This program features music composed by and for Italian nuns of the 17th century and dedicated to the great women of the Church: Cristina of Bolsena, Catherine of Alexandria, Radegonde and Cecilia, Ursula with her 11,000 virgins, all (according to legend) tortured and martyred for their faith. The list includes “the Marys” – Magdalene and, of course, the Blessed Virgin. These women were revered by the virgins – with a small “v” – who lived their lives enclosed (at times by choice but unfortunately, often against their will) within the walls of the monasteries. We present motets composed by the nuns themselves – Sulpitia Cesis (Modena), Isabella Leonarda and Maria Xaveria Perucona (Novara), Chiara Margarita Cozzolani and Rosa Giacinta Badalla (Milan), Lucrezia Orsina Vizzana (Bologna), Bianca Maria Meda (Pavia), Raphaella Aleotti (Ferrara) – as well as works written by perhaps better known male composers (Monteverdi, Legrenzi, Banchieri et al.) during the Seicento and dedicated to the nuns of the Italian convents.

CAPPELLA ARTEMISIA

Dir. Candace Smith

Elena Biscuola, Phoebe Jevtovic Rosquist,
Candace Smith, Silvia Vajente: voices
Annalisa Pappano: viola da gamba
Miranda Aureli: organ

Tour dates: 18 April – 1 May 2017

18-20 April: Brown University, Providence, RI

22-23 April: University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

24 April: Mt. St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles, CA (tbc)

25-26 April: University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA

28-29 April: Ancilla Domini Chapel, Donaldson, IN

1 May: Early Music at St. James, Lancaster, PA