November 2, 1999

The Clerks’ Group to Perform Renaissance

Choral Music at the Middlebury College Center for the Arts on

Nov. 17

As part of their North American debut

tour, The Clerks’ Group will come to Middlebury College to perform

at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 17 in the Concert Hall of the

Center for the Arts, on Route 30. The six-member group, which

has gained critical acclaim for its recordings of Renaissance

choral music, specializes in the Flemish sacred music of Johannes

Ockeghem, a renowned composer of the late 15th century.

Before the concert, at 6:30 p.m., there will also be a pre-concert

lecture by Middlebury College Professor of Music John Milsom,

in the Concert Hall.

The Clerks’ Group, founded at Oxford

University by Edward Wickham, made its professional debut in London

in 1992. One of the ensemble’s Ockeghem recordings won Gramophone

magazine’s 1997 award for early music recordings.

Describing the quality of the musical

performances, Gramophone declared, “These are crisp, clever,

truly imaginative performances delivered with a confidence bordering

on arrogance. … Why mince words? This is superb.”

In recent years, The Clerks’ Group

has toured extensively on the continent and has recorded a program

for Belgian television. During the current tour, the ensemble

will sing music by Renaissance masters Josquin des Prez as well

as Johannes Ockeghem, and will perform in 15 American cities,

including New York and Los Angeles.

The Clerks’ Group includes Wickham

(director/baritone), as well as Rebecca Outram (soprano), William

Missin (alto), Thomas Raskin (tenor), Matthew Vine (tenor), and

Robert Macdonald (bass). The ensemble, following traditional Renaissance

performance style, sings by reading the individual parts while

gathered around a single choir book, instead of each member holding

his or her own score.

The Sunday Times of London has praised

the group’s singing, calling it “beautifully, shaped, impeccably

tuned, and miraculously well-blended in tone.”

Tickets for this performance are $9

general admission and $7 for senior citizens. For more information,

call the College box office at 802-443-6433.