Instead of dwelling on how sad it is for us to lose his distinctive talent—both as a musician and a collaborator—we’d rather state the obvious: Geoff Silver is integral to everything we’ve achieved.  And thanks to his hard work on stage and off, we’ve achieved quite a lot!

But now to the future. We are very excited to announce that tenor Steven Caldicott Wilson is joining us for the next phase of New York Polyphony.

Praised by the New York Times as “a powerful, polished and moving Evangelist” for his April 2011 performance in the Matthew Passion of C.P.E. Bach, tenor Steven Caldicott Wilson is a frequent interpreter of early music both as a soloist and as a small ensemble member.  In December 2010, Mr. Wilson made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in Handel’s Messiah with Andrew Megill and The Masterwork Chorus. In March 2011, he sang the arias and ensemble parts in Bach’s B Minor Mass at St. Thomas Church NYC; he also sang arias and ensemble parts in an 8-singer performance of Bach’s Saint John Passion of 1725 with Chatham Baroque in Pittsburgh. In May 2011, he sang the title role in Judas Maccabaeus with the Clarion Music Society under the baton of Steven Fox.  Steve is a graduate of Yale University’s prestigious Early Music Program and currently serves on the voice faculty of the Turtle Bay Music School in Manhattan.   Learn more about Steve here.

Again, we are very exited for Steve to join New York Polyphony.  In the short term—as we get Steve up to speed on repertoire—there will be some overlap between tenors. Geoff will be with us until December. His final show as an official member of NYP will be in Beaumont, Texas on December 16. Steve will perform his first concert with us on October 30 in Nyack, NY and assume tenor duties full-time in 2012.  Visit our SCHEDULE page for more details.

Finally, to celebrate Geoff’s tenure with the band, here again is a link to the gorgeous video he created for our performance of Christopher Tye’s In pace, the last track on our CD Tudor City.

It has been an absolute pleasure sharing my voice with you as a founding member of New York Polyphony.

Touring the wide open spaces of this great nation with my friends has been an honour and an adventure, and the warm welcome I have received around the country, has been humbling.  But the tug of the home fires is strong and next year I will relocate to the UK.  To that end, over the past few months we have been working on a transition with auditions and planning.  My colleagues have selected and appointed Steven Caldicott Wilson, a tenor with gorgeous colour and versatility, with whom I know the group will scale new heights and continue to grow in musicianship and excellence.

© Joanne Bouknight

I am proud of our achievements these past five years, and my contribution to the NYP partnership.  My favourites include the front page splash in Choir and Organ which we got before we’d sung very many concerts, working with Malcolm Bruno on I sing the Birth, getting a Billboard top ten for Tudor City, and, this year, signing with the fantastic Opus3, and exciting Swedish label, BIS.  The near future has further surprises and innovations in store for NYP, which I look forward to following on Facebook and Twitter.  (Remember that if you tweet them, they will tweet back!)  We have come a long way since the early days when the audience consisted essentially of our partners, and our new manager has some really fun gigs lined up.

It’s a wrench to leave my friends and colleagues, Geoff, Chris and Craig, who have the best voices in their class, and with whom I have grown as a musician and tenor.  I shall miss them.  But I look forward to being able to devote more energy to Acis, my boutique CD label and artist promotional consultancy, and to my clients on both sides of the pond.

– Geoff Silver

This afternoon we fly from JFK to Stockholm.  From there, we drive roughly 80 km northeast to the village of Länna where we’ll spend 8 days recording in a beautiful 14th century stone church.  (It’s referred to as the Länna kyrka, if you’re interested.)  After competing with the noise of New York City on our past two discs, we’re very much looking forward to working in a pristine, uncompromised acoustic environment!  The CD–produced by acclaimed producer/ engineer Jens Braun–will feature the music of the Franco-Flemish Renaissance– works by Crecquillon, Brumel and Clemens.

We are in the process of devising creative ways to share the experience of recording in Länna with you.  If we can get the technology sorted out, we will be sure to let everyone know where to point your browser of choice.  Stay tuned.

