (S. Grappelli)
Mourning Dove Bossa Nova (D. Heffner)
Brazilian Choros:
Passarim (Jobim)
Carinhoso (Pixinguinha)
Tango: “Nightclub 1960” from History of the Tango (A. Piazzolla)
Baroque Arias In Honor of St. Cecilia:
“A Song for St. Cecilia” (W. Hayes)
“The Soft Complaining Flute” from Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day (G.F. Handel)
New Music for Baroque Flute, Mezzo, & Percussion:
Fragmentos Nerudianos (Jorge Ibanez)
Ladino songs from the Spanish and North African Sephardic tradition
A Frolic of Folias!
Yo Soy Locura (Henry de Bailly, d. 1670)
Bossa Nova Folia (David Solomons)
Dos estrellas le siguen (Manuel Machado)
“Unser trefflicher,” an aria from Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet (JS Bach)
Folia (A. Vivialdi) - a virtuosic trio sonata with percussion
Sultry Arrangements by Julia McKenzie and Diane Heffner:
La Llorona (traditional Mexican song, arr. J. McKenzie)
Rolls (S. Grappelli)
Mourning Dove Bossa Nova (D. Heffner)
Brazilian Choros:
Passarim (Jobim)
Carinhoso (Pixinguinha)
Tango: “Nightclub 1960” from History of the Tango (A. Piazzolla)
Baroque Arias In Honor of St. Cecilia:
“A Song for St. Cecilia” (W. Hayes)
“The Soft Complaining Flute” from Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day (G.F. Handel)
New Music for Baroque Flute, Mezzo, & Percussion:
Fragmentos Nerudianos (Jorge Ibanez)
Video from this concert is now available! Click the three-lines-and-arrow icon at the upper right of the video box below to see a list of all the video selections in the playlist.
SPECIAL NOTE: WE WERE VERY HAPPY THAT RECORDER VIRTUOSO SARAH CANTOR JOINED US FOR THIS PROGRAM!
PROGRAM:
"Goldfinch" flute concerto (Vivaldi)
Chaconne and Rossignole from L’Isle de Delos (Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre)
Arbres épais, sombre feuillage (Montéclair)
Ombra mai fù from Serse (Handel)
Usignuolo, Bk. 1 (Barbara Strozzi)
Albatross (Judy Collins)
Birdhouse in Your Soul (They Might Be Giants)
Le Cygne — The Swan (Saint-Saëns)
Chalumeau jam (Diane Heffner)
Blackbird (McCartney/Lennon, arr. J. McKenzie)
So Tall a Tree (Bing Crosby, arr. Montgomery)
Skyline Pigeon (Elton John, arr. P. Murray)
PROGRAM:
"Goldfinch" flute concerto (Vivaldi)
Chaconne and Rossignole from L’Isle de Delos (Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre)
Arbres épais, sombre feuillage (Montéclair)
Ombra mai fù from Serse (Handel)
Usignuolo, Bk. 1 (Barbara Strozzi)
Albatross (Judy Collins)
Birdhouse in Your Soul (They Might Be Giants)
Le Cygne — The Swan (Saint-Saëns)
Chalumeau jam (Diane Heffner)
Blackbird (McCartney/Lennon, arr. J. McKenzie)
So Tall a Tree (Bing Crosby, arr. Montgomery)
Skyline Pigeon (Elton John, arr. P. Murray)