Artistic Director's Message
Hello, and welcome to the website for The Countertop Quartet.
The Quartet...is no longer just a quartet. This year, we are
adding some Tenors and Basses. This being said, we will still
be known as the Countertop Quartet, but also this year we will
have the Countertop Consort, a group that will specialize in
lower-voice music, men only, Countertenors, Tenors and
Basses, and the Countertop Ensemble, containing all the singers.
This is also means we have a lot of new singers.
Sopranos for the season are Ellen Myers Kliman, Elisabeth
Myers, Esther Brazil, Deborah Sternberg and Rachel Barham;
Countertenors are Chris Dudley, John Bohl and Philip Sherman;
Tenors joining us are Matthew Smith and Stephen White;
and our three Basses are Benjamin Park, Karl Hempel and
Charles Parris.
This year looks to be very exciting. I'm hoping to use all
aspects of the group; quartet, consort and ensemble.
Hello, and welcome to the website for The Countertop Quartet.
The Quartet...is no longer just a quartet. This year, we are
adding some Tenors and Basses. This being said, we will still
be known as the Countertop Quartet, but also this year we will
have the Countertop Consort, a group that will specialize in
lower-voice music, men only, Countertenors, Tenors and
Basses, and the Countertop Ensemble, containing all the singers.
This is also means we have a lot of new singers.
Sopranos for the season are Ellen Myers Kliman, Elisabeth
Myers, Esther Brazil, Deborah Sternberg and Rachel Barham;
Countertenors are Chris Dudley, John Bohl and Philip Sherman;
Tenors joining us are Matthew Smith and Stephen White;
and our three Basses are Benjamin Park, Karl Hempel and
Charles Parris.
This year looks to be very exciting. I'm hoping to use all
aspects of the group; quartet, consort and ensemble.
| If you need to call us: (866) 364-6418 |
| Click here for Information on our Jamestown Concert, which took place in Jamestown VA on April 19th; It was repeated again at the German-DC Early Music Festival, June 25th, 2008. |
| Please Visit our blog: http://countertopquartet.org/blog |
Our Season
Saturday, January 31st, at 7:30pm, the Countertop Quartet will
perform its ever so popular "Music in Praise of Women".
We welcome to this concert a new Soprano soloist, Esther Brazil. She
joins us from Oxford, England and we are very excited to have her join
us for this season. This concert will feature music written by our
resident composer, Richard Rice, and many others. Those who
attended this concert last year in Baltimore will have a chance to hear
the program again.
Saturday, February 28th, at 7:30pm, the Countertop Quartet,
Countertop Consort and Countertop Ensemble will perform another
daring "Modern Voices" concert - featuring a number of Modern
composers as well as allowing our resident composer to shine (Richard
Rice) as well as our Young Composer of the year, Peter Minnig. The
second half of the concert will allow the new consort to show off its
colors, by performing some arrangements by the Kings' Singer's and
some other favorite tunes. This will take place at St. Peter's Parish on
Capitol Hill 313 Second Street, SE. Click for a PDF of the Program.
Details of the concert, directions, and more, click.
Friday, March 27th, at 7:30pm, the Countertop Consort, will perform
the ATTBB version of the Lamentations of Tallis. Also to be performed
in this concert by the Countertop Ensemble will be the famous Miserere
mei by Allegri. We will be using boy treble voices for the high top C's
in the solo sections, and have the rest of the Ensemble in double choir
perform it. Other music included is Lotti's Cruxifixus, Victoria's
Tenebrae, Dum Transisset by Taverner, and many more famous works.
This will take place at ST. STEPHEN MARTYR CHURCH, 2436
Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20037. Click for a PDF of the
Program.
No more concerts till September. Thank you for attending all our
concerts this year.
Saturday, January 31st, at 7:30pm, the Countertop Quartet will
perform its ever so popular "Music in Praise of Women".
We welcome to this concert a new Soprano soloist, Esther Brazil. She
joins us from Oxford, England and we are very excited to have her join
us for this season. This concert will feature music written by our
resident composer, Richard Rice, and many others. Those who
attended this concert last year in Baltimore will have a chance to hear
the program again.
Saturday, February 28th, at 7:30pm, the Countertop Quartet,
Countertop Consort and Countertop Ensemble will perform another
daring "Modern Voices" concert - featuring a number of Modern
composers as well as allowing our resident composer to shine (Richard
Rice) as well as our Young Composer of the year, Peter Minnig. The
second half of the concert will allow the new consort to show off its
colors, by performing some arrangements by the Kings' Singer's and
some other favorite tunes. This will take place at St. Peter's Parish on
Capitol Hill 313 Second Street, SE. Click for a PDF of the Program.
Details of the concert, directions, and more, click.
Friday, March 27th, at 7:30pm, the Countertop Consort, will perform
the ATTBB version of the Lamentations of Tallis. Also to be performed
in this concert by the Countertop Ensemble will be the famous Miserere
mei by Allegri. We will be using boy treble voices for the high top C's
in the solo sections, and have the rest of the Ensemble in double choir
perform it. Other music included is Lotti's Cruxifixus, Victoria's
Tenebrae, Dum Transisset by Taverner, and many more famous works.
This will take place at ST. STEPHEN MARTYR CHURCH, 2436
Pennsylvania Ave, NW Washington, DC 20037. Click for a PDF of the
Program.