It would be a profound understatement to say that we’re very excited to be joining the roster of BIS Records, so I won’t even bother.  I’ll let you read the official press release instead…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BIS Records Signs Acclaimed Classical Vocal Quartet New York Polyphony

New York, New York – September 25, 2011 – Male classical vocal quartet New York Polyphony, who received international acclaim with the CDs I sing the birth (2007) and Tudor City (2010), has signed an exclusive recording contract with BIS Records. Slated for Spring 2012 release, their first album on BIS will feature rare and never-before recorded works from the Franco-Flemish Renaissance by composers Thomas Crecquillon, Antoine Brumel and Jacob Clemens non Papa.

Founded in 2006, New York Polyphony has emerged as one of the preeminent vocal chamber ensembles in the fields of early and new music. Praised for a “rich, natural sound that’s larger and more complex than the sum of its parts” (National Public Radio), the four men scored a hit with their current CD Tudor City, spending three weeks in the Top 10 of Billboard magazine’s classical album chart.

The ensemble maintains an active performing schedule and has participated in major concert series and festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe, including the Miller Theatre Early Music Series at Columbia University, Dallas Chamber Music Series, Ireland’s Pipeworks and Ardee Baroque Festivals, and the Vestfold Festspillene in Tønsberg, Norway. Future engagements include the premiere of Gregory Brown’s Missa Charles Darwin, a secular Mass setting based on Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species at TEDx Woods Hole, Massachusetts; a residency at Dartmouth College November 2011 and an appearance at the Festival de Música de Morelia, Mexico.

In February of this year, New York Polyphony signed a worldwide general management contract with Opus 3 Artists.

BIS Records, founded in 1973 by its current president Robert von Bahr, has developed a reputation for recording eclectic repertoire, including early music as well as works by many contemporary composers, ranging from Kalevi Aho to Christopher Rouse. The more than 1,500 titles in the BIS catalogue also include many mainstays of the concert hall, from a Tchaikovsky cycle with Neeme Järvi to a Bach Cantata cycle with the Bach Collegium Japan, as well as Osmo Vänskä conducting Minnesota Orchestra in Beethoven’s Symphonies. Based in Sweden, the label also has a strong suit in Nordic repertoire, crowned by the recently completed Sibelius Edition, comprising 68 discs with all the music the composer ever wrote. The enterprising choice of repertoire as well as the superior sound quality of its releases has made BIS one of the most highly respected record labels internationally.

Our high hopes were exceeded.  The competition was an enormous success.  We received hundreds of remixes in a dizzying array of styles from musicians all over the world!  So when the four of us began to compare notes on our favorite remixes, it became clear that selecting a grand prize winner was not going to be easy.  The styles represented were too diverse and the techniques employed too varied to apply a simple set of criteria to the 200+ remixes.  So, we listened to them… over and over.  In the end, our choices were based on a combination of technical analysis and “gut” appeal.  (And we argued a lot.)

Throughout the evaluation process, it became clear that our job was absolute cake compared what we were asking the contest entrants to do.  We just threw a couple of tunes into the electronic ether and said “go!”– no accompanying parts, no meter, no rhythm… we didn’t even provide any guidelines!  Against the odds, everyone managed to thread the needle in their own way and in their own style.  Hear for yourself– you can still listen to all of the entries on the Indaba website:

Victimae paschali laudes remixes
Gaudeamus in omnes domino remixes
Beati mundo corde remixes

I can’t tell you how cool it was to hear everything from Richard Walker’s hypnotic soundscapes and Wes Bender’s cinematic interpretation to Ken Andruk’s tree frogs (yes, tree frogs!) and AlexB’s epic guitar solo at 4:52.  And if you haven’t listened to The Cheese Factory’s gospel-tinged remix of Gaudeamus, do yourself a favor.

The end result?  The EP Devices & Desires, a 9-track, digital-only release.  To kick it up a notch, Ariama.com, Sony Music’s new online classical music store, signed on as our EXCLUSIVE retailer.  Purchase a copy today for only $4.99 by clicking HERE.

Because the winning remixes were so creative, we wanted to give their creators an opportunity to explain how they went about their work.  Here are their stories:

DAVID MINNICK (Victimae paschali laudes): ”I used no sound sources other than New York Polyphony’s vocals to make this. I kept the chant melody in tact and went crazy with editing, filters and effects. I used very short segments of the vocals to make drums, bass and other sounds. This was more fun than anyone should be allowed to have!”

