Kairos to perform spring concert

Middletown — Kairos: A Consort of Singers, under the direction of Edward Lundergan, will present its annual spring a cappella concert on Saturday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m., at Grace Episcopal Church in Middletown, and on Sunday, May 8, at 7 p.m., at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, in New Paltz. The concert will feature a brand new work (commissioned by Kairos) by Hudson Valley composer John B. Hedges entitled “Exeter Riddles,” based on texts from the Exeter Book. Written in a single hand, the Exeter Book is one of four manuscripts, dating from the second half of the tenth century, that preserve virtually all the poetry in Old English that has survived. Among the other texts, there are over 90 riddles, written in the style of Anglo-Saxon poetry and ranging in topics from the religious to the mundane — many of them double entendres. “Exeter Riddles” is a collection of pieces for chorus set to five of the riddles, sung in the original Old English. They are accompanied by harp and drum. The concert will also include performances of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Mass in G Minor,” Robert Schumann’s “Vier doppelchörige Gesänge,” “Pied Beauty,” by local composer and Kairos member, Peter Sipple, and madrigals by Italian Renaissance composers Monteverdi and Gesualdo. Tickets are $15, general admission; $12, seniors and $5, students/youth. For information and tickets visit www.kairosconsort.org or call 256-9114.