8/7/11
Les Délices Announces 2011-12 Season

Cleveland-based chamber ensemble Les Délices’ (pronounced Lay day-LEASE) third season promises to entertain and inspire. The ensemble will present four Ohio premieres with the Age of Indulgence on November 5 & 6, 2011, bring alive the world of dance with Caractères de la danse on January 28 & 29, 2012, and feast on frivolity with Games & Diversions, featuring special guest soprano, Ellen Hargis on May 11 & 12, 2012. Following Les Délices sold-out debut concert at the Frick Collection in May 2011, Les Délices returns to New York on November 20, 2011 at the invitation of the prestigious early music series, Music Before 1800, and presents concerts on tour in Columbus, OH and Ann Arbor, MI in March 2012.

Tickets for all concerts in the series are available at www.lesdelices.org starting August 15, 2011.

5/8/11
Les Délices closes its season with Myths & Allegories, May 14 & 15, 2011

Les Délices closes its concert season with two performances of “Myths & Allegories” on May 14 & 15 in Cleveland and Shaker Heights. Weaving dramatic depictions of tales from Homer’s Odyssey together with instrumental chamber music inspired by Greek mythology, these performances mark the Cleveland debut of acclaimed soprano and Seattle-native Clara Rottsolk. Julie Andrijeski (baroque violin), Emily Walhout (viola da gamba), Peter Bennett (harpsichord), and director Debra Nagy (baroque oboe and recorder) complete the ensemble. The Tregoning & Co. Gallery (1300 W. 78th St, Cleveland) hosts the concert on Saturday on May 14, 2011 at 8:00pm. Les Délices will repeat their program at Herr Chapel at Plymouth Church (2860 Coventry Rd, Shaker Heights, OH) on Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 4:00pm.

In Les Délices’ colorful and fantastic program, the Odyssey’s hero, Ulysses, will confront storms at sea, shipwrecks, the tantalizing allure of siren songs, a deep and magical slumber, and encounters with the Cyclopes – all set to music. Myths & Allegories features Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre’s dramatic cantata Le Sommeil d’Ulisse, and Thomas-Louis Bourgeois’ Les Sirènes, plus instrumental music from Jean-Féry Rebel’s 1703 opera, Ulysse. Jean-Philippe Rameau’s wild harpsichord solo Les Cyclopes chronicles Ulysse’s encounter with the monocular beast, while Ulysses’ long-faithful wife Penelope pines from afar as symbolized by Rebel’s violin sonata La Fidelle.

Preview the Program & Notes

5/8/2011
Les Délices' NYC Debut at the Frick Collection - Sold Out!

We were thrilled to see listings for our May 1, 2011 concert at the Frick Collection receive high recommendations from the New York Times and New Yorker magazine! We enjoyed performing for a sold-out crowd, and eagerly anticipate our return to NY in November 2011 on the prestigious Music before 1800 Series.

3/11/2011
Plain Dealer Article: Les Délices' upcoming East Coast Tour

This spring, Les Délices embarks on its first east coast tour with performances presented by Museum Concerts in Newport and Providence, Rhode Island on April 29 & 30, 2011, leading up to the group’s New York debut at the Frick Collection on May 1, 2011.

Read the article by Don Rosenberg

1/22/10
In the News: Les Délices' Scott Metcalfe

Les Délices’ violinist Scott Metcalfe has been getting a ton of press lately for his work with NYC’s Green Mountain Project and his own Boston-based vocal ensemble Blue Heron. The first performance of Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers that he directed for Green Mountain (January 2010) was called “quite simply terrific” and named one of the Top 10 concerts of the year by the New York Times. Green Mountain reprised the performance this January to cap off the Monteverdi year (Julie Andrijeski & Emily Walhout played both concerts as well). Read the glowing NYTimes review:

The following week, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross ran this stellar feature on Blue Heron.

1/2/10
Les Délices presents "La Guitarre Royalle" on February 12 & 13, 2011

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Les Délices highlights the astonishingly beautiful playing of Toronto-based lutenist Lucas Harris, whose poetic approach has been called “a revelation” (Le Devoir).

“La Guitarre Royalle” offers a rare opportunity to hear the baroque guitar up close and personal in both solo and ensemble roles. The sound of the baroque guitar is very different from its modern counterpart owing to the instrument’s small size, construction, stringing, and tuning. The result is a versatile and colorful instrument whose clear sound is rich with overtones. In solo music, the baroque guitar’s palette ranges from sensitive and introspective to extroverted and uplifting. When playing continuo in an ensemble (the baroque practice of improvising chordal accompaniment above the bass line), the guitar can bring a similar intimacy to the group, or act as a percussive, energizing force.

