Mary E. Larew

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"Mary E Larew...is beginning to make a name for herself as director of Viriditas"

- The Press, York, June 27, 2008

"Larew's enterprise, triumphantly successful...was a brave and attractive show, intelligibly sung and carrying a powerful ring of medieval truth."
- The Press, York, June 22, 2007

"Mary E. Larew personifies the Oberlin idea of fearless: a spirit of adventure focused by discipline and intent."
- Oberlin College website

"The most evocative response was Mary E. Larew’s En un Vergier (In an orchard), whose spare harmony remained true to the poetry’s medieval origins."
- The Press, York, March 10, 2010

Current Projects

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I am currently involved in a number of projects at various stages of fruition. This pages has information about my current and upcoming creative work.

Compositions:
This summer my good friend Sam Sytsma asked me to write a piece for a series of concerts he will be performing with pianist Melsen Carlsen. I was really excited to write "Butterfly Vocalise" for these amazing musicians. After singing with Sam for several years in Uncloistered, I can almost hear every note of his voice. Melsen is a pianist I've long admired, from when we were students at Oberlin together. Sam and Melsen will be performing "Butterfly Vocalise" on February 12th in Farmington.

February is a good month for me in Maine. In December I wrote a short, comic choral piece called "Mr. Finney's Turnip." I submitted this piece to a contest hosted by the Longfellow Chorus, based in Portland, ME, and they selected the piece to premiere in February! The reports from rehearsals are good -- the choir is aiming to perform the piece by memory on their concert at the end of the month. I'm looking forward to attending!

Over the next couple of months I'll be writing a piece for the Christ Church Choir in New Haven. It is an honor to be commissioned to write for this ensemble, which I love singing with each week. The piece will be a setting of "Laetare Jerusalem", to serve as an introit for Laetare Sunday (April 3).

I'm also continuing work on opera I've been writing (or thinking about writing) for the last four years. It's based on the long poem by W.S. Merwin, 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon'. Merwin's poem is incredibly beautiful and there is enough dialogue that it transforms very well into a libretto. It will be scored for early instruments and singers experienced in early music singing but the music itself isn't in the style of early music: a majority of the material is based on pentatonic scales that are manipulated using techniques from serialism. This is the year to finish the piece; I can hardly wait to get it wrapped up and sent off to some excellent performers.

Performances and Recordings:
Fellow New Haven singer Tuesday Rupp and I are scheming to establish a new ensemble -- Ensemble Pavo -- based in New Haven. Stay tuned for the big debut!

I feel very fortunate to be premiering Herman Whitfield III's third sonata for violin and piano. He recently completed the first movement and it is beautiful. We're planning a tour and recording in the coming year.

Now all the members of Uncloistered are once again based in the same country (the US) we are very excited to be planning two tours in 2011. The first will be in March and the second in June.

Meanwhile, David Rose and I are co-producing a surround-sound album of medieval music-dramas celebrating Easter. This exciting and unique recording will be released in 2011, and Viriditas Opera will tour Quem Queritis: Medieval Easter Dramas in the US and Britain.

Other news:

I recently relocated to New Haven, Connecticut, in August. It is fantastic to live so close to both Boston and New York City, and to be so busy with work here in Connecticut.

Teaching

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Mary E. Larew is an experienced teacher of violin and of singing. She is trained to teach the Suzuki Violin Method through Book Four and is also able to provide coaching to more advanced learners. Mary has growing studios at Neighborhood Music School in New Haven and at the University of Connecticut Community School of the Arts in Mansfield-Storrs.

Mary has directed several larger vocal ensembles and has led workshops, including early music days for adults, through the Northeast Early Music Forum, University of York and the Inventing Earth Foundation. She was also invited to lead a workshop with the Collegium Musicum at Wesleyan University in 2010.

Links

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Ensembles and Individuals:

Organizations and Institutions:

Recordings

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Viriditas Opera is currently recording an album of medieval Easter music-dramas in surround sound. This CD will be released concurrently with a tour of the US and Britain in 2011.

Uncloistered recently recorded Meditations, a jazz cross-over piece by Siobhan Lamb, featuring award-winning jazz trumpeter Gerard Presencer. The CD was released by Basho Music.

York-based indie band The Yards recently released their second album, Imperial Measures, on the Industrial Erotica Records label, in March 2009. Mary features in a string quartet backing two of the tracks.

