At the very end of our Renaissance unit I usually play Thomas Tallis's spectacular, 40-part motet called Spem in Alium. Tallis is one of the major figures in the period, and I've always found his music to be very expressive.
We are lucky, then, to have an upcoming concert that will present the motets of Thomas Tallis, sung by New York's best "early music" group, the New York Polyphony. Here is a sample of what it will be like, with the same group singing one of the pieces on the program, in the exact location the concert will be:
I am probably going to this. :)
Tickets are $18-$21 (with student discount). Here is the Miller Theatre event page with more info and a link for tix.
Miller Theatre is a department at Columbia University that presents concerts. They have two main specialties, contemporary Classical music (composed by living composers), and "Early Music" (which usually means stuff from the Renaissance.) Their concert hall at CU isn't an appropriate venue for most Early Music so they tend to produce these concerts at other locations around the city.
Student Tickets
Full price for tickets are $30-$45, but students (as well as anybody under 25) get 40% off, making it $18-$27.
You can buy tickets on their website and they have a full-time box office at Columbia University as well. Call 212-854-7799 for box office hours etc.
The Scene
The Early Music concerts tend to be held in churches, which gives the concerts a somewhat formal feel, but the overall vibe still tends to be pretty relaxed. In a church concert you will probably end up sharing a pew with other patrons.
Full Disclosure!
OK, so here's the deal: My wife Melissa Smey is the executive director for Miller Theater. As a result, this calendar has a definite bias towards Miller events and you could even argue that we benefit a tiny, tiny amount if you go to one of these shows. But I do think it's a nice, low-pressure opportunity for young people to hear interesting things and I'm only going to plug shows that I think Baruch students might want to go to.