
Booking and details
Dates & TicketsDates Fri, May 05 — Sun, May 07, 2023
Venue St. Mark's Church
Tickets $45
Duration 80 minutes, no intermission
The Folger Consort is excited to be joined by Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble. Kaleidoscope, directed by Arianne Abela, is recognized for presenting vocal music with artistic distinction, while celebrating racial, ethnic, and gender diversity. Like Folger Consort, the ensemble delights in performing both early and new music. For this program, Kaleidoscope’s singers will join our ensemble of violins, viol, and harpsichord in performances of new music for combined forces as well as the timeless music of Claudio Monteverdi.
This program will also be available for on-demand streaming from May 12, 2023 to May 26, 2023. Click here to purchase advance on-demand access today.
Who’s Who

Robert Eisenstein
Over 200 productions and performances with Folger Consort over the past 40 years include the recent Measure + Dido at the Kennedy Center and Napa Valley Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice at Shrathmore, The Fairy Queen, and Hildegard Von Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum at the Washington National Cathedral. Director of the Five College Early Music Program; Music Director for the Five College Opera Project production of Francesca Caccini’s La Liberazione di Ruggiero. Faculty member of Mount Holyoke College, where he teaches music history and performs the viola de gamba, violin, and medieval fiddle. He is an active participant in the Five College Medieval Studies. Recipient of Early Music America’s Thomas Binkley Award for outstanding achievement in performance and scholarship by the director of a college early music ensemble.

Christopher Kendall
Christopher Kendall is founder of the Folger Consort. He has recently become dean emeritus of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance after serving the two-term limit of 10 years as the school’s dean, where he was responsible for establishing the University of Michigan Gershwin Initiative, for re-instituting international touring, for the funding and design of a $30M expansion/renovation of the music building, and for launching the interdisciplinary enterprise ArtsEngine and its national initiative a2ru (Alliance for the Arts at Research Universities). In Washington, in addition to his work with Folger Consort, since 1975 he has been Artistic Director and conductor of the 21st Century Consort, the new music ensemble-in-residence at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Mr. Kendall served as Director of the University of Maryland School of Music from 1996 to 2005 during a period of rapid development at the School and its move to the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Associate Conductor of the Seattle Symphony from 1987 to 1992 and Director of the Music Division and Tanglewood Institute of the Boston University School for the Arts from 1993 to 1996, Mr. Kendall has guest conducted many orchestras and ensembles in repertoire from the 18th to the 21st centuries. His recordings can be heard on the Bard, Delos, Nonesuch, Centaur, ASV, Arabesque, Innova, and Smithsonian Collection labels.

Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble
The Kaleidoscope Vocal Ensemble presents vocal music with artistic excellence, while celebrating racial, ethnic, and gender diversity. Led by Artistic Director Arianne Abela, the group of professional singers from around the United States and Canada have thriving national and international solo careers as well as a love for vocal chamber music, and focus primarily on presenting early and new music. In addition to performances and artistic residencies, the ensemble engages in creative educational outreach to audiences and students, particularly in communities of color, and promotes the study, research, performance, and recording of music from various eras with special attention to the intersection of arts and social justice.

Risa Browder
Studied at Oberlin Conservatory, the Royal College of Music in London, and the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland. She has performed with the Academy of Ancient Music, the English Concert, London Classical Players, Les Musiciens du Louvre, Smithsonian Chamber Orchestra, the Washington Bach Consort, the National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra and the Bach Sinfonia, and with the chamber ensembles London Baroque, the Purcell Quartet, and REBEL. She co-directs Modern Musick, in residency at Georgetown University; is the orchestra director at H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program; is the co-director of the Baltimore Baroque Band. She plays a violin made by Jacob Stainer in 1641.

Wade Davis
Baltimore-based cellist, Wade Davis is in high demand as a solo performer and chamber music collaborator. He regularly performs with the Washington Bach Consort, the Folger Consort, as well as his own baroque ensemble, S’amusant, co-founded with Patrick Merrill, harpsichordist, in 2013. Other appearances include Piccolo Spoleto Early Music Festival and The MOJA Festival. Known for wide variety of styles, he’s also featured in popular music concert series such as So Far Sounds Baltimore and has guested with New York-based band Reserved for Rondee and Baltimore-based band Outcalls. Wade maintains a private studio of cello students in both Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Pre-Concert Discussion – Friday, May 5

Join Christopher Kendall and Robert Eisenstein, co-Artistic Directors of the Folger Consort, for a lively discussion with guest artists from 7:00pm-7:30pm before the Friday, May 5 performance.
Free entry with concert ticket.
Masks required
Please note: All attendees are required to wear a mask. Fully vaccinated artists will not be wearing masks while performing. The Folger is committed to maintaining the highest level of health and safety precautions around COVID-19. Learn more about how we are keeping our audience and performers safe: COVID-19 safety protocols