Mary joined the Ebor Singers for their recording Dusk Songs, released by Boreas Music in 2007.

Mary has also performed with the Renaissance wind band Ciramella and can be heard on their CD Sacred and Secular Music From Renaissance Germany, which was released by Naxos in 2006.

Audio and Video recordings of Quem Queritis: Medieval Easter Dramas, Ordo Virtutum, Ludus Danielis, andHerod and the Slaughter of the Innocents, all directed by Mary E. Larew, may be available on request. For more information email: viriditasopera (at) gmail.com

Press

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A selection of press coverage of Mary E. Larew's work:

Portland Herald Preview: Longfellow Chorus Premiere

York Press Review: Bright Cecilia Premiere

York Press Review: Herod and the Slaughter of the Innocents

Oberlin Conservatory Student Director Presents Medieval Music Drama Ludus Danielis in Cleveland, Boston and Oberlin

Oberlin Senior Named Marshall Scholar

Early Music America Announces Annual Awards

Weill The Angry Young Man - And His Plot On Tsar's Life

Calender

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Selected Upcoming Engagements:
February 11, 2012. St. Thomas Church, New Haven. Recital chorus, directed by Noah Horn. Thomas Tallis's "Spem in Alium".

March 5-11, 2012. New York. Uncloistered tour. See: www.uncloistered.com.

March 18, 2012. Elgin Youth Symphony Orchestra, Elgin, IL. Premiere "Three Blackbirds", commissioned from Mary Larew by Daniel Beder for EYSO.

Selected Recent Concerts and Events:
December 11, 2011. Christ Church, New Haven. Premiere "Gaudete", commissioned from Mary Larew by Noah Horn for Christ Church Choir.

December 9, 2011. Neighborhood Music School, New Haven. "Across the Centennials: Ceremonial Music for Christmas".

December 3, 2011. New Haven Lawn Club. Neighborhood Music School Centennial Ball, featuring NMS Faculty String Quartet.

November 4, 2011. Neighborhood Music School, New Haven. "Women's Work: Music by Women 1911-1912".

September 25, 2011. Episcopal Church Yale, New Haven. Soloist: Purcell's "Evening Hymn" and Stanford "Magnificat"

July 19. Neighborhood Music School, New Haven. Twilight Tuesday: Ragtime concert.

July 2-3, 2011. Wallingford and Madison, CT. Wallingford Symphony.

April 30-May 2, 2011. Paul Mellon Arts Center, Wallingford, CT. Wallingford Symphony.

April 3, 2011. Christ Church, New Haven. Premiere of “Laetare”, commissioned by Christ Church Choir and performed as introit for Sunday service.

March 25, 2011. Neighborhood Music School, New Haven. NMS Faculty Ragtime band concert.

March 7-13, 2011. Connecticut and Massachusetts. Uncloistered tour. See: www.uncloistered.com

February 27, 2011. The First Parish in Portland, ME. Premiere of “Mr. Finney's Turnip”, winner of 3rd Place in competition hosted by the Longfellow Chorus,

February 20, 2011. Battell Chapel, New Haven. Recital Chorus. Ligeti's “Nacht – Morgen” and Strauss's “Der Abend”.

February 12, 2011. Farmington, ME. Premiere of “Butterfly Vocalise”, commissioned by Sam Sytsma and Melsen Carlsen.

February 12, 2011. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ. Presenting paper: “Etudes: Medieval Music-Dramas as Studies” at ACMRS conference.

February 5, 2011. Christ Church, New Haven, CT. House of Clouds Benefit Concert. Program including Bernstein's “Chichester Psalms”, Britt's “House of Clouds”, and Faure's “Requiem”.

December 12, 2010. von der Mehden Recital Hall, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. Suzuki Group Class Recital.

December 10, 2010. Wesleyan Collegium. Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT. Program of sacred music from Tudor England including Sheppard's “In Media Vita”.

November 18, 2010. Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT. Collegium Musicum workshop.

November 15, 2010. Battell Chapel, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Repertory Chorus Recital. Including works by Blow, Britten, Byrd, Howells, Ockeghem, Schütz, Stanford, Tallis, Victoria, Weelks.

November 12, 2010. "Dvorak in America": on Neighborhood Music School "Bach's Lunch" concert series New Haven, CT. Faculty string quartet performing Dvorak's "American" String Quartet.