ANDREW BROADWATER (Victimae paschali laudes): ”The mix was created using Logic Studio. Instrumental parts were performed by Peabody Conservatory and NYU alumnus, Andrew Broadwater. Instruments include alto and bass recorders, tin whistle, and violin.”

EILEEN CARPIO (Gaudeamus omnes gentes): ”The whole process was very instinctive and I did it one afternoon. I had wanted to try Paul’s Extreme Sound Stretch, an open source software. I used this to time stretch the original full recording. I chose a segment which most appealed to me sonically and laid it alongside the original track. Then I simply improvised 4 tracks of harmonies, not allowing myself time to think too much about it. When I entered the competition I thought that my piece would at best just go unnoticed. I’m delighted with the comments and feedback and the amazing community on Indaba.”

MIKE LIST (Gaudeamus omnes gentes): ”I work with Igor Houwat (oud) in a group called Wisaal that combines Arabic music with other influences including western art music, klezmer music and a bit of Indian and South American sounds.  When I heard about the Devices and Desires contest I had an idea for a remix influenced by some of the Aisian Underground music I have listened to.  I mentioned the idea to Igor and one week after a Wisaal rehearsal I explained to him what I was looking for and he laid down the ‘oud part.

In western music the lute is regularly associated with early music and the fluid rhythmic style of Arabic improvisation easily complimented the fluid rhythm of the chant.  I’m really happy with how all the pieces of this came together to be something that hopefully feels ancient, yet exotic and meditative.”

INGE SKALAND (Beati mundo corde): ”When I work on projects like this I usually start with listening through the vocal track a couple of times, then I import it into Ableton Live to “time it up”, I use Warp markers to stretch the audio stems i choose to use so it will fit the timing in the project and with beats.

The NYP tracks was a little tricky, chopping with warp markers usually makes artifacts to the audio. Especially if you increase the BPM to much. The reverb tail on the vocals is very delicate and may easily have been destroyed. I chose to start in 96 BMP and then after about 50 seconds silently increase the BPM to 120 to get it inn the beat.

I ended up with supporting the voices with two basic layers of synth pads, and made it as smooth as possible and to have a movement in the sound. To prepare and reveal the beat I used a soft deep bass sound for then fade inn the beat.  I filled inn some extra vocal samples, some recorded and some choir sound from the soft synth Omnisphere. For the synth solo part I found a lead sound that I liked and made an intro – solo and ending, I find it most easy to play the solo parts when the chords are there and the beat is going. When I find the basic moods, sounds and the chords, I try to stick to it and make additional elements support and fit to the basic sounds.”

BARRY PHILLIPS (Beati mundo corde): “I wish I had a snappy story about arranging the music, but it’s pretty straight forward. Since the chant is in free rhythm and since harmony is usually my first thought in music composition, I harmonized the chant in fairly modern homophonic style first. Then I arranged the map of the arrangement as solo lines with drone, solo followed by the harmonization that could have happened simultaneously but didn’t, and lastly the chant paired with it’s harmonization. Deciding those arrangement details took most of the time I spent on the arrangement.”

And, lastly, we couldn’t have pulled off this project without help.  Here are the people behind the scenes:

Audio editing: Acis Productions
Mastering: Tom Durack
Engineer: Jason Slote
Assistant engineer: Alden Slote
Design consultant: 125mg Design
Recorded at Grace Cathedral, Topeka, Kansas – December 2010

Special thanks to the Indaba Music staff and Craig Zeichner at Ariama.com for taking a chance with this out-there project!

Who knows?  Maybe Mr. Power was a wickedly clever man and able to imagine all those things, flying cars and cell phones with batteries that don’t die after 4 hours of use.  Regardless, I’ll bet you TWENTY BUCKS that he never thought his music could look like this.

Recorded at Saint John the Divine on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in June 2009, Beata progenies is a track that didn’t make it on Tudor City.  But it was too strong a performance to let it fade into obscurity, so we included it on Surrexit Christus, a 3-song digital-only EP released on Avie Records in June.  (The centerpiece of which is a gorgeous remix of Andrew Smith’s Surrexit Christus crafted by composer/ performer Bora Yoon and producer Btoven.  Read more about it HERE.)

Beata progenies.  2 minutes and 40 seconds of satisfyingly “hurndy-hurndy” late-Medieval music.  And the best part is, it’s available as a free download!

