CONWAY, Ark. (March 17, 2009) – Grammy nominated Trio Mediaeval will appear in concert at Hendrix College on Monday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the college’s Greene Chapel. The performance is free and open to the public. For more information, call (501) 450-1248.
A vocal group, Trio Mediaeval was formed in Norway in 1997, and consists of members Anna Maria Friman, Linn Andrea Fuglseth, and Torunn Østrem Ossum. To date, the trio has released four albums: Soir, dit-elle, Words of the Angels, Stella Maris, and Folk Songs. Folk Songs received a Grammy nomination as “best chamber music performance.”
The trio has developed three distinct strands of repertoire: polyphonic medieval music from England and France, contemporary works commissioned for the trio, and Norwegian medieval ballads and songs.
“For this particular program, in this venue, we have chosen to provide our audience with a minimum of textual information, and instead present a sonic (and visual) experience where the music is free to speak for itself,” Friman said.
The program, entitled “Lova Line,” includes three songs, part of a set of six Marian pieces, written by Andrew Smith at the request of the trio. They are:
- Ave Maria (2000)
- Regina Caeli (2002)Ave Maris Stella (2004)
The two Ave pieces consist of gently dissonant harmonies within a distinctly modern, modal context. Regina Caeli presents the original Gregorian chant antiphon in a setting where the contrast between the old and new is more pronounced. The program will also include songs and ballads from Norway, England, and Sweden, arranged for the trio by Linn Andrea Fuglseth, Tone Krohn and Andrew Smith.
"The voices of three women, each one distinct and yet all three closely melded. Nothing else. White voices, dark silence all around them. I think the group is breathtaking - arresting, vivid, calm but never peaceful, with every moment ready to bring a surprise,” said Greg Sandow of The Wall Street Journal.
The performance is sponsored by the Hendrix College Department of Music and underwritten by the Harold Thompson Performance Fund. For more information on upcoming music events at Hendrix, visit www.hendrix.edu/music.
Hendrix, founded in 1876, is a selective, residential, undergraduate liberal arts college emphasizing experiential learning in a demanding yet supportive environment. The college is among 165 colleges featured in the 2009 edition of the Princeton Review America’s Best Value Colleges. Hendrix has been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.
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