The Fredösphere

The Vox concert on Saturday night was exquisite.  What a great ensemble.  Their intonation was really impressive.  It's nice to see how much Whitnie (executive director, soprano) and Chris (director) Wolverton were geeked (or jazzed or pumped or whatever word from your college years you would like to use) about their group and getting up in front of an audience. I'd like to know at what level Chris does his research when selecting music.  Is he blowing dust off of ancient parchments in the crypts of European cathedrals?  Does he rely on more secondary sources?  I know the work in recovering early music has really taken off in the last few years.  You can't swing an extinguished censor these days without hitting a musicologist with a pile of newly-discovered, neglected early-music masterpieces. Chris Wolverton is on a Gombert bender right now.  Nicolas Gombert (c.1500-c.1556) is an obscure composer who worked in the shadow of Josquin and whom Chris (c.1968-c.2058) believes is due for a revival.  He programmed one piece by Gombert for this concert, Musae Jovis, and I would like to hear more. My only regret is that they programmed no new music, but that should change.  They have a composer-in-residence, Kristin Kuster, and I really want to hear what she will do with a early music ensemble.