November 2, 2010. Christ Church, New Haven, CT. All Souls Requiem.
Requiem - Fauré

October 17, 2010. Christ Church, New Haven, CT. Evensong service conducted by James Vivian including Hear my words, ye people**.

October 10, 2010. Battell Chapel, Yale University, New Haven, CT. Recital chorus: Brian Bartoldus' MMA in Choral Conducting. Program including: Britten's "Ode to St. Cecilia"** and Purcell's "Funeral Sentences".

June 28 - July 2, 2010. Preucil School of Music, Iowa City, Iowa. Teaching music theory and coaching ensembles during a week-long intensive chamber music festival for young musicians.

June 19-23, 2010. Bossall Parish Church, York, UK. Viriditas Opera recording an album of medieval Easter dramas.

May 4-13, 2010. Prescott College Chapel, Prescott, Arizona. Four workshops on: Singing Hildegard's Chants; Early Music Singing; Vocal Music of the World; American Shape-Note Singing.

August 1, 2009. Unitarian Chapel, St. Saviourgate, York, UK. Bright Cecilia performs Lost Songs, a selection of new settings of trobairitz texts. Composers include: Roger Marsh, Bill Brooks, Kerry Andrew, Edward Caine, Mary Larew, Stef Conner, Elizabeth Dyer, and Jon Hughes.

July 26, 2009. St. Georgskirche, Nieder-Olm, Germany. Yorvox collaborates with German ensemble Cantiamo 09 as part of the Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz festival.

July 25, 2009. Katharinenkirche, Oppenheim, Germany. Yorvox collaborates with German ensemble Cantiamo 09 as part of the Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz festival.

July 24, 2009. Liebfrauenkirche, Worms, Germany. Yorvox collaborates with German ensemble Cantiamo 09 as part of the Kultursommer Rheinland-Pfalz festival.

July 19, 2009. St. Mary the Virgin and St. Everilda, Everingham, North Yorkshire, UK. Yorvox performs works before embarking on a tour in Germany.

June 13, 2009. Rymer Auditorium, University of York, UK. UK premiere of Sucktion, an opera for soprano, percussion and electronics by Anne LeBaron. Featuring Marja Liisa Kay (soprano), Martin Scheuregger (percussion) and Alex Harker (electronics).

May 29, 2009. Lincoln Cathedral, UK. Meditations, by Siobhan Lamb. Jazz cross-over piece for vocal quartet, string quartet, harp, ethnic percussion, and jazz trumpeter Gerard Presencer.

May 16, 2009, 4 pm. Department of Music, University of York, UK. Viriditas Opera presents the first installment of the York Playbook: The Emperor's New Clothes, by Hilary Nicholls. World premiere directed by Mary E. Larew.

May 13, 2009, 5 pm. Cemetery Chapel, York, UK. Viriditas Opera presents the first installment of the York Playbook: The Emperor's New Clothes, by Hilary Nicholls. World premiere directed by Mary E. Larew.

May 10, 2009, 7pm. National Centre for Early Music, York, UK. Viriditas Opera presents the first installment of the York Playbook: The Emperor's New Clothes, by Hilary Nicholls. World premiere directed by Mary E. Larew.

April 28, 2009, 7.30 pm. St. Olave's Church, York, UK. Viriditas Opera, directed by Mary E. Larew, presents Quem Queritis: Medieval Easter Dramas. This performance will be the final production submitted as part of Mary's PhD requirements.

April 26, 2009, 10 am. University of Huddersfield, UK. Paper presentation in Old and New conference: Modern Medieval Music-Drama.

April 22, 2009, 2 pm. Senate House Library, London, UK. Lecture-demonstration in Musical Bodies conference. Paper – Medieval Art in Modern Performance – written and presented by Mary E. Larew. Featuring Robin Bier, Rosemary Carlton-Willis, Louisa Dobson, and Graham Bier performing Cividale Planctus Mariae.

March 10, 2009, 8 pm. St. Mary the Virgin, New York City. Uncloistered's US tour: Clasp Hands and Jump with guest James Blachly.

March 8, 2009, 4 pm. Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Webster, New York. Uncloistered's US tour: Clasp Hands and Jump with guest Mark Edwards.