No more concerts till September. Thank you for attending all our
concerts this year.
Our First Concert...
Saturday, October 4th, 2008, at 7:30pm, the
Countertop Ensemble did a joint program with the
Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble, let by
Michael Holmes. The Program is titled "Venice’s
Musical Circle", and sang Music by Andrea &
Giovanni Gabrieli, Heinrich Schütz, and Adriano
Willaert. Both groups got a chance to shine, but one
also got the chance to hear the individual
countertop ensembles when the musical selections
were split into quartets and more. This will concert
took place at the Universalist National Memorial
Church, 1810 16th Street, NW, Washington D.C.
Accessible from Dupont Circle Metro with a brief
walk. Admission: $20 Adults, $15 Students.
...and Review
Countertop: Baroque With Added Depth
Monday, October 6, 2008; Page C04
The Countertop Quartet has added a mezzo-soprano,
two tenors and a bass to its original two-soprano,
two-countertenor makeup and recast itself as the
Countertop Ensemble. This was a good move. They
joined forces with the Washington Cornett & Sackbutt
Ensemble on Saturday at the Universalist National
Memorial Church near Dupont Circle for a program of
Venetian music of the early baroque period that was
delivered with serious attention to detail.
Director Chris Dudley (one of the countertenors, who
conducts as he sings) has collected a group of eight
fine singers who blend and balance beautifully and
who understand the idiom. In intricate madrigal and
motet settings by both Andrea (the uncle) and
Giovanni (the nephew) Gabrieli, Adriano Willaert and
Heinrich Schuetz, they sang with an easy, straight
delivery that kept textures transparent and lines
nicely shaped. It was only in the highly elaborate
rhythmic modulations of a couple of the madrigals that
a firmer hand on the conducting tiller might have kept
things smoother.
The "cornett" in the instrumental ensemble bears
almost no relation to the modern cornet. Dating from
the 15th century, it is slightly bent, usually made of
wood with finger holes like a recorder's and a
mouthpiece a little like a trumpet's. Played well (as it
was, here, by Stanley Curtis) it sounds like an
exceptionally clear human voice. Sackbuts (early
trombones) also sound lighter and more human than
their modern version, and there were times in this
concert when the two ensembles complemented each
other well. Too often, however, particularly in the
Schuetz "Veni Dilecte" for four low voices and
sackbuts, the singers ended up wallowing in the
instrumental sound.
-- Joan Reinthaler
Saturday, October 4th, 2008, at 7:30pm, the
Countertop Ensemble did a joint program with the
Washington Cornett and Sackbutt Ensemble, let by
Michael Holmes. The Program is titled "Venice’s
Musical Circle", and sang Music by Andrea &
Giovanni Gabrieli, Heinrich Schütz, and Adriano
Willaert. Both groups got a chance to shine, but one
also got the chance to hear the individual
countertop ensembles when the musical selections
were split into quartets and more. This will concert
took place at the Universalist National Memorial
Church, 1810 16th Street, NW, Washington D.C.
Accessible from Dupont Circle Metro with a brief
walk. Admission: $20 Adults, $15 Students.
...and Review
Countertop: Baroque With Added Depth
Monday, October 6, 2008; Page C04
The Countertop Quartet has added a mezzo-soprano,
two tenors and a bass to its original two-soprano,
two-countertenor makeup and recast itself as the
Countertop Ensemble. This was a good move. They
joined forces with the Washington Cornett & Sackbutt
Ensemble on Saturday at the Universalist National
Memorial Church near Dupont Circle for a program of
Venetian music of the early baroque period that was
delivered with serious attention to detail.
Director Chris Dudley (one of the countertenors, who
conducts as he sings) has collected a group of eight
fine singers who blend and balance beautifully and
who understand the idiom. In intricate madrigal and
motet settings by both Andrea (the uncle) and
Giovanni (the nephew) Gabrieli, Adriano Willaert and
Heinrich Schuetz, they sang with an easy, straight
delivery that kept textures transparent and lines
nicely shaped. It was only in the highly elaborate
rhythmic modulations of a couple of the madrigals that
a firmer hand on the conducting tiller might have kept
things smoother.
The "cornett" in the instrumental ensemble bears
almost no relation to the modern cornet. Dating from
the 15th century, it is slightly bent, usually made of
wood with finger holes like a recorder's and a
mouthpiece a little like a trumpet's. Played well (as it
was, here, by Stanley Curtis) it sounds like an
exceptionally clear human voice. Sackbuts (early
trombones) also sound lighter and more human than
their modern version, and there were times in this
concert when the two ensembles complemented each
other well. Too often, however, particularly in the
Schuetz "Veni Dilecte" for four low voices and
sackbuts, the singers ended up wallowing in the
instrumental sound.
-- Joan Reinthaler
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For our concerts, we are offering High School Students and children 17 & under
free admission into all Countertop concerts. Unfortunately, we do not have this
luxury for joint concerts
Have a look at our first CD, Seraphic Flames, currently available for sale here
online.
You can also buy individual tracks via CD-Baby, by clicking here.
Enjoy the season, and thank you for taking an interest in the quartet, consort &
ensemble.
Chris Dudley
| Our 2009 Message Click Here |