 POMERIUM was founded by Alexander Blachly in New York in 1972 to perform music composed for the famous chapel choirs of the Renaissance. (The name—medieval Latin for “garden” or “orchard”—derives from the title of a treatise by the 14th-century music theorist Marchettus of Padua, who explained that his Pomerium in arte musice mensurate contains the “flowers and fruits” of the art of music.) Widely known for its interpretations of Du Fay, Ockeghem, Busnoys, Josquin, Lassus, and Palestrina, the 15-voice a cappella ensemble has performed for numerous international festivals, including the Festival di Musica Sacra Bressanone e Bolzano (Brixner Initiative), the Tage Alter Musik festival in Regensburg, Germany, the Flanders Festival Antwerp, and the Holland Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht. In fall 1998 Pomerium performed in Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo, Japan. The ensemble has released four CDs for Deutsche Grammophon/Archiv Produktion: “A Musical Book of Hours” (Archiv Produktion 457 586-2; re-issued as “Musical Book of Hours”), “Creator of the Stars: Christmas Music from Earlier Times” (Archiv Produktion 449 819-2; re-issued as “An Old-World Christmas”), “The Virgin & the Temple: Motets and Plainchant by Guillaume Du Fay” (Archiv Produktion 447 773-2), and Du Fay’s Mass for St. Anthony of Padua (Archiv Produktion 447 772-2); and, on the Dorian and Classic Masters labels, music by Arcadelt, Busnoys, Du Fay, Gesualdo, Marenzio, Monteverdi, Ockeghem, Wert, and Willaert. “Musica Vaticana,” featuring music composed for the Sistine Chapel choir at the time Michelangelo was painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and “Carolus Maximus: Music in the Life of Charles V” were released on the Glissando/Pure Classics label in 1998 and 2000. They are distributed in the USA by Qualiton. In June 2003 Pomerium released “Josquin Desprez: Missa Hercules dux Ferrarie, Motets & Chansons,” also on Glissando/Pure Classics. Pomerium’s most recent recording, released in 2008, features motets and a Magnificat setting by Orlande de Lassus. In June 2011 the ensemble will record a CD of Mannerist motets by Giaches de Wert, Carlo Gesualdo, Orlande de Lassus, and Claudio Monteverdi. |
the American Musicological Society to stimulate historically aware performances and the study of historical performing practices, has been active in early music as both performer and scholar for the past 39 years. He earned his post-graduate degrees in musicology from Columbia University. Prior to assuming the post of Director of Choral Music at the University of Notre Dame in 1993, Mr. Blachly taught early music and directed collegia musica at Columbia University, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, Rutgers University, and the University of Pennsylvania, where for eight years he directed the a cappella ensemble Ancient Voices. For fourteen years Mr. Blachly directed a summer workshop in Renaissance a cappella performance sponsored by the Syracuse (NY) Schola Cantorum; he has also been on the faculties of the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, the Amherst Early Music Festival, and Pinewoods Camp Early Music Week. In addition to Pomerium, Mr. Blachly directs the 
“truly lovely” by the New York Times, and the Washington Post praised both her “angelic brightness and dedication” and her “ability to seduce.” Recent performance highlights include appearances with Guido’s Ear, Hesperus, Parthenia, and Ex Umbris, and in the revival of The Play of Daniel at The Cloisters in New York. Ms. Baber sings frequently with elite groups such as Pomerium, the Vox Vocal Ensemble, and New York Polyphony, and is a member of the world-renowned Trinity Wall Street Choir. She and her duo partner, lutenist Charles Weaver, have been praised for their “impeccable performances” and “imagination in programming.” She is a vocal coach for the New York Continuo Collective. 
