With a focus on vocal repertoire from the Early Baroque, the Renaissance, and the Modern, the versatile Early Music Ensemble strives for cogent performance excellence in vocal music across this vast temporal span. The group frequently collaborates with composition faculty and department ensembles, from the Percussion Studio to the Baroque Ensemble. Concerts are quarterly, with rehearsals held Mondays and Wednesdays, 7–9:30 pm, in Room 115, Music Building.
One of Bach’s earliest surviving sacred cantatas, Aus der Tieffen (Out of the deep I call, Lord, to you) is set to Luther’s translation of Psalm 130. The same text has been used in many other musical settings, including the De profundis section of many requiem masses, perhaps suggesting it was composed for a somber occasion. The cantata also features the hopeful chorale “Herr Jesu Christ.”
Matilda Hofman, whose conducting has been described as having “a striking sense of purpose” and “taut and finely controlled” (San Francisco Gate) has a busy and varied performance schedule. She works regularly with a wide range of groups in Europe, and in California, which she has made her home. Matilda has performed at the Salzburg Festival, Berliner Festspiele, Holland Festival and Ruhrtriennale among others.
