The Grinnell Singers Release Recording of Zelenka Mass

The Grinnell Singers have released a CD of Jan Dismas Zelenka’s Missa Omnium Sanctorum in combination with the Lyra Baroque Orchestra. This collaboration between the Grinnell Singers and the Twin-Cities-based professional period-instrument orchestra represents the fourth time that the two ensembles have combined forces since their first concert together in 2015. The album includes solos from Grinnell faculty members Suzanne Lommler, mezzo-soprano, and Nicholas Miguel, baritone, as well as the celebrated soprano from the Twin Cities, Linh Kauffman, and University of Northern Iowa faculty member Jeffrey Brich, tenor. The Czech composer Zelenka (1679-1745) has been increasingly recognized in recent decades as one of the baroque era’s most distinctive and original composers. Zelenka’s mass offers colorful, surprising harmonies and contrapuntal brilliance that rivals that of J. S. Bach. Copies of the CD can be purchased through the Pioneer Bookstore.