Folger Consort Presents Annual Holiday Concert Series "Resplendent Joy: Christmas Traditions from Spain and Portugal," December 5-14 at the Folger Shakespeare Library

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Folger Consort, the award-winning early music ensemble-in-residence at the Folger, will perform Spanish Christmas carols from the 16th and 17th centuries and traditional holiday music from early modern Spain and Portugal for the annual holiday concert during the second annual Folger Frost Fair, a month-long winter festival at the Folger. The concert series Resplendent Joy: Christmas Traditions from Spain and Portugalwill be performed in the Elizabethan-styled Theatre at the Folger Shakespeare Library, December 5-14.

"It's surely not coincidence that so many of the year's most meaningful holidays everywhere in the world are concentrated in the month of the winter solstice," said co-Artistic Director Christopher Kendall. "This year we're looking to the wonderful music for the season from the Iberian Peninsula, some of the most colorful and celebratory of any, while also including music that delves deeply into the mystery and darkness of the time."

Resplendent Joy offers skillful, multi-voiced choral compositions set to sacred texts by the Portuguese composer Vicente Lusitano (c.1520–c. 1561), considered to be the first published Black composer of European music. The program includes lively seasonal villançicos (early Spanish Christmas carols) and engaging instrumental music for vihuela, a 15th-century Spanish stringed instrument; organ; and mixed ensembles. Through touching songs of simple beauty as well as celebratory odes to the festive season, audiences can learn about and enjoy some of the most prominent Spanish composers of the 16th century, including Cristobal de Morales, Tomás Luis de Victoria, and Francisco Guerrero.

"We're delighted to present all this with six singers and organ, viols, vihuela, winds, and percussion in various combinations," added co-Artistic Director Robert Eisenstein. "Bringing our friends, old and new, to share in the December music-making is one of the best things about our work."

Folger Consort's lineup of artists includes Robert Eisenstein (viol, recorder), Amy Domingues (viol), Elizabeth Hardy (dulcian, recorder), Paula Maust (organ), Daniel Meyers (trombone, recorder, percussion), and Hideki Yamaya (vihuela), and six guest vocalists: sopranos Crossley Hawn and Susan Lewis Kavinski, alto Hannah Baslee, tenors Oliver Mercer and John Logan Wood, and baritone Corbin Phillips.

Related programming for Resplendent Joy includes a pre-show conversation with guest artists led by Kendall and Eisenstein, from 7–7:30pm before the Saturday, December 6 performance. This event is free for performance ticketholders.

On Wednesday, December 3, at 6pm, Eisenstein leads a lively virtual seminar that offers a sneak peek at the music performed in the Folger Consort's Resplendent Joy concerts. The event will be hosted on Zoom; $10, free for Folger Members and Subscribers: https://www.folger.edu/whats-on/early-music-seminar-resplendent-joy/.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.folger.edu/consort or by contacting the Folger box office at (202) 544-7077. Tickets are $20-$65, with discounts available for Folger members and subscribers, seniors, students, educators, military and their families, and groups. A limited number of Family Four-Packs are available for each performance. Families that include at least two audience members under the age of 18 can purchase a Family Four-Pack for only $195—a 25% savings on single ticket prices. More information online at: folger.edu/resplendent.

Folger Consort's annual holiday concert is one of the highlights of Folger Frost Fair, a month of holiday programming, festive decorations, holiday music, and many free activities that bring Shakespeare, the arts, and poetry to life. This year's festivities include the annual Emily Dickinson Birthday Tribute, specialty Afternoon Tea at the Folger, events for families and with a Regency theme, printing press demonstrations, building tours, craft stations, a holiday sing-along, and more programming for people of all ages, with festive decor throughout the Folger's spaces. For more information about Folger Frost Fair, please visit: folger.edu/frostfair. 

Members of the press who would like to cover the performance may reserve tickets through Colleen Kennedy, Senior Communications Manager, via email at [email protected]. Selected images are available here: folger.edu/consort-presskit.

