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.