Download the iPod/ iPhone-ready video (it’s an 11MB MPEG in a zipped folder) by clicking DOWNLOAD BEATA PROGENIES below.  All we ask is that you 1.) share it with your friends/ followers, and 2.) click the LIKE button on the Facebook widget at the bottom of this page.  (We’re on Twitter, too: @nypolyphony)  And if you really like the tune and want it in a higher-fidelity format, go to iTunes and purchase the EP.

>> DOWNLOAD BEATA PROGENIES >>

PLEASE NOTE: The inclusion of the antiphon (Laudate Domino omnes gentes) was our idea.  We think Lionel would be fine with it.  He dreamed up flying cars after all.

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“Created to better serve classical consumers, the browser-based store has search and discovery features specific to classical music as well as editorial content from Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine.” (Source: Billboard Magazine)

One of the exciting features of Ariama is the choice of formats available for purchase.  Not only can users download in the traditional MP3 format, they offer a lossless digital format AND they sell CDs.  It’s a win-win-win.

But the MOST exciting feature of Ariama is that New York Polyphony’s Tudor City was featured as an Editor’s Pick!  What’s more, we received an excellent review by Anastasia Tsioulcas in which she named NYP “…worthwhile heirs to such performers as the Hilliard Ensemble….”

That’s no small praise.

“Seemingly out of almost nowhere, the male vocal quartet called New York Polyphony have become closely watched performers in the early music scene. On this, only their second recording (with a title that delivers a winking nod to Manhattanites well familiar with a certain East Side apartment complex, whose classic signage appears on the album cover), the ensemble proves themselves to be worthwhile heirs to such performers as the Hilliard Ensemble–not just in their sound, but also in the way that they mix Tudor music byTallis, Byrd, Cornish, Dunstable, Taverner, and Tye with new works by Andrew Smith, an English-Norwegian composer born in 1970.

Between the excellent sonics and, more importantly, extraordinarily lovely singing, this album is very close to an instant classic. Highly recommended.”

Visit Ariama.

Read about Ariama HERE.

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Pick up a copy today. If you’re a subscriber, you can view the article online… but you’ll probably need a password. (I’m sure you can figure it out.) Click HERE to visit the Classical Singer Magazine website.

Another interview with Geoffrey (and Chris Herbert) will be appearing in Early Music America’s 25th Anniversary issue (Winter 2010).  Here are some additional details:

“The Winter 2010 issue of Early Music America magazine (mailed mid-November) will be a special commemorative 25th Anniversary issue. Articles will include a retrospective about EMA by founder Ben Peck; a “future stars of early music” article by Heidi Waleson; 10 columns by early music luminaries (including Ben Bagby, Stephen Stubbs, Wendy Gillespie, Jeanne Lamon, Bruce Haynes, etc.) about the current state of early music in North America; and a special EMA section with features by Executive Director Maria Coldwell, plus much more.”

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To give us a quick overview of the shoot, Joanne took the 700+ photos and prepared a rapid-fire slide show.  It was cool.  Really cool.  Too cool to keep to ourselves.

So, with her help and permission, we threw together a few info slides, added an up-tempo (yet appropriate) soundtrack and voilà:

PLEASE NOTE: This video makes us look cooler than we really are.  Thanks, Joanne.

Sing for Hope is a charitable organization that mobilizes more than 600 professional artists – from classical musicians to photographers to Broadway performers – in volunteer service programs that benefit schools, hospitals, and communities.  In our case, they  helped us turn a small concert in the mountains of Pennsylvania into an event for Pakistani flood relief where the proceeds of our CD sales were donated to the organization Oxfam International.  (Read about Oxfam here.)

The humanitarian situation in Pakistan is growing more dire by the day.  The worst flooding the country has seen in 80 years has killed hundreds and displaced 20 million people.  Oxfam has already helped bring relief to an estimated 182,000 people in the north of Pakistan.  But they are still short of reaching their goal of providing clean water, sanitation kits and hygiene supplies to the estimated 14 million people affected.

If you would like to help Oxfam reach its goal of $6 million, please consider making a donation.

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Follow this link to tune into the archived stream of the service.  (The Gloria kicks in about 5 minutes into the webcast.)

Now, we’re in Woods Hole, MA for a remount of My end is my beginning, a 80-minute mix of ancient and modern music with composer/ performer Bora Yoon.  But we’ll talk more about that later….

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