March 27, 2026
Somerville, MA – The Society for Historically Informed Performance (SoHIP) presents eight weeks of live performances and video premieres beginning June 2. Now in its 40th year, SoHIP continues to promote public appreciation and understanding of historically informed performance of early music in New England.
Concerts are at 7:30pm, June 2 to July 23.
Tuesdays at St. Anne’s in-the-Fields, 147 Concord Rd. Lincoln, MA
Wednesdays at The Chapel at West Parish, 210 Lowell St. Andover, MA
Thursdays at Lindsey Chapel at Emmanuel Church, 15 Newbury St. Boston, MA
Videos premiere Fridays at 7:30pm, June 19 to August 7 on YouTube. All are free to the public (donations encouraged) and remain available to watch. www.youtube.com/@SoHIPBoston
Contact: Karen Burciaga, General Manager, at administrator@sohipboston.org.
CONCERT SERIES
June 2-4 “On the Move: Italian Style Beyond Borders”
Pietro Locatelli and Johann Rosenmüller both played crucial roles in disseminating Italian Baroque style—one through deliberate career moves, the other due to scandalous exile. Nova Vetera explores the musical fame and (mis)fortune of two musical migrants whose influence reached beyond borders.
Nova Vetera: Nate Kim, violin; Thomas Conrad, traverso, viol; Luping Robyn Xu, harpsichord
June 9-11 “The Fire Within Her: An American Folktale About Women’s Liberation”
This powerful folk opera about women’s liberation weaves together centuries of voices, from Anne Hutchinson’s defiance in Puritan Boston to Susan B. Anthony’s fight for suffrage and beyond. Their stories unfold through shape-note songs, Shaker hymns, protest anthems, and folk music.
Pandora Consort: Kendra Comstock, soprano, director; Angie Tyler, soprano, harmonium; Gina Marie Falk, soprano; Laura Thomas, soprano, banjo, guitar; Riley Mullany, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, guitar
June 16-18 “The Wild Kingdom: A Book of Beasts”
Mythical beings and real creatures spring to life in an irreverent exploration of the animal kingdom. HESPERUS performs music along with spirited narration based on Medieval and Renaissance bestiaries (illuminated books of beasts) in a tale meant for anyone who’s ever had a pet!
HESPERUS: Tina Chancey, viol, vielle, rebec, Renaissance fiddle, recorder, dumbek; Dan Meyers, recorders, flute, sackbut, bagpipes, percussion; Brian Kay, Medieval and Renaissance lutes; Spiff Wiegand, narrator, percussion
June 23-25 “Lessons for a King”
During France’s ancien régime, innovation flourished as artists found ways to covertly caution their monarchs. Hidden within works of Rameau, Rebel, Barriere, and their counterparts across the Channel, we find warnings against hubris and greed as well as messages of hope that humanity will triumph over cruelty.
Silentwoods Collective: Howell Perry, soprano, Danilo Bonina & Nelli Herskovitz-Jabotinsky, violins, Andrew Koutroubas, cello, John McKean, harpsichord, Luce Burrell, theorbo
June 30-July 2 “An Outburst of Improvisors: The 17th-century Invention of Modern Music”
17th-c. Italy was a hotbed of experimentation where musical improvisors broke old rules to create highly expressive new works. This dynamic program features two longtime collaborators in virtuosic pieces by Castello, Strozzi, Marini, Uccellini and others, and diminutions and improvisations by the performers.
Concerto Incognito: Dana Maiben, violin; Vivian Montgomery, harpsichord
July 7-9 “Fantasies and Fugues, Modes and Moods”
Humans have long been dazzled, comforted, provoked, or otherwise deeply affected by music’s cathartic power. Sempervirens recorder quartet offers a diverse program spanning the Renaissance to modern eras, performing intensely moving music that links us with listeners of past centuries.
Sempervirens: Héloïse Degrugillier, Dan Meyers, Emily O’Brien, Roy Sansom, recorders
July 14-16 “Esperance et Croyance: Hope and Belief in the French Middle Ages”
Ars subtilior songs of the late 14th c. are among the most complex and beautiful pieces to emerge from the Middle Ages. The heartfelt French texts of esperance (hope) and croyance (faith) found in the famed Chantilly Codex connect Medieval ideals and our own wish for better things to come.
Duo Tarasque: Luce Burrell, vielle, plectrum lute; Howell Petty, voice, Gothic harp
July 21-23 “May the Fours Be With You”
To celebrate SoHIP’s 40th year, the Berry Collective presents a modern-day salon. Four musicians perform collegial quartets for fortepiano and strings from the final four decades of the 18th c. by Mozart, Schobert, Eichner, and Beethoven. Celebrate with us and delight in these intimate musical conversations!
The Berry Collective: Keats Dieffenbach, violin; Emily Rideout, violin, viola; Rebecca Shaw, cello; Sylvia Berry, Viennese five-octave fortepiano
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VIRTUAL SERIES on YouTube
June 19 Nova Vetera “On the Move: Italian Style Beyond Borders”June 26 Pandora Consort “The Fire Within Her: An American Folktale About Women’s Liberation”
July 3 HESPERUS “The Wild Kingdom: A Book of Beasts”
July 10 Silentwoods Collective “Lessons for a King”
July 17 Concerto Incognito “An Outburst of Improvisors: Inventing Modern Music in 17th-c. Italy”
July 24 Sempervirens “Fantasies and Fugues, Modes & Moods”
July 31 Duo Tarasque “Esperance et Croyance: Hope and Belief in the French Middle Ages”
August 7 The Berry Collective “May the Fours Be With You”
ABOUT SoHIP
The Society for Historically Informed Performance grew out of the Boston early music community’s desire for more performance opportunities as interest in early music grew during the 1980s. Members of six ensembles collaborated on a summer concert series in 1987, endeavoring to share in the work, and later to give a helping hand to other groups that were trying to get a start in the field. In the years since, the SoHIP Summer Concert Series has become a beloved tradition which continues to provide opportunities for new projects by New England musicians. SoHIP’s mission is to promote and enrich public appreciation and understanding of historically informed performance of early music in New England, and to support the development of new projects and ensembles with ties to the region. www.sohipboston.org.