Les Délices’ program features solos and trios by Jean-Féry Rebel and Louis-Nicholas Clérambault, plus a mesmerizing chaconne by Louis XIV’s own guitar master Francesco Corbetta that will tug at listeners’ heart-strings. In a special tribute to Valentine’s day, Les Délices also presents François Couperin’s rarely-performed “Portrait of Love” (Ritratto dell’amore) in a new arrangement by Debra Nagy. Each movement of the work carries a title paying tribute to love’s many facets - from pure joy to vivacity and sweetness – even its inimitable “je ne sais quoi”! Finally, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier’s rustic Ballets de village will set audience members in the mood to go dancing into the night.

Read my interview with Lucas Harris

9/12/10
Les Délices NYC debut catches the attention of the NYTimes!

We were thrilled to find Les Délices' NYC debut at the Frick Collection (May 1, 2011) singled out by the NYTimes in their special Fall Arts Preview this past Sunday, Sept 12!

9/5/10
Les Délices presents "Mirages & Monstrosities" October 30 & 31, 2010

French baroque music can have a reputation for being mild-mannered. Les Délices’ “Mirages and Monstrosities” will be anything but. It will take listeners on a journey – through a labyrinth? or is it a house of mirrors? – where illusion and artifice will at turns surprise and delight. Wild and experimental music abounds...

The program begins with incidental music from Platée: Jean-Philippe Rameau’s comic opera about a hideously vain water nymph. Chromatic meanderings will guide listeners through the maze of Marin Marais’ viol solo La Labyrinthe and one of the rarely-heard Quartets from L’Art de la Modulation by the world’s first chess-master François-André Philidor. Marais’ bizarre, narrated depiction of a Gall-bladder Operation (administered without anesthetic, of course!) and Jean-Philippe Rameau’s frenzied harpsichord solo Les Cyclopes round out the program.

8/6/10
Les Délices Announces its 2010-11 Season!

Cleveland-based chamber ensemble Les Délices (pronounced Lay DEH-lease) is committed to making a big impact in Cleveland (and beyond) with entertaining, thought-provoking programs presented in unique and intimate settings. Audiences clearly appreciated Les Délices’ informal, up-close-and-personal programs last season, and ClevelandClassical.com singled out Les Délices’ first season of concerts as among the most memorable of 2009.

For their second season, Les Délices returns to Cleveland’s William Busta and Tregoning & Co. galleries for their Saturday night concerts, and they’ll continue to present Sunday afternoon programs at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, where they’ve been named Artists in Residence for 2010-11.

On Halloween weekend (October 30 & 31, 2010), Les Délices will welcome back Josh Lee (viola da gamba) and Michael Sponseller (harpsichord) plus Julie Andrijeski (violin) for their weird and wonderful program, “Mirages and Monstrosties.” Special guest lutenist Lucas Harris (whose elegant, stylish performances graced Les Délices’s debut CD) will warm our hearts on February 12 & 13, 2011, with “La Guitarre Royalle,” and rising-star soprano Clara Rottsolk will win over audiences when we feature her in cantatas based on tales from The Odyssey in our program “Myths & Allegories” on May 14 & 15, 2011. In addition, Les Délices will embark on its first Northeast tour in April 2011, with performances in Boston and Providence, leading up to the group’s New York debut at the Frick Collection on May 1, 2011.

6/15/10
ClevelandClassical.com's Mike Telin singles out Les Délices

Mike Telin singled out Les Délices' May program "Petits Violons du Roy" as one of the "Most memorable concerts of 2009-10." He writes: "This is an ensemble with a lot to say about music of the French Baroque, and they say it with a sense of style and class." Read more of Mike's picks on the ClevelandClassical.com blog.

5/24/10
ClevelandClassical.com Reviews 5/22 Gallery Concert at Tregoning & Co.
by Mike Telin

Recently many ensembles have begun using alternative venues such as art galleries, churches and bars, as well as new programming initiatives in an attempt to “break down” the perceived barriers that exist between artist and audience. Such approaches work best in the hands of people who have really thought through the concept, carefully chosen the venue and work to provide a welcoming and friendly environment. When this happens the experience can add up to a laid-back, fun evening of great music making. Northeast Ohio audiences are fortunate in that there have been many successful new initiatives started by music ensemble this season, and one of the best is the Gallery Series of Les Délices. On Saturday the 22nd of May at the Tregoning & Company Gallery, Les Délices presented a beautifully constructed program titled “Petits Violons du Roy”, and once again delivered a stunning 70 minutes worth of music from the French Baroque that worked perfectly in an intimate space.

Read the entire review.

