Yale Schola Cantorum, under the direction of David Hill, has begun the release of a series of video performances in celebration of Advent and the Christmas season.
A Series of Lessons and Carols from Yale Schola Cantorum
December 16
O come, O come Emmanuel (arr. David Hill) | Spoken word: Sharon Kugler, Yale University Chaplain
December 17
Once in Royal David’s City (arr. James O’Donnell) | Spoken word: Cathy George, Yale Divinity School and Berkeley Divinity School
December 18
In the bleak midwinter (Harold Darke) | Spoken word: Sarah Drummond, Andover Newton at Yale
December 21
O come, all ye faithful (arr. David Willcocks) | Reading from Isaiah: Phoenix Gonzalez, ISM/YDS student
December 22
Hark! The herald angels sing (arr. David Hill) | Reading from Matthew: Nathaniel Gumbs, director of Chapel Music and ISM/Yale School of Music graduate
January 4, 2021
January 4, 2021 - A New Year Carol (Benjamin Britten)
Yale Schola Cantorum is a chamber choir that performs sacred music from the sixteenth century to the present day in concert settings and choral services around the world. It is sponsored by Yale Institute of Sacred Music and conducted by David Hill. Masaaki Suzuki is the ensemble’s principal guest conductor. Open by audition to students from all departments and professional schools across Yale University, the choir has a special interest in historically informed performance practice, often in collaboration with instrumentalists from Juilliard415.
Schola was founded in 2003 by Simon Carrington. In recent years, the choir has also sung under the direction of internationally renowned conductors Matthew Halls, Simon Halsey, Paul Hillier, Stephen Layton, Sir Neville Marriner, Nicholas McGegan, James O’Donnell, Stefan Parkman, Krzysztof Penderecki, Helmuth Rilling, and Dale Warland.
In addition to performing regularly in New Haven and New York, the ensemble records and tours nationally and internationally. Schola’s 2018 recording on the Hyperion label featuring Palestrina’s Missa Confitebor tibi Domine has garnered enthusiastic reviews. A live recording of Heinrich Biber’s 1693 Vesperae longiores ac breviores with Robert Mealy and Yale Collegium Musicum received international acclaim from the early music press, as have subsequent CDs of J. S. Bach’s rarely heard 1725 version of the St. John Passion and Antonio Bertali’s Missa resurrectionis. A recording on the Naxos label of Mendelssohn and Bach Magnificats was released in 2009, and recent years have seen the release of two CDs by Delos Records. More recently, Hyperion released Schola Cantorum performing a chamber version of the Brahms Requiem. Two new recordings, New England Choirworks and Schütz’s The Christmas Story, were released in 2019. On tour, Schola Cantorum has given performances in England, Hungary, France, China, South Korea, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Japan, Singapore, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, India, Spain, and Scandinavia.