Formed in 1993 to explore the myriad riches of the a cappella tradition, The Lyric Consort’s performances and wide-ranging repertoire have garnered consistent critical acclaim. Proclaimed a “rare treat” by the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader, the eight-voice ensemble maintains annual concert series at both Wilkes-Barre and Scranton venues, and has performed by invitation throughout the Wyoming Valley, eastern and central Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New York; including appearances at Glenburn’s Church of the Epiphany, Jim Thorpe’s historic St. Mark’s Church, First Night Binghamton, St. Peter’s Cathedral of Scranton, Moravian, King’s, Mt. Aloysius, and Dartmouth Colleges, Bloomsburg, Bucknell, and Johns-Hopkins Universities, WVIA’s Simply Grand!, the Encore Music Camp of Pennsylvania, Wyoming Seminary and the Performing Arts Institute, Skytop Lodge, New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and a two-year Artist Residency at the Pennsylvania State University’s Lehman campus.
In August of 2000, the Consort appeared as a featured ensemble at the American Choral Directors’ state conference in State College, and was subsequently invited to perform portions of its “