Folger Consort wishes to thank Premier Season Sponsor Andrea "Andi" Kasarsky, Production Sponsors Dr. Charles C. Hannaand Dr. Gail Orgelfinger, Associate Sponsors Mary Augustaand George D. Thomas, and Artist Sponsors Karl K. and Carrol Benner Kindel.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Robert Eisenstein  
Artistic Director, Viol, and Recorder
Robert Eisenstein has led over 200 productions and performances with Folger Consort over the past 40 years, including Measure + Dido at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Napa Valley Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice at Strathmore, The Fairy Queen, and Hildegard Von Bingen's Ordo Virtutum at the Washington National Cathedral. Recently retired as the 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; Mount Holyoke College faculty emeritus, where he taught music history and performed on the viola de gamba, violin, and medieval fiddle. He is an active participant in 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
Artistic Director
Christopher Kendall is the founder of the Folger Consort. He is Dean Emeritus of the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in Ann Arbor. 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's Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Mr. Kendall served as Director of the University of Maryland School of Music from 1996 to 2005. 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, Bridge, and Smithsonian Collection labels. 

GUEST ARTISTS

Hannah Baslee (Alto)
Hannah Baslee's work in the DC area includes performances with The Thirteen, the Washington Bach Consort, 21st Century Consort, Washington National Cathedral, and the schola at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Internationally, Hannah has toured with the Clarion Choir, The English Concert, Washington National Cathedral in Spain, and the American Soloists Ensemble in South Korea. Selected recordings include: the Clarion Choir's Grammy-nominated Rachmaninoff: All Night Vigil; The Thirteen's Monteverdi Vespers of 1610 and Monteverdi: The Lost Vespers; Washington Bach Consort's Myth's Contested; and the Clarion Choir's upcoming album Rachmaninoff Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom. 

Amy Domingues (Viol) 
Amy Domingues is an ardent performer, whether it be on the cello, viola da gamba, baryton, or vielle. Her early career honed her ensemble skills as a session cellist, recording and touring with rock and experimental bands in the USA, Europe, and Japan. Later, armed with a relentless interest in music history, Amy turned her focus to the viola da gamba and baroque cello. She holds a master's degree in Historical Performance (viola da gamba) from the Peabody Institute and has performed in masterclasses for Wieland Kuijken, Paolo Pandolfo, and Philippe Pierlot. 

Elizabeth Hardy (Dulcian, Recorder)
Elizabeth Hardy performs on historical bassoons and Renaissance woodwinds. She has served as both performer and organizer with Helios Early Opera, Grand Harmonie, 7 Hills Renaissance Wind Band, and the Society for Historically Informed Performance, and was a founding member of 17th-century mixed consort The Weckmann Project. She is principal bassoon of the Austin Baroque Orchestra, and has appeared with Folger Consort, the Handel and Haydn Society, the Bach Project, Newton Baroque, NYS Baroque, Salon/Sanctuary Concerts, the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, and Ensemble Caprice. Elizabeth also played reeds and recorders for Shakespeare on Broadway, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre's Tony Award-winning productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III. 

Crossley Hawn (Soprano) 
Crossley Hawn has served as a soloist with ensembles including Folger Consort, Cathedra, the Washington Bach Consort, The Thirteen, the City Choir of Washington, Chatham Baroque, Choralis, the Reston Chorale, Maryland Choral Society, and University of Maryland Summer Chorus. Hawn was the winner of the 2018 Choralis Young Artists Competition. Hawn is also an active ensemble singer and a member of Eya Medieval Music. She is an Artistic Director of Bridge, a professional vocal chamber ensemble specializing in new works for voices. Hawn served as project manager and ensemble singer for Experiential Orchestra's Grammy-winning premiere recording of Dame Ethel Smyth's The Prison. 

Susan Lewis Kavinski (Soprano)  
Susan Lewis Kavinski is a soprano vocalist and retired service member with the United States Navy Band, Washington, DC. For two decades, Susan has been privileged to perform as a featured soloist and ensemble member; she has sung for presidents, vice presidents, high-ranking military leaders, Congress, popes, and an array of foreign and domestic dignitaries. As a freelance artist, she recently made her debut with Opera Lafayette's production of Dido and Aeneas. Susan has appeared with the Folger Consort, the National Symphony Orchestra, Kansas City Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops Orchestra, Washington Bach Consort, Washington Chorus, Washington National Cathedral Choir.  

Paula Maust (Organ) 
Paula Maust is a performer, scholar, and educator dedicated to fusing research and creative practice to amplify underrepresented voices. She is the creator of Expanding the Music Theory Canon, an open-source collection of music theory examples by women and people of color. A book based on the project was released by SUNY Press in 2024. Paula is also an early modern area editor for Grove Music Online Women, Gender, and Sexuality Project and is an Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University. She performs extensively in the region as a harpsichordist and organist and is a co-director of Musica Spira, a DC-based ensemble that tells the stories of early modern women musicians. 

