Past Performances
Our Singing Must Not Cease - May 2026
In the mid-1930s, Randall Thompson composed a powerful choral cantata, The Peaceable Kingdom, that highlights the eternal struggle between light and darkness. This monumental work is paired with modern responses to it, including excerpts from the cantata Walk in Beauty, Walk in Light by Judy A. Rose, and works by the winners of Cerddorion’s 2026 Emerging Composers Competition.
Advance Democracy: A Tribute to Benjamin Britten - March 2026
As a gay man and avowed pacifist, Benjamin Britten navigated perilous times with precarious identities. We mark the 50th anniversary of his death with a range of works both beloved and lesser known, including Advance Democracy, his 1938 response to the rise of fascism in Europe.
Why the Caged Bird Sings- November 2025
Celebrating the resilience of the human spirit and offering messages of hope, beauty, redemption, and love in the face of powerfully oppressive forces. With works spanning five centuries- from William Byrd and Josquin des Prez to Caroline Shaw, Jake Runestad, and Cecilia McDowall.
O Clap Your Hands! - May 2025
Joined by special guests Parthenia Viol Consort, Cerddorion commemorates the 400th anniversary of the death of Orlando Gibbons with works by the composer and a world premiere for voices and viols by Calliope Tsoupaki.
Prophecies, Mystics, and Music of the Spheres - March 2025
An ethereal program exploring connections between music, mysticism and the cosmos, including selections from Lasso's Prophetiae Sibyllarum and a world premiere by New York composer Shanan Estreicher, with poetry by Laura Reece Hogan.
In Praise of Palestrina, Stanford, and Bruckner - March 2024
The year 2024 marks significant anniversaries for musical luminaries Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Charles Villers Stanford, and Anton Bruckner. Cerddorion’s program features Bruckner’s early Kronstorfer Mass, along with beautiful motets and Mass movements by Palestrina and a sampling of Stanford’s unparalleled part-songs.
Visions da Vinci - November 2023
Featuring music by Leonardo’s contemporaries, as well as contemporary works inspired by him. The program includes music by Josquin des Prez and Heinrich Isaac, the New York premiere of Jocelyn Hagen’s Triptych of Knowledge, the world premiere of David Stern’s Wisdom of Leonardo, and Eric Whitacre’s Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine.
A Celebration of Langston Hughes - April 2023
In collaboration with New York’s The Unsung Collective, we will present engaging and beautiful choral settings of texts by Langston Hughes, one of America’s greatest 20th-century poets, featuring works by William Averitt, Rosephanye Powell, Joel Thompson, Roland Carter, and Ricky Ian Gordon, among others.
Let My Love Be Heard -November 2022
Explore the all-encompassing power of love, in works ranging from Benjamin Britten, Claudio Monteverdi and Clara Schumann to premieres from contemporary composers Karen Lemon and Anuj Bhutani.
Onward and Upward We Go - May 2022
Cerddorion highlights the ongoing struggle to ensure universal suffrage and equality. Featuring: Amendment: Righting Our Wrongs by Melissa Dunphy (NY Premiere), Arise by Sidney Boquiren, and Romancero Gitano by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Sacred Mirror: Music to Soothe the Soul - November 2021
A reflective journey celebrating Cerddorion’s return to the concert stage, including sacred works by Josquin Des Prez, Arvo Pärt, Cecilia McDowall, and R. Nathaniel Dett.
Arise - Cerddorion’s first live-remote performance - June 2021
In 2019 Cerddorion commissioned a new work by Sidney Boquiren marking the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, but the premiere was delayed until June 2021 (due to the pandemic) when we presented a live performance online. Watch YouTube performance
Celebrating Our Audience: A Cornucopia of Fan Favorites - November 2019
We begin our 25th anniversary season with best-loved selections from our repertoire, based on audience feedback: works by Josquin, Byrd, Monteverdi, Brahms, Britten, Lang, Levine, and others.
Timeless Muse – June 2019
Works from the past paired with later works they inspired. Featuring music by Hildegard of Bingen, Byrd, Palestrina, Victoria, Bruckner, Messaien, and others; also the winners of Cerddorion’s seventh annual Emerging Composers Competition.
The Splendor of Gabrieli, Schütz, and Monteverdi – March 2019
Spectacular polychoral music from the pinnacle of the Baroque era, with guest brass and string choirs.
And Love Waits – November 2018
American composers setting texts by American poets. Featuring a world premiere by Susan Kander on poems by William Carlos Williams. Also works by Aaron Copland, Elliot Carter, Elliot Z. Levine, William Schuman, Eric Whitacre, and others.
To Be Sung on the Water – June 2018
Works evoking the moods and motions of water. Including compositions by Victoria, Monteverdi, Elgar, Barber, R. Murray Schafer, and the winners of Cerddorion’s sixth annual Emerging Composers Competition.
American Virtuosi: Copland and Bernstein – March 2018
Seldom-performed works by the foremost American composers of the 20th century. Featuring Copland’s In the Beginning and early motets; and, to mark Bernstein’s centennial, his choruses from The Lark. With narration by acclaimed actress Phumzile Sitole.
Geniuses of the Reformation – November 2017
Music in the Lutheran tradition, to mark the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. With works by Josquin, Sweelinck, Schütz, Bach, Brahms, and Distler.
Reverent Cadence and Subtle Psalm – June 2017
Sacred music spanning five centuries, including Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to St. Cecilia; works by Byrd, Schumann, Stanford, and Nico Muhly; and two world premieres by the winners of Cerddorion’s fifth annual Emerging Composers Competition.
Four Musical Luminaries: Palestrina, Lassus, Bach, and Handel – March 2017
An inspiring juxtaposition of works by four revered composers, featuring Handel’s Let Thy Hand Be Strengthened, J.S. Bach’s Christ lag in Todesbanden, and sacred and secular works by Palestrina and Lassus. With guest artist Dongmyung Ahn, baroque violin, leading the Aaron Copland School of Music’s Baroque Ensemble.