KAIROS - A Consort of Singers

• Edward Lundergan: The Dark Hills

“ ‘The Valley Sings…’ and sings well, thanks to the able conducting of Edward Lundergan and the superb musicianship of his Kairos Consort of Singers. Their tone is radiant, their pitch and rhythm impeccable, and their gusto undeniable. They bring sincerity to their work, and seem to live at the heart of the various texts, secular and sacred, conveying a wholesomeness and honesty that comes as a breath of fresh air in this time of jaded and glossy music making.”

Raymond Beegle, Fanfare [Issue 37:1, Sept/Oct 2013]

“Kairos’ new disc captures a bounty of fragrant and stirring music to captivating effect… words are set with exceptional skill… The 18-member Kairos sing each work with a keen sense of balance and interplay under artistic director Edward Lundergan, who is also represented as composer of three radiant pieces…”

Donald Rosenberg, Gramophone [June 2013]

“Kairos… is an ensemble resident in the Hudson Valley at the Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, dedicated to the performance of music created by composers from the same area. As such it is a fairly localized organization, one that you night think would be overly provincial in its performances and outlook.

And you would be wrong.

Normally I would expect an honest, solid, and competent ensemble from such an area, of interest to little except those who live in the area and follow the group. I would also expect some obvious flaws in the performances because of the amateur nature of the chorus.

And I would be wrong.

These folks sing, and sing very well. The music is replete with difficulties that include many leaps and jumps into higher regions that sopranos especially fear to tread, and they nail the notes every time. …[the Robert Shaw Chamber Singers] were always perfectly balanced—no section stood out that shouldn’t have. The ensemble was close-knit, perfectly in tune, and in possession of a dynamic range that startled those who heard them live. Many of these characteristics are part and parcel of Kairos as well, and they are anything if not accomplished. Bold tone, great dynamic range, and solid intonation fit their bill very well. The music is also very well chosen. I can’t remember the last time a program was so enjoyable. Not radical, not shocking, but elegant and melodic, emotional and colorful. Conductor Lundergan’s short When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer and The Dark Hills are wonderfully evocative, as is Arise My Love by composer Panaiotis. Craig Fryer’s Kyrie is a superb work with an echoing effect that makes me want to hear the entire Missa Brevis.  And Peter Schickele’s cantata After Spring Sunset shows a side of this prolific composer that fans of PDQ Bach rarely get to hear.MSR’s sound, recorded at Holy Cross Monastery, is close with good reverberation around the chorus. This is a fine disc well worth your attention.”

Steve Ritter, Audiophile Audition [June 2013]

“Under its current artistic director, Dr. Edward Lundergan, the present is definitely the sphere of activity in their recent CD ‘The Valley Sings.’  In particular, they have been very active promoting the music of composers associated with the Hudson Valley, hence the title of their recent release on MSR: The Valley Sings. And damned well, I might add. The 18 singers who comprise Kairos have a range of big, emotive sounds and dynamic shadings. Not only are they keen in their intonations and spotlessly clean in their diction and phrasings, but they are expert in handling the many polyphonic passages found throughout these works and used for highly expressive purposes.”

Phil Muse, Audio Society of Atlanta [May 2013]

“Most of the music is lyrical, mildly dissonant pastoral fare that’s easy on both the ear and the soul… This energetic, emotionally engaged choir sings like they own the music—which they sort of do, having commissioned many of the works… The engineering creates a close, vivid choral sound that makes for some excitement.”

Greenfield, American Record Guide [May/June 2013]

“As you listen to this recording, you can hear the dominance of light, or monumentality. There is much drama, a certain wildness reflecting the native scenery of the region. Light and air bathe terrestrial forms. Many of the pieces are religious, but they feel more reverential than they do worshipful, a feeling that inevitably creeps over you as you look at the majestic Hudson wending its way north to its origins in the Adirondack mountains near the Lake of Tear Clouds, a musical name if you’ve ever heard one. This album is a good way to keep up with contemporary music. It is both provocative and easy on the ear. It is a wonderful introduction to the glories of the Hudson valley, among which Edward Lundergan’s Kairos Consort of Singers must be counted. Kairos is a Greek word meaning the right, opportune or supreme moment. This recording is full of such moments. The high-resolution CD has not been compressed and reproduces the music’s dynamic range as intended by the performers.”

Susan Hall, ConcertoNet [January 2013]

 

 

INTRODUCTION
Since its founding in 1994, a central element of Kairos’ mission has been to perform and promote choral music by composers living and working in the Hudson Valley region of New York State, including both nationally-recognized figures and lesser-known members of the regional musical community. Our programming has always been enriched by the interplay between landmarks of the choral repertoire and new works (often performed in collaboration with the composers), and this recording is evidence of that fruitful balance.