Oliver Mercer (Tenor)
Described as "excellent" and "sterling," by The New York Times, tenor Oliver Mercer performs regularly throughout North America and Europe as a concert soloist, recitalist, and opera singer. A specialist of the Baroque era, he has performed with Glyndebourne Opera Festival; English National Opera; Spoletto Festival USA; Boston Early Music Festival; Opera Theater Company, Dublin, Ireland; Bach Society of Charleston; Savannah Philharmonic, Charleston Symphony, INseries Opera, and Mid Wales Opera. He has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Trinity Church Wall Street, the Barbican Centre London, Washington National Cathedral, the Kennedy Center, and the Royal Albert Hall.  

Daniel Meyers (Trombone, Recorder, Percussion)
Dan Meyers is a flexible performer of both classical and folk music; his credits range from premieres of contemporary chamber music to playing Renaissance instruments on Broadway for Shakespeare's Globe Theatre Company. He is a co-founder of the early music/folk crossover group Seven Times Salt, and in recent seasons has performed with Hesperus, the Newberry Consort, the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado, Severall Friends, the Henry Purcell Society of Boston, the 21st Century Consort, and In Stile Moderno. He also plays traditional Irish music with the band ISHNA, and eclectic fusion from around the Mediterranean with his ensemble Zafarán. www.danmeyersmusic.com 

Corbin Phillips (Baritone)
Labeled a "standout baritone" by the SF Gate, Corbin Phillips is a classical singer with a passion for early music. His most recent solo appearances have included the role of Aeneas in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas with Opera Henriette, a newly founded baroque opera company in Baltimore; bass soloist in Bach's St. John Passion at the Baltimore Basilica, and bass soloist in Handel's Dublin Messiah with Tempesta di Mare. Other appearances have included performances with the Folger Consort, Gallicantus, Mountainside Baroque, Opera Lafayette, and Big Mouth Society. 

John Logan Wood (Tenor)
John Logan Wood comes to the DC area from Nashville, Tennessee. With roots in bluegrass and gospel, he worked regularly as a studio musician and frequented as a background vocalist. He performed with Nashville Opera, was tenor soloist for Orff's Carmina Burana with Nashville Symphony, and again at Smetana Hall in Prague, portrayed both brothers in a film adaptation of Weill's Die Sieben Todsünden, and was accompanist for a music therapy group through Vanderbilt and The Peterson Foundation for Parkinsons. He has performed with many ensembles in the DMV and is a member of the choir at the Basilica of the National Shrine, where he is also on staff as cantor. 

Hideki Yamaya (Vihuela)
Hideki Yamaya is a performer of lutes, early guitars, and early mandolins based in Connecticut. Born in Tokyo, Japan, he spent most of his career in the West Coast before settling in New England. As a soloist and as a continuo/chamber player, Hideki has performed for Portland Baroque Orchestra, Portland Opera, Santa Cruz Baroque Festival, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Opera, California Bach Society, Oregon Bach Festival, Astoria Music Festival, Music of the Baroque, and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. He is one half of the Schneiderman-Yamaya Duo and is the artistic director of Musica Maestrale, an early music collective based in Portland, Oregon. 

About Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library makes Shakespeare's stories and the world in which he lived accessible. Anchored by the world's largest Shakespeare collection, the Folger is a cultural organization where curiosity and creativity are embraced, and conversation is always encouraged. Visitors to the Folger can choose how they want to experience the arts and humanities, from interactive exhibitions to captivating performances, and from path-breaking research to transformative educational programming. The Folger welcomes everyone to connect in their own way—from communities throughout Washington, DC, to communities across the globe. Learn more at www.folger.edu.  

About Folger Consort
For 49 seasons as the early music ensemble-in-residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library, Folger Consort has delighted audiences with a stunning repertoire of early music spanning roughly 800 years. With world-class guest artists, from virtuoso soloists to large choirs and period orchestras, Folger Consort has performed masterpieces of the most renowned composers and hidden treasures from those who might otherwise be lost to history. Performing in the intimate setting of the Folger's Elizabethan-styled Theatre, as well as such grand spaces as Washington National Cathedral, Strathmore Hall, and the Kennedy Center, Folger Consort has also toured nationally and internationally to Shakespeare's Globe and other prestigious venues.

Among other awards and critical acclaim for its performances and recordings, Folger Consort has received Best Classical Chamber Ensemble from the Washington Area Music Awards multiple times. For more on Folger Consort, please visit www.folger.edu/folger-consort.

Folger Consort recordings are available for purchase and digital download at iTunes and available for streaming on Spotify.

SOURCE Folger Shakespeare Library