Hailed for its “stunningly unified ensemble sound” (The Carlisle Mosquito) and “thrilling…beautiful” performances (Goldberg), Exsultemus [ek-sul-TAY-mus] joins Boston’s leading young singers to rejoice in performing early music’s best-known favorites and rediscovered gems spanning the Medieval, Renaissance, and early Baroque periods. Taking its name from the Latin for “let us rejoice,” Exsultemus is modeled after small estate and chapel choirs and performs without conductor, requiring a close relationship between the singers and resulting in vibrant and engaging performances. Exsultemus is committed to historically-informed performance, employing just intonation and period pronunciation based on scholarship by experts in the field; they have twice had the privilege of working with Peter Phillips, director of the famed Renaissance choir The Tallis Scholars.

Since its founding by soprano and Andover native Shannon Canavin in 2003, Exsultemus has presented an annual concert series at the First Lutheran Church of Boston, where it is Ensemble-in-Residence, and in Andover, MA. In January 2006, the ensemble traveled to Aachen Cathedral in Germany as part of an exhibition commemorating the modern publication of the manuscript Regali natus: the Rhymed Office of Charlemagne , which is housed at the cathedral. In May 2008, the ensemble recorded this stunning music for future release on CD.  Exsultemus has appeared with Connecticut Early Music Festival, Society for Historically Informed Performance, Cambridge Society for Early Music, Clark Art Institute, Wadsworth Atheneum, and WGBH Radio Boston.

Each spring Exsultemus presents a series of free community outreach concerts dedicated to the music of the Iberian Peninsula and the New World. Through its outreach mission, Exsultemus strives to bring the long-neglected repertories of Spain, Portugual, and Central and South America into the mainstream Classical repertoire while also developing the underserved Hispanic audiences of Greater Boston by connecting to the music of their heritages and breaking down the barriers of accessibility such as cost, location, and language. By partnering with local community organizations and businesses, providing promotional and program materials in foreign languages, and presenting our concerts in venues found in communities with a large Hispanic concentration, Exsultemus hopes to foster an appreciation for classical music among new audiences from all walks of life.

Exsultemus is Ensemble-in-Residence at The First Lutheran Church of Boston and is an organizational member of the Society for Historically Informed Performance ( SoHIP), Early Music America ( EMA), and the Greater Boston Choral Consortium ( GBCC).

A note on historically informed performance

The phrase “historically informed performance” reflects our approach to presenting music in accordance with what the historical record tells us about the nature of performances at the time the music was composed. For music composed before the advent of recorded sound, performers and scholars examine writings on music, surviving instruments, and original sources (in both manuscript and print), all of which provide clues on aspects of performance. From such sources dating from the Renaissance, we learn that the optimal sound for vocal music was clear and pure; while many modern audiences are under the impression that this refers to a complete lack of vibrato or fluctuation in pitch, it is more likely that vibrato was used as an ornament on certain notes of the singer’s choosing rather than as a constant. Another important element of singing is pronunciation. As late as 1779, Samuel Johnson wrote that “he who travels, if he speaks Latin, may soon learn the sounds which every nation gives to it…and if strangers visit us, it is their business to practice such conformity to our modes as they expect from us in their countries.” Other texts also suggest that Latin was pronounced as if it were the singer’s native tongue, so that the rules of pronunciation in his or her native language were applied to Latin. By consulting primary and secondary sources as well as contemporary musicologists, Exsultemus strives to bring the music of the past to life by staying true to the original intent of the composers and the practices of the performers while making our performances compelling and exciting for today’s audiences.