from pianist Annie Sherter and holds the doctorate in Choral Conducting and Literature from the University of Illinois. In her second year as Director of Choral Activities at Carroll University in southeastern Wisconsin, she retains membership in Pomerium as the sole holdover from her years in New York, where she also sang regularly with the Western Wind and the Vox Vocal Ensemble, also appearing in performances with Early Music New York, Alarm Will Sound, and the choir at Trinity Wall Street, among others. Her choral directorships in New York included the Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble, AMUSE, and the Collegiate Chorale. Having taught choral conducting at the Manhattan School of Music and lectured in music history at Barnard College, Ms. Boerger now directs three choral ensembles at Carroll, teaches the core choral-conducting curriculum, and oversees the voice studios. Ms. Boerger’s three settings for treble chorus of poetry by Sarah White are forthcoming from Boosey and Hawkes. 
companies as the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Opera New Jersey, Caramoor Festival, ARTEK, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, New York Collegium, Carmel Bach Festival, and Sequitur. She has appeared in concert with Pulitzer Prize winning composer David Del Tredici, and has premiered several of his works. In addition to Pomerium, Ms. Fogarty also performs regularly with Metropolitan Klezmer and Isle of Klezbos. Ms. Fogarty can be heard on the Albany, Musicians Showcase and Centaur labels. 
early classical and contemporary repertoire. Among her concert highlights are performances at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Bargemusic, Caramoor Music Festival, and the Washington National Cathedral. Her recent performances have encompassed a wide range of repertoire from medieval chant and Renaissance polyphony to works by living composers Richard Einhorn, Daniel Bernard Roumain, Gavin Bryars, and Eric Salzman. She has appeared recently as a soloist in the Bach B-Minor Mass, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s C-minor Mass, Requiem and Coronation Mass, and with the Holy Trinity Bach Vespers Series, REBEL Baroque Orchestra, and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. She sings regularly with Pomerium and the Western Wind Ensemble, and also has sung with Equal Voices, the Vox Vocal Ensemble, Tiffany Consort, New York Baroque Soloists, and the Wordless Music Orchestra. A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Kennedy holds a degree in music from Yale University. 
and ensemble member. While pursuing a Ph.D. in the history of art at the University of Virginia, Ms. Surh began to perform regularly as a singer and instrumentalist with the Collegium and the local early music ensemble, Zephyrus. She has appeared in Carissimi’s Jephte, Couperin’s Leçons de Tenebres, Purcell’s Ode for the Birthday of Queen Mary, Handel’s Messiah, and Bach’s Magnificat. As a Fulbright Fellow to Italy, she performed frequently with groups such as Pro Musica Firenze in Florence as well as with Roman groups such as Centro Italiano di Musica Antica, and Comoedia Harmonica. In 2001, she moved to New York City and has sung with various groups including Vox Vocal Ensemble, Tiffany Consort, and as soloist with Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity Lutheran. Ms. Surh currently works as the Director of Research at The Leiden Gallery and specializes in Dutch Baroque painting. 
enjoys a wide-ranging career, which includes early and contemporary music, opera and musical theater, and ethnic, improvised, and experimental music. She has performed at London’s Barbican Centre with Ornette Coleman, Teatro Comunale Ferarra with Meredith Monk, Carnegie Hall with Philip Glass, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Ms. Jensen has also appeared at Ash Lawn Opera, Riverside Opera, American Chamber Opera, One World Symphony, Big Apple Baroque, Sacred Music in a Sacred Space, Bang on a Can Marathon, in Handel’s Messiah at Trinity Wall Street, and with the Broadway Bach Ensemble singing Mahler’s 4th Symphony. In May, she will appear again with this orchestra, singing Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne. She has commissioned and premiered works created for her, and has presented solo recitals at Symphony Space, Liederkranz Club, the Stone, and Nicholas Roerich Museum, and the Cell Theater. Ms. Jensen can be heard on the ECM, London, Koch, Helicon, and Soundbrush Records labels. 
