Silentwoods Collective dives into the passionate and fiery music of Southern Italy, a region rich in Greek and Arab cultural heritage. Rituals of the early modern and pre-Christian eras reveal not only antiquity’s aesthetic influences in the area but also functional relations. Evolving and mutating with each passing generation, one example of such relationships is the lore surrounding the tarantella, a genre descending from ancient times. A reaction to emotional and or physical trauma, this program traces the lineage of the tarantella’s vigorous energy through the centuries to the ecstatic rituals involving music and dance surrounding the orphic and bacchic cults of antiquity. As the musicians explore these and other stories and rituals of Southern Italy, they illuminate gems of a seldom performed and understudied repertoire–works by Scarlatti, Coya, Caresana, Giulio de Ruvo, Provenzale, and more.

Silentwoods Collective
Carley DeFranco, soprano
Danilo Bonina & Nelli Herskovitz-Jabotinsky, violins
Andrew Koutroubas, cello
John McKean, harpsichord 
Luce Burrell, theorbo

Tuesday July 8 | St. Anne’s in-the-Fields, Lincoln, MA

Wednesday July 9 | The Chapel at West Parish, Andover, MA

Thursday July 10 | Lindsay Chapel at Emmanuel Church, Boston, MA