Collegium Musicum Spring Concert: Leyli’s Sky—Musical Constellations Across Time

Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 9:00pm
Memorial Chapel, 221 High Street, Middletown

Free and open to the public

Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff can RSVP on WesNest, but reservations are not required.

Wesleyan’s Collegium Musicum will premiere new pieces that draw on cosmic themes by graduate music student Negar Soleymanifar and Irish composer Seán Doherty during a spring concert under the direction of Jane Alden, Professor of Music, and Chair and Professor of Medieval Studies.

In the monastic tradition of Compline, a prayer service which takes place just before the community retires for the night, this concert will draw on poetic works invoking prayer, meditation, and contemplation of the night sky. Mystical, opaque texts invite listeners to reflect on themes of infinity, mortality, and the cosmos, as the evening light fades. Alongside ancient chants and radiant and reflective polyphony (simultaneously combining a number of parts, each forming an individual melody and harmonizing with each other) from Renaissance Europe, other featured composers will include Hildegard of Bingen, William Byrd, Guillaume Bouzignac, ‘Josquin,’ Christopher Tye, Thomas Tallis, and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. The ensemble will celebrate the exquisite cascading lines of Palestrina’s finely-wrought counterpoint for the 500th anniversary of his birth in 1525.

This spring, the ensemble was visited on campus for a workshop with creative troubadour Muco, a musician of British-Burundian heritage who shared the magic behind some of his reworkings—in Middle and Old English, French, Swahili, and Kirundi—of medieval folk songs, to reflect on cultural interconnections.

Profiles

Seán Doherty is an Irish composer and academic known for his choral, chamber, and orchestral works, blending contemporary techniques with traditional Irish elements. Born in Derry in 1987, he has received commissions from notable ensembles such as the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain, Tenebrae, and Chamber Choir Ireland. His music often draws on Irish folklore, myth, and spirituality, evident in pieces like Under-Song and A Nywe Werk. Doherty's works have garnered significant recognition, including awards at the Feis Ceoil and the Seán Ó Riada Composition Competition. Doherty holds a PhD in Composition from Trinity College Dublin. Besides composing, he is also a music professor at Dublin City University, where he contributes to both composition and musicology.

Negar Soleymanifar MA ’25 is part of a new wave of Iranian female artists. She has faced challenges promoting her music in Iran due to cultural and political restrictions but has found support through international platforms and collaborations. Organizations like the Iranian Female Composers Association have played a crucial role in amplifying these artists' voices by organizing concerts, residencies, and collaborative projects worldwide.