News & Press

Sweet Mother of God, the latest In Mulieribus album is good! For a group that boasts “a focus on works written primarily before 1750” (and the Barbara Strozzi concerts to prove it), this Portland-based choir sure sings a lot of new music. Their fifth album, Cycles of Eternity, features eight contemporary composers, among them exangeleno Portlander Craig Kingsbury, Reed College professor John Vergin, and Linfield College professor Andrea Reinkemeyer.

A great CD needs to have at least four components: first, an excellent group of musician-singers; second, a great acoustical space; third, a gifted producer and fourth, a superb recording engineer. The latest release by In Mulieribus, Cycles of Eternity, boasts all these attributes.

In medieval Europe, “Mulier taceat in ecclesia” (women must be quiet in church) was the order of the day, until for at least two more centuries. That didn’t stop the women of In Mulieribus, the Portland women’s group of seven voices directed by Anna Song, on Wednesday evening at the St. James Proto-Cathedral in Vancouver WA.

There are many fine mixed choirs in the Northwest, but far fewer adult treble choirs and men’s choirs. In the category of exclusively non-mixed choirs, two in the Portland area stand out: the male group Male Ensemble Northwest, and the other, heard in their recent holiday concert, In Mulieribus

Mount Angel Abbey Library has a treasure hidden away in the recesses of its basement that is about to be brought to life. It’s a collection of gorgeous medieval manuscripts maintained in a locked, climate controlled room. The illustrations and words from some of these rare books will be honored in song and video by the women’s vocal ensemble In Mulieribus in a March 4 concert entitled “Horae: A Musical Book of Hours.”

Teams that retain their players over several years are more likely to play better together. Witness the Amadeus String Quartet, a unit for 40 years, or in sports, Miami Heat/San Antonio Spurs. It is this, among other things, that makes In Mulieribus who they are: a constant in tuning, blend, and balance. The women think one another’s musical thoughts, hear their sisters’ voices almost before a musical utterance. They catch every wave together. In this case, familiarity breeds content.

England and Christmas go together like the holly and the ivy, at least in the American imagination. On the wet side of the Cascades, both plants spread like the proliferation of Dickens and Handel this time of year. Such worthies have their place, but In Mulieribus’ program of songs and carols from medieval and contemporary England, “Nowell Syng We” at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church just before Christmas, was a blessed relief – a joyous and beautifully presented alternative view down the centuries towards the roots of our musical traditions.

Like many of us stymied by the winter weather, the women’s vocal group In Mulieribus (whose name is Latin for “among women”) was late with a Christmas gift: Its Dec. 22 concert had to be moved to Sunday, Dec. 28. But a full house at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church received it gratefully, and well they should have, as this septet is among the most accomplished and appealing new ensembles formed in Portland in several years.

Like many of us stymied by the winter weather, the women’s vocal group In Mulieribus (whose name is Latin for “among women”) was late with a Christmas gift: Its Dec. 22 concert had to be moved to Sunday, Dec. 28. But a full house at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church received it gratefully, and well they should have, as this septet is among the most accomplished and appealing new ensembles formed in Portland in several years.

The new recording by In Mulieribus, a Portland-based, all-women vocal ensemble that specializes in early music, just arrived, and once again I can’t take it off the CD player.