2025–2026 Season
Sonnambula is the inaugural ensemble-in-residence at The Frick Collection in New York City.
Join us as we present three concerts that explore the rich interplay of music, visual arts,
and cultural history in early modern Europe.
We are also thrilled to make our début at The Morgan Library & Museum this season.
Join us as we present three concerts that explore the rich interplay of music, visual arts,
and cultural history in early modern Europe.
We are also thrilled to make our début at The Morgan Library & Museum this season.
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SUN | NOV 2, 2025 | 5PM
A Black Masque Featuring Davóne Tines, bass-baritone Stephen A. Schwartzman Auditorium The Frick Collection 1 East 70th Street New York, NY 10021 Sonnambula opens its 2025–26 Frick residency with a performance inspired by Ben Jonson's Masque of Blackness (1605), an allegorical court entertainment commissioned by Queen Anne of Denmark and originally staged at the Jacobean court. Featuring music by Alfonso Ferrabosco II (only one song by whom survives), the masque depicts African nymphs journeying to England to seek racial purification, reflecting early modern racial anxieties and imperial fantasies. Music by Ferrabosco, Holborne, Brade and Dowland. |
Photo of Davóne Tines by Voxigma
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SUN | FEB 1, 2026 | 5PM
Secret Music with Song Hee Lee Featuring a commissioned work by Gregory Spears Stephen A. Schwartzman Auditorium The Frick Collection 1 East 70th Street New York, NY 10021 We continue our Frick residency with a program that juxtaposes selections from the concerto della donne tradition of "secret" music making, featuring star soprano Song Hee Lee. The concert also features the world premiere of Secrets by composer Gregory Spears, commissioned by The Frick Collection and inspired by the enigmatic gaze of the sitter in Giovanni Battista Moroni’s Portrait of a Woman (1575) from the collection. Utilizing a blend of modern instruments, Renaissance viols, and the voices of acclaimed vocal trio ModernMedieval Voices, Secrets explores the capacity of the “sonic gaze” to examine convergences between the imagined sounds of the past and the potential for music of today. We are grateful to Sarah Billinghurst Solomon for sponsoring the new commission by composer Gregory Spears. |
Composer Gregory Spears
Song Hee Lee (photo by Jiyang Chen)
Modern Medieval Voices: Chloe Holgate (photo by Shani Tadjian), Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek (photo by Mark Kwiatek), and Madeline Healey (photo by Liz Andolina)
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TUES | MARCH 17, 2026 | 7PM
Instruments of Affection Mozart's Violin in Concert Gilder Lehrman Hall The Morgan Library & Museum 225 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016 Join us for a rare and extraordinary musical experience: a selection of Mozart’s beloved chamber works performed on Mozart's own Costa violin, on loan from the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Hear these masterpieces as Mozart himself might have—brought to life using the instrument that helped shape his work. The program also features music by Mozart's contemporary, Marianna Martines, and some favorite Mozart arias sung by soprano Song Hee Lee. Please join us! Featuring Jude Ziliak, violin James Kennerley, fortepiano with Song Hee Lee, soprano |
Song Hee Lee (photo by Jiyang Chen)
Attendees are invited to view the exhibition Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Treasures from the Mozarteum Foundation of Salzburg during their museum visit. |
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SUN | MAY 3, 2026 | 5PM
Gainsborough and Abel Stephen A. Schwartzman Auditorium The Frick Collection 1 East 70th Street New York, NY 10021 In our final concert of our 2025–26 Frick residency, we explore the celebrated Bach–Abel concerts, the pioneering subscription series established by J. C. Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel in 18th-century London. Reflecting the intimate yet public character of these groundbreaking performances, the concert coincides with the Frick’s exhibition Gainsborough: The Fashion of Portraiture, highlighting the wide circle of musical friends surrounding Thomas Gainsborough, as well as the artist’s personal connection to Abel (whose portrait features in the exhibition) and his passion for the viola da gamba. |
Carl Friedrich Abel, ca. 1777 (Image © Huntington Art Museum)
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SUN | AUG 30, 2026 | 6PM
Twilight in the Walled Garden: Italian and French Masterworks of the Early Baroque The Amphitheater Untermyer Gardens Conservancy 945 North Broadway, Yonkers, NY 10701 Featuring Jude Ziliak, violin Matt Zucker, viola da gamba Dušan Balarin, theorbo This evening’s program explores the intimate, expressive world of 17th- and 18th-century music for the violin, theorbo, and viola da gamba. We highlight the monumental influence of Arcangelo Corelli, whose Op. 5 sonatas set the gold standard for chamber music across Europe, as well as the imaginative improvisations of Nicola Matteis, whose Ayres for the violin captivated English audiences with their Italian brilliance and inventive theatrics. We will also hear three distinct reflections on ground-bass forms tonight, as well: warmth and inventive counterpoint via Samuel Capricornus’s Ciacona, lighthearted dance melodies in Andrea Falconieri’s La Suave Melodia, and the noble majesty of Marin Marais’ Chaconne, demonstrating the refined gravitas of the French court. |
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These concerts are made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.