and an alumna of the renowned Westminster Choir. Her discography includes the New York Philharmonic’s recording of Britten’s War Requiem for Teldec, Christmas at Trinity and the complete Haydn Masses for Naxos. In addition to being a member of Pomerium, she is a founding member of the internationally award-winning Antioch Chamber Ensemble and a member of the Choir of Trinity Wall Street. Sought after as both an ensemble performer and soloist, Ms. Brackett regularly performs with other noted ensembles including TENET, Vox, Voices of Ascension, and the Clarion Music Society. Her recent solo appearances include performances for the Colonial Symphony, the 4 x 4 Festival of Baroque Music, and The Choral Arts Society of New Jersey. 
singing, conducting, and teaching throughout the New York area and abroad. He has been a featured soloist at Saint Thomas Church, Cooper Union, Miller Theater, Symphony Space and many other venues, in repertoire ranging from Machaut, Purcell, and Bach to Britten, Bernstein, John Zorn, and Toby Twining. Mr. Isaacs is equally passionate about choral music; alongside his work with Pomerium, he enjoys singing and recording with the Vox Vocal Ensemble, the Clarion Music Society, Trinity Wall Street, and various other ensembles. Mr. Isaacs has headed choral programs at Princeton University and the Manhattan School of Music, and appears frequently as a guest conductor, most recently for Cerddorion, Amuse, TENET, and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. He has served on the voice faculty of the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music and the City University of New York. Mr. Isaacs was educated at Harvard College (choral music) and Columbia University (creative writing), and spent an equally educational stint as a juggler and unicyclist on the streets of San Francisco. 
member and soloist with most of New York’s finest professional choirs, including, among many others, Musica Sacra, Voices of Ascension, Early Music New York, and the New York Virtuoso Singers. His solo repertoire includes Bach: Weinachtsoratorium (Evangelist), Johannespassion (Evangelist, arias), Matthäuspassion (Evangelist, arias), Magnificat, and Monteverdi: 1610 Vespers. A former member of The Western Wind Vocal Ensemble and founding member of Equal Voices, he delights in small ensemble singing as well. A double specialist in early and new music, he recorded as tenor soloist Milton Babbitt’s “Four Cavalier Settings” for Koch International, performing them at Babbitt’s 90th Birthday celebration at Weill Recital Hall in May 2006. His discography also includes many CDs with Voices of Ascension and Musica Sacra as well as with Pomerium, and he is represented as singer and arranger on recordings by the Western Wind. Also an active composer throughout his 18 year tenure as a member of NYC’s Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola, both his music and his singing are featured on their recordings. He now makes his home in Allentown, PA. 
voice teacher, music director, and singer described by the New York Times as “especially pleasing.” Born and raised in Iowa, Mr. Baker studied in New York City, singing there and abroad as a soloist and professional choral artist for seventeen years. In these capacities he appeared frequently and recorded with many renowned conductors and ensembles. In Ithaca, where he has lived since 2002, Mr. Baker teaches voice as a faculty member of the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA). There he also founded and leads Daytime Chorale (a training choir) and manages the First Fridays Chamber Music Series. Mr. Baker is also a member of the Ithaca-based vocal quintet Luscinia. In 2010 he founded the ensemble Vocantur and assumed direction of the Ithaca Gay Men’s Chorus. He currently directs the choir of the First Unitarian Society of Ithca. Highlights of Mr. Baker’ career in Ithaca include The Kitchen Theatre’s production of Souvenir, a Stephen Temperley play (winning a SALT award), a staged production of Hildegard von Bingen’s Ordo virtutum with Women’s Works, Brigadoon, A Day in Hollywood, and A Night in the Ukraine with the Veterinary Players, plus five seasons directing the a cappella group The Ultrasounds. Mr. Baker’s most recent recording is Bobby McFerrin’s 2011 triple Grammy nominee VOCAbuLarieS. 
