Quire Cleveland presents "England’s Phœnix: William Byrd": Ross Duffin, Artistic Director

William Byrd  was England’s greatest Renaissance composer. Hear why with this program of glorious motets and anthems, nestled around his magisterial  Mass for 5 Voices.

Byrd (ca.1540–1623) was a Catholic composer at a time when it was illegal in England. Yet he composed with apparent impunity, because of the esteem in which he was held by his contemporaries and by  Queen Elizabeth I. Quire Cleveland made its début in 2008 with Byrd’s  Mass for 4 Voices. His music has proved a favorite of our singers and audiences ever since!

This program features some of the best of the best, including two motets that survive in a set of manuscript partbooks in Case Western Reserve’s Special Collections Library, and an exquisite anthem that only came to light in 1982.

Get in the mood for this concert with a visit to  Quire’s YouTube channel, where you can hear “ Sing joyfully,” “ Venite exultemus Domine,” and other works by the great William Byrd.

Quire Cleveland presents England's Phœnix: William Byrd
Ross Duffin, Artistic Director

Saturday, May 21, 2016, at 7:30 pm
St. Bernard Catholic Church
44 University Avenue
Downtown Akron

Sunday, May 22, at 4 pm 
Historic St. Peter Church
East 17th Street at Superior Avenue
Downtown Cleveland
Free guarded parking