January 18, 1999

I Fagiolini to Perform at the Middlebury College
Center for the Arts

“I Fagiolini brought out perfectly the balance
between restraint and underlying passion in a powerful and compelling
performance.”—The Times (London)

“I Fagiolini brings such life to music 400
years old it could have been written yesterday.”—Sheffield
Telegraph (England)

“…sung as smoothly as silk…”—The
Independent (London)

I Fagiolini, a seven-strong English a cappella vocal
group, will perform in the Concert Hall at the Middlebury College
Center for the Arts on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m. The group
will sing a wide range of music, from Tallis motets and arrangements
of South African songs to an original composition by one of its
members.

I Fagiolini’s roots are at Oxford University, where
the group gave its first concert in 1986. Initially specializing
in secular Renaissance repertory, the group’s members now enjoy
a reputation for tackling all kinds of western vocal music, commissioning
new works, and providing a solo team for oratorio and opera.

I Fagiolini first came to national prominence in
England in 1989 by winning the Early Music Network’s Young Artist
Competition and, in the same year, Italy’s International Marenzio
Competition. The group has since traveled to much of Europe and
further afield to Israel, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Morocco,
Egypt, and South Africa. In England, its members often appear
by invitation at the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room.

The group has collaborated with other musical performers
in recent years. I Fagiolini has performed Schubert opera with
the London Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, and fully staged touring
productions of Handel’s “Acis and Galatea” and Purcell’s
“The Indian Queen” with the Brook Street Band.

One of the group’s most exciting joint projects is
its work with Soweto’s SDASA Chorale. In April 1997, I Fagiolini
spent two weeks in Pretoria, Soweto, and Johannesburg working
on a collaborative album, “Simunye,” released by Erato
on the company’s new crossover label, Detour.

Other recent recordings to hit the stands are “The
Caged Byrd” (following “The Early Byrd”
in their Chandos Byrd series) and “All the King’s Horses,”
the sequel to “All the King’s Men,” a series of early
Renaissance secular recordings for Metronome that was named the
editor’s choice in Gramophone magazine.

Tickets for this concert series performance are $9.00
general admission and $7.00 for senior citizens. A pre-performance
dinner at 6 p.m. at the Rehearsals Cafe in the Center for the
Arts is also available. To order tickets or make dinner reservations,
please call the College box office at 802-443-6433.