has been featured in new works and concert favorites with such preeminent ensembles as the New York Philharmonic, New York Collegium, Musica Sacra, Amor Artis Chamber Choir and Orchestra, and Vox Vocal Ensemble. Notable among these are Pärt’s Stabat Mater, Handel’s St. John Passion, Monteverdi’s Vespers (1610), Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and B-minor Mass, and Handel’s Messiah. Since joining Pomerium in 1989 Mr. Steinberger has cultivated specialties in both the contemporary and early music fields. A dedicated ensemble singer, he is also a member of the New York Virtuoso Singers, Waverly Consort, and a founding member of Equal Voices. Through the years he has performed and recorded with a variety of premiere ensembles including Voices of Ascension, Hudson Shad, Anonymous 4, Phillip Glass Ensemble, Lionheart, Pro Arte Singers, They Might be Giants, The Western Wind, Toby Twining Music, the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, and Early Music New York. Mr. Steinberger’s most recent recording is Bobby McFerrin’s VOCAbuLarieS, which received three 2010 Grammy Nominations. 
launched his singing career with the Grammy Award-winning male vocal ensemble Chanticleer, extensively touring the United States, Europe and Japan. Originally from Des Moines, Iowa, Thomas now lives in New York City, where he’s a member of the acclaimed Trinity Wall Street Choir, and was conductor of the Trinity Family Choir from 2008-2010. Other choral engagements include Pomerium, Musica Sacra, Early Music New York, Vox Vocal Ensemble, New York Virtuoso Singers, Meridonalis, Sheep Island Ensemble, Collegiate Chorale, Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity, St. Thomas Fifth Avenue Church Choir, and Seraphic Fire, Miami’s professional chamber choir. He was also a member of the chant schola for Clarion Music Society and Green Mountain Project’s Monteverdi Vespers of 1610. Thomas can be heard on such recordings as A Seraphic Fire Christmas, Colonial Capers (Early Music New York), and Yehudi Wyner-Sacred Music. Solo work includes To Be Certain of the Dawn (Stephen Paulus), Carmina Burana (Orf), Die schöne Müllerin (Schubert) and Der Friede sei mit dir (Bach). 
is a singer, educator, voice instructor, theatre artist, and chant practitioner. He has performed on Broadway, regional theatre, and in opera houses internationally. A founding member of the acclaimed vocal ensemble Lionheart, he also regularly performs with the Voices of Ascension. Notable recent persoanl performances include Steve Reich’s The Cave at Lincoln Center and Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach at Carnegie Hall. Additionally, he is the director of the C.W. Post Madrigal Singers from Long Island University, a group that has frequently appeared throughout the New York area, in Europe, Canada, the Boston Early Music Fringe Festival, and Washington, DC. Academic presentations include the College Music Society National Conference, the Bergamo conference on Curriculum Theorizing, and the Columbia University Medieval Guild. In 2010 he was the artist-in-residence at St. Joseph’s College in New York. He is currently in the Music and Music Education doctoral program at Teachers College, Columbia University, where his studies focus on the aesthetic and social effects of group singing. 
is an accomplished performer in a wide range of styles, from chant to experimental music-theater. Well known for his beautiful, warm and lyric “basso cantante” sound, he is a founding member of Lionheart, the renowned American men’s vocal ensemble dedicated to the exploration of medieval and Renaissance chant and polyphony. In addition to over three decades of work with Pomerium, he has appeared as soloist with such distinguished ensembles as The American Bach Soloists, Anima Antiqua, The Bach Ensemble, Concert Royal, New York’s Ensemble for Early Music, Tafelmusik, and the Waverly Consort. Mr. Richards has recorded widely, including solo work in Heinrich Schutz’s Kleine geistliche Konzerte with New York Baroque and Schutz’s Musikalisches Exequien and Bach’s Cantata, “Christ Lag in Todesbanden,” BWV 4, with the American Bach Soloists. He can also be heard on all of Lionheart’s recordings, including their most recent release, “John The Revelator,” a modern mass written by Phil Kline for Lionheart and the post-classical string quartet Ethel.