The Hudson Valley, home to such varied interpreters of the American experience as Washington
Irving, Frederick Church and Bob Dylan, can also claim its share of prominent artists in the field of choral music. Aaron Copland composed many of his distinctively American works at his studios in Peekskill and Cortlandt Manor, and the versatile composer and musical satirist Peter Schickele maintains a studio in Woodstock. In addition, the much-honored George Tsontakis is a faculty member at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, and John B Hedges, one of the most promising composers of the younger generation, is not only an Ulster County resident but also a performing member of Kairos.

Among the first pieces by regional composers that we performed were two contrasting settings
of texts from the Song of Songs, James Fitzwilliam’s rich, lush “A Rose of Sharon” and Panaiotis’s
spare, pointillistic “Arise, my love, my fair one”. Our first commissions included Craig Fryer’s Missa
Brevis and Shirley Hoffman Warren’s Elixirs, excerpts from both of which appear on this recording. Craig Fryer’s “The time draws near” and his haunting arrangement of the Coventry Carol were composed for the annual Lessons and Carols service at our home base, Holy Cross Monastery in West Park, New York. In April 2012 our performance of Jonathan Russell’s “Rain has fallen” reignited the composer’s interest in the poetry of James Joyce, and in short order he produced “O cool is the valley now”, which makes its first appearance on this recording. Peter Sipple’s Three Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins, composed for Kairos in 2011-12, capture the poet’s spiritual depth and quirky wordplay. Three short settings of my own, based upon poems by Walt Whitman and Edwin Arlington Robinson, round out the collection.  [Edward Lundergan, Artistic Director]

KAIROS - A CONSORT OF SINGERS
Considered by many to be the premiere vocal ensemble of New York’s Hudson Valley, Kairos: A
Consort of Singers is a select vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance of unaccompanied
choral literature from the Medieval to the present, with particular emphasis on the performance
of choral music by living Hudson Valley composers. The group is Artist-in-Residence at Holy
Cross Monastery in West Park, New York, and performs throughout the Hudson Valley and
beyond. Kairos also presents the Bach Cantata Series, with performances of the church cantatas
of Johann Sebastian Bach at various times throughout the year at the Monastery. Since 2010,
Kairos has been presenting historically-informed performances of Baroque choral works such as
Handel’s Dixit Dominus, Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 and Purcell’s King Arthur. Kairos
celebrated its 18th anniversary in 2012. [ www.kairosconsort.org ]

SOPRANOS
Shanna Andrawis
Elizabeth Leonard Clifton
Amy Goldin
Amy Joscelyn
Carol Lundergan

ALTOS
Tricia Lewis Agar
Ann Foster
Patricia Marquez
Ingrid Narken
Kathryn Stewart

TENORS
Scott Borden
Craig Fryer
John B Hedges
Glenn Knickerbocker

BASSES
Donald Boyer
James Oppenheimer
Michael Saunders
Peter Sipple

GEORGE TSONTAKIS (b. 1951)
ROSSETTI NURSERY RHYMES
Poetry: Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)
I DREAMT I SAW A LITTLE OWL
DEAD IN THE COLD, A SONG-SINGING THRUSH
LOVE ME, — I LOVE YOU

AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)
THOU, O JEHOVAH, ABIDETH FOREVER

PANAIOTIS (b. 1957)
Song of Solomon, 2:10-15
ARISE, MY LOVE

JAMES FITZWILLIAM (b. 1963)
Song of Solomon, 2:1-3, 8-12, 16-17
A ROSE OF SHARON

CRAIG FRYER (b. 1958)
KYRIE (from Missa Brevis)

PETER W. SIPPLE (b. 1939)
THREE POEMS OF GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS (1844 – 1889)
PIED BEAUTY
THOU ART INDEED JUST, LORD
GOD’S GRANDEUR

JOHN B HEDGES (b. 1974)
EXETER RIDDLES - BOOK I
Exeter Book (Codex Exoniensis)
SHIELD (from Riddle 5)
BREAD DOUGH (from Riddle 45)
WATER (from Riddle 39)
BAGPIPE (from Riddle 31)
ICEBERG (from Riddles 69 & 33)

JONATHAN RUSSELL (b. 1979)
Poetry: James Joyce (1882-1941)
RAIN HAS FALLEN
O COOL IS THE VALLEY NOW

SHIRLEY HOFFMAN WARREN (b. 1948)
Poetry: David Appelbaum (b. 1942)
PURPOSE OF A CAT

EDWARD LUNDERGAN (b. 1955)
Poetry: Walt Whitman (1819-1892): Leaves of Grass
A NOISELESS, PATIENT SPIDER

CRAIG FRYER
Poetry: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)
THE TIME DRAWS NEAR
Text attributed to Robert Croo (1534)
COVENTRY CAROL

EDWARD LUNDERGAN
Poetry: Walt Whitman (1819-1892): Leaves of Grass
WHEN I HEARD THE LEARN’D ASTRONOMER
Poetry: Edwin Arlington Robinson (1869 – 1935)
THE DARK HILLS

PETER SCHICKELE (b. 1935)
Cantata on Japanese Poems
AFTER SPRING SUNSET

MSR Classics