Reflejo Medieval: Cantigas And Chants CD

ALEXANDRA MONTANO“Alexandra Montano is an absolutely marvelous singer who combines her natural musicality witha splendid mastery of a very broad repertoire. It is always a pleasure to hear her sing.” --Philip Glass “A major vocal discovery, her gorgeous voice like dark velvet at the bottom, radiant and clear at the top.” -- John Von Rhein, the Chicago TribuneAlexandra Montano is one of the most versatile singers now performing. Her stunningly rich and beautiful voice finds a home in music across the spectrum – from the simple yet vibrant textures of early music to new mysteries of compositions from the 20th and 21st centuries. Ms. Montano has delivered powerful and personal interpretations in recordings and performances of Dufay, Hildegard von Bingen, Handel, Mozart, Mahler, Debussy and Fauré. She made herBroadway debut in the fall of 1996 in Julie Taymor's Juan Darien, appeared in The difficulties in crossing the field composed by David Lang and played by the Kronos Quartet at the San Francisco Repertory Theater in April 1999. As a champion of contemporary repertoire she plays keyboards and sings in tours with Philip Glass. On his Sony Classics recording of Naqoyqatsi she is a featured soloist along with Yo Yo Ma. Alexandra Montano has premiered operas of Tan Dun and Meredith Monk. She has performed and toured music of the Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque periods with the Waverly Consort, Ensemble for Early Music, Voices of Ascension, Concert Royal and The Newberry Consort. In 2001, she made her Avery Fisher Hall debut singing Bach's Mass in B minor with Musica Sacra. She sang Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer at Tanglewood in 2002 and Handel’s Messiah at Carnegie Hall in 2003. In 2005, Ms. Montano performed a variety of contemporary works in new settings: the Mother in Yoshio Torikai’s opera Red Beads presented by Mabou Mines, with Universal Sacred Music; the featured soloist in Malachevsky’s He comes conducted by Susanne Peck at New York’s Ethical Culture; and in Paul Crabtree’s An American Persephone and Frank Martin’s Et la vie l’emporta with Cantori conducted by Mark Shapiro. In 2006 she sang in Steven Blier’s Festival of Songs, in David Lang’s new opera Anatomy Theater at Mass MOCA, and she premiered a song cycle by Will Ayton on William Blake’s poetry called A Reliquary for William Blake, with the Parthenia consort of viols, and Phoolan Devi Songs by Shirish Korde with the Da Capo Players. This most recent recording by Alexandra, Reflejo Medieval, is a collection of Spanish Medieval cantigas, hailed by Time Out as “a mesmerizing collection...graced by the sultry beauty of Montano’s voice.” This is a follow-up to her collection of French songs, L'Heure Exquise. Both are available on One Soul Records.