4/25/10
Les Délices Featured on WKSU's In Performance

Les Délices' February 21 Concert at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights was recently featured on WKSU's In Performance, hosted by Sylvia Docking.

4/23/10
Debra Nagy: Feature Fellow Interview with CPAC

The Community Partnership for Arts & Culture (CPAC) recently interviewed me as a featured Creative Workforce Fellow. I got to comment on why I love living and making art in Cuyahoga County, and reflect on the advantages as well as challenges I face in producing art.

Click here to read the interview.

12/20/09
Les Délices named one of Harmonia's "Top 10 Early Music Discoveries of 2009"

Bernard Gordillo of NPR's Hamonia writes: "American oboist Debra Nagy and her ensemble Les Délices flew out of the starting gate with their debut release, The Tastes Reunited. I return to it because its beauty and excellent ensemble work draws you in on multiple listenings."

Listen to the podcast.

12/11/09
2010 CWF Recipients named

The CPAC Board met on December 11 to review the list of artists recommended for CWF Grants by the panel of judges. I feel honored to be included in such an esteemed group of grantees. I plan to use the funds to support concerts by Les Délices, the production of professional marketing materials, and to subsidize touring by the group to raise our national profile and reputation.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports on the winners here:

Read CPAC's Press Release on the winners

11/25/09
Community Partnership for Arts & Culture (CPAC) Creative Workforce Fellowships (CWF) Awarded

I spent a few hours on Monday morning as a fly on the wall at the Great Lakes Science Center in downtown Cleveland listening to the first round of adjudication for CWF applicants. It was interesting to listen in on the process, get a sense of the judges, and also to hear/see many very interesting applications from Cuyahoga county-based artists. I taught at Case all day on Tuesday and so I couldn't go hear the final rounds of adjudication, though I kept up on their progress via Twitter(!). Finally, after a lot of breath-holding, the judge's decisions were announced last night around 7pm. I was thrilled to find my case number (M-010) among those of the 20 artists unanimously recommended for this award by a panel of 7 judges (CPAC's board will meet on Dec 11 to ratify the judge's recommendations). This is a one-year $20,000 award for individuals in music, literature, theater, dance, and interdisciplinary artists funded by Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. I'm very excited!

There's more information about the CWF Grant available here.

11/16/09
Gallery Concert Series featured on ClevelandClassical.com
by Mike Telin

What makes music exciting is that musicians and organizations are always looking for new ways to present themselves to the public. Two events we attended recently made great headway in breaking out of the standard, 8:00, two hour concert format. Les Délices presented a 70-minute concert juxtaposing French Baroque music with modern art in a gallery, and the Cleveland Orchestra launched its Fridays@7 with a 70-minute orchestra concert followed by a 70-minute set of world music. In both cases, two art forms shared the same evening and complemented one another without seemingly having anything to do with one another. Both series represent new, passionate, entrepreneurial efforts on the part of individuals and organizations to attract audiences to performances of live music in an age when it's all too attractive to stay at home with one's digital music collection. Read more...

11/1/09
CD Review in Nov/Dec 2009 Fanfare Magazine

Read the glowing review of Les Délices' debut CD "The Tastes Reunited" by Barry Brenesal in the latest issue of Fanfare Magazine. He remarks on Les Délices' "elegance, spryness, and leanness of sonority," adding that "all five [musicians] play with the intense awareness of each other common to the fines early-music ensembles, where the excitement of discovery..and joy of music feeds on itself." Read the entire review here.

10/08/09
Les Délices in the News and on the Radio

• Our October 8 appearance on WCPN's 90.3 Around Noon was a big hit. Thanks to Dee Perry & Dave DeOreo for the invitation!
  Check out their archive of the segment on live webcam here.
• Read Laura Kennelly's review of Les Délices' debut CD on the CoolCleveland blog here.
• William Fazekas reports on Les Délices' debut CD in the October 5 issue of Cleveland Classical.

9/7/09
Les Délices Announces 2009-10 Concert Season

Cleveland-based chamber ensemble Les Délices is pleased to announce their 2009-10 concert season, which includes the launch of Saturday night concerts in Cleveland art galleries, and Sunday afternoon concerts in the beautiful acoustics of the John D.Herr Memorial Chapel at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, OH. Read More.

9/5/09
Les Délices named Artists in Residence at Plymouth Church

ArtsPlymouth at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, OH has named Les Délices its Artists in Residence for 2009-2010. As part of this residency, Les Délices will perform two concerts in Herr Chapel at Plymouth in February and May, 2010.

8/24/09
Les Délices featured on podcast produced by Bernard Gordillo for NPR's Early Music Showcase "Harmonia"

To listen to the podcast, click here. Or, download it.