Event

RenMen 1965

Renaissance Men is Boston's acclaimed male vocal chamber ensemble; delivering impassioned interpretation of men's modal music spanning the centuries.

We kick off the 2015-16 season with one of Boston's most highly-anticiptated concerts of the year. In this retrospective concert, Renaissance Men goes back in time to 1965 and illuminates the parallels from then and now, the progress we have made, and perils we still face. The first set will consist of traditional choral music for men's voices written in 1965, including rarely-heard drinking songs by Franz Biebl, Lennox Berkeley's chilling "Three Songs for Four Men's Voices", and a collection of rollicking Estonian folk-songs by Veljo Tormis. The final set will bring RenMen's signature in-house band back together for arrangements of pop hits from that year, from American folk-rock to the British Invasion.

The highlight of the evening will be the world premiere of "Five Clippings in 1965" by 17-year old phenomenon Charles Stacy III, recently featured in the Boston Globe. The piece, composed specifically for RenMen's nine voices, will comprise of musical settings of articles and advertisements published by the Boston Globe in 1965, addressing topics from the assassination of Malcolm X to the Vietnam War. Cinematic, ethereal, and emotionally gripping, this is sure to be a performance unlike any other heard in New England.

We invite you to attend a pre-concert lecture by Renaissance Men Artistic Director Eric Christopher Perry and special guests, and to participate in a talk-back session after the concert with our featured composer, Charles Stacy III.