March 7, 2009, 10 am. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. Vagantes conference paper presented: Church Operas; or, Medieval Stew from Half a Jaw.

March 6, 2009, 8 pm. Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida. Vagantes conference banquet. Uncloistered's US tour: Clasp Hands and Jump.

March 5, 2009, 7.30 pm. Mercer College, Macon, Georgia. Uncloistered's US tour: Clasp Hands and Jump with guest Amy Chastain.

Ensembles

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Christ Church Choir, New Haven -- The Christ Church Choir sings the Solemn Mass on Sundays and Feast Days, and sings the Choral Office at Evensong and Compline. The fully-professional choir is composed of students from Yale University and professionals from the New Haven community. The worship at Christ Church, deeply sacramental, incarnational, and devotional, makes full use of the rich resources of the Book of Common Prayer and, true to the ideals of the Oxford Movement, music plays a very important part in the liturgy. The choir sings Psalms (to both plainsong and Anglican Chant), settings of the Mass Ordinary, the Gregorian Minor Propers, canticles, and anthems and motets drawn from all periods of music history while placing an emphasis on the music from our own rich Anglican heritage.

Uncloistered -- Adventurous vocal quintet founded by members Naomi Morse, Mary E. Larew, Sam Sytsma, Thatcher Lyman, and Chris Macklin at Oberlin College in 2003. Studied at the University of York, UK with coaches John Potter and Anna Maria Friman. Recent projects include a recording of Meditations by Siobhan Lamb, with jazz trumpeter Gerard Presencer, and a tour of the US in Spring 2009. Tours of the US are planned for March and June 2011.

Viriditas -- Ensemble of flexible forces dedicated to performing music-theatre from the fringes of the repertoire, medieval to modern. Directed by Mary E. Larew. Recent projects include the world premiere of Antigone by Jon Hughes, Ordo Virtutum by 12th-century abbess Hildegard von Bingen, and a touring production of Stravinsky's Soldier's Tale.

YORVOX -- Directed by John Potter, this ensemble of York student singers has performed and recorded with Red Byrd, as well as the Last Century Ensemble.

University of York Symphony Orchestra -- Mary led YUSU in performances of Mahler's Ninth Symphony in 2006 and of Strauss's Four Last Songs (with soloist Bibi Heal) and Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony in 2007. In March 2008, she led the orchestra as they performed Mahler's Fifth Symphony and Tchaikovsky's Roccoco Variations (with soloist Tim Lowe).

Causa Pulchritudinis -- 'For the Sake of Beauty' -- premiering new works, re-discovering the florid madrigals of the fourteenth century, this ensemble of York graduates formed in spring 2007 with an inaugural concert on the Sconfini Festival in Modena, Italy. Watch this space for future projects.

Eboracum String Quartet -- Formed in 2007 by four of the University fo York's most accomplished undergraduate and postgraduate string players. In its first year Eboracum performed a wide variety of repertoire in diverse venues, from a world premiere of a Chinese music drama in York Minster, to a Schubert quartet in a cemetery chapel, with stops along the way to provide workshops in primary schools and to entertain at Christmas parties, weddings and the 2008 University of York graduation ceremonies.

Biography

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Mary E. Larew is a native of Iowa City, Iowa USA, where she grew up studying violin and piano at the Preucil School of Music. A 2005 Marshall Scholar, Mary recently finished her PhD in Directing Medieval Music Dramas at the University of York, UK, where she also completed an MA in Ensemble Singing with her vocal quintet Uncloistered, studying singing with Lynne Dawson and Anna Maria Friman. These graduate degrees were supervised by John Potter. Mary graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

In 2006 Mary founded Viriditas, an ensemble of flexible forces specializing in music-theatre from the fringes of the repertoire, medieval to modern. The opening season included productions of Fleury Playbook Image of Saint Nicholas and Herod and the Slaughter of the Innocents, as well as Kurt Weill's The Tsar Has His Photograph Taken. Previously, Mary directed 13th-century Ludus Danielis and 12th-century Hildegard von Bingen's Ordo Virtutum, with performances in York, Oberlin, Cleveland and Boston. She has also performed with the Renaissance wind band Ciaramella and can be found on the Naxos CD Sacred and Secular Music from Renaissance Germany.

Since August 2010, Mary has been based in New Haven, Connecticut.

Contact

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Email: melarew ['at' sign] yahoo [dot] com