TapestryTapestry, a Boston based ensemble of women’s voices, “are fast carving a formidable reputation as one of North America’s most polished ensembles”, according to Classic CD. Tapestry made its concert debut in 1995 with the performance of Steve Reich’s Tehillim at Jordan Hall in Boston. The Boston Globe deemed the performance “a knockout” and praised Laurie Monahan for “launching the work with an irresistibly firm and swaying rhythm.” The trademark of the ensemble is combining medieval repertory and contemporary compositions in bold, conceptual programming. Critics hail their rich distinctive voices, their “technically spot-on singing” and their emotionally charged performances. LA Times writes of their performance of Hildegard’s O Vos Angeli: “The arching, aching lines … were beautifully sung by the women in unison, out of which came a couple of stunning solo excursions into the stratosphere by Cristi Catt that were as radiant and exciting as any singing I’ve heard all season.” The Cleveland Plain Dealer describes Tapestry as “an ensemble that plants haunting vibrations, old and new, in our ears.: The San Diego Reader describes their programming as “bold” and states “that eclecticism gave the concert its particular flavor, a special interest and charm… The aim was not academic historicism but authentic musical experience - and it was also in the name of unprejudiced openness to aesthetic beauty and emotion that the Tapestry singers gave such persuasive voice to the dissonance or plumy post-Romantic harmonies of the modern pieces.”
Tapestry was founded in 1995 by director Laurie Monahan, mezzo-soprano, Cristi Catt, soprano, and Daniela Tosic, alto. Their concert appearances include: Utrecht Early Music Festival, Maastricht Musica Sacra Festival, The Netherlands; Tage Alter Musik Festival, Regensburg, Germany; Flanders Festival, Gent and Brussels, Belgium; Le Donne in Musica, Rome, Italy; Jordan Hall, Boston; Hildegard von Bingen Symposium, University of Oregon, Eugene; Kalamazoo Medieval Conference, MI; Frick Collection and Rockefeller University, NY; Harvard U.: Da Camera of Houston, TX; Early Music Concert Series, Boulder, CO; Da Camera Society, LA; Stanford U.; Museum Concert, Cleveland, OH, and many others.
Laurie Monahan is well known for her artistry and many recordings with Ensemble Project Ars Nova (P.A.N.), a group she co-founded in 1980. She also was a collaborator in the seminal performances and recordings of Hildegard von Bingen’s music with Sequentia in the 1980’s. Her extensive concert appearances include the Jerusalem Festival, the Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, and the Berlin Festival. She has more than twenty recordings to her credit.
Cristi Catt has performed in concerts and theatrical productions throughout the US and Europe including Bergen Festival in Norway, the Boston Early Music Festival and the Tangelwood Festival. She has recorded with the Telarc and Erato labels.
Daniela Tosic, a native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, has toured throughout former Yugoslavia with the Belgrade based early music ensemble Renaissance, and throughout the United States with Ensemble P.A.N. She has recorded with the Telarc and Polygram labels.
Tapestry is joined in their programs by various guest artists: Shira Kammen, vielle and harp, Takaaki Masuko, percussion, Carolann Buff and Lynn Torgove, mezzo-sopranos.
The ensemble has made four recordings with Telarc International: Angeli: Music of Angels (Telarc CD - 80448
Hildegard Von Bingen: Celestial Light (Telarc CD - 80456)
Song of Songs: Come into my Garden (Telarc CD - 80486)
The Fourth River: The Millennium Revealed (Telarc CD -80534) The ensemble now records exclusively for the German label MDG and has made one recording so far:
Sapphire Night (MDG 344 1193-2)
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