BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_YorkBEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/New_York X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VEVENT UID:1142@earlymusicamerica.org DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20260322T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20260322T153000 DTSTAMP:20260128T173145Z URL:https://www.earlymusicamerica.org/events/les-touches-presents-tears-of -sorrow-and-joy/ SUMMARY:Les Touches presents Tears of Sorrow and Joy DESCRIPTION:\n\n\n\n\n\nThis is our first FREE major program in the month o f March (part of our Early Music Month program) dedicated to the wide spec trum of emotions featured in works written for viol consort and voice and viol by prominent English composers.\n\n Repertoire will focus on 3-4 par t viol consort\, occasionally featuring other variations in the consort su ch as viol duets and voice and viol. All vocals will be sung by Les Touche s member Jocelyn Ursua\, a trans woman who has been vocally training as a tenor.\n\n___\n\nAbout Les Touches\n\n Founded in 2011 by Pedro Funes-Whi ttington at the Jacobs School of Music and the Early Music Institute at In diana University\, Les Touches is a viol consort whose core repertoire inc ludes the works of many of England’s most prominent early music composer s such as William Byrd and John Coprario\, as well as the works of compose rs whose work deserves wider recognition\, such as George Jeffreys and Pet er Phillips. The ensemble has performed across the United States\, working with groups such as Texas Early Music Project and the South Dakota Choral e\, and continues to pursue collaboration with other musicians and ensembl es. In 2014\, Les Touches held its inaugural season in Texas and began a p artnership with Viols of Houston\, with whom they provide outreach program s in local schools. In 2015\, Les Touches was named one of the 10 finalist s in the York Young Artist International Competition.\n Les Touches conti nues to share their passion for the viol and make its fascinating consort repertoire\, as an aspect of early music\, accessible to their general com munity in the Greater Houston region of Southeast Texas.\n Since the debu t of their most recent revival in 2024\, they were featured in a performan ce/lecture presentation hosted by Early Music America at the Chamber Music America 2025 Conference at Rice University.\n\n This presentation consis ted of a repertoire of 4-part consort pieces from a range of composers fro m Jenkins to Coperario\, intertwined with brief lectures about the history of viol performance and appearances from local grade school viol program Viols of Deer Park\n\n\n Les Touches is currently partnered with the Hous ton Public Library system — their most recent collaboration was a free p erformance/lecture series hosted at 11 branch locations for the library’ s "Summer Reading For Adults” program.\n\n This presentation followed a similar format to the CMA conference\, consisting of repertoire for 3-par t consort\, voice and viol\, and violin with viol consort featuring a gues t appearance from Baroque violinist Nadia Lesinska.\n This series was off ered for free to the general public of Greater Houston with financial supp ort from the Viola da Gamba Society of America and individual donors.\n\n\ n Les Touches’ current revival consists of the following members:\n\n Pedro Funes-Whittington: treble/tenor/bass viol\n Elisabeth Ellison: bass viol\n Matt Dunn: tenor/bass viol\n Jocelyn Ursua: treble/tenor/bass vi ol\; vocalist (tenor)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.earlymusicamerica.org/wp-content/upl oads/2026/01/Untitled-design.jpg CATEGORIES:Concerts,Early Music Month Events LOCATION:St. Thomas Episcopal Church\, 4900 Jackwood St. \, Houston \, Texa s\, 77096\, United States GEO:29.685361;-95.464839 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=4900 Jackwood St. \, Housto n \, Texas\, 77096\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=St. Thomas E piscopal Church:geo:29.685361,-95.464839 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Chicago X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Chicago BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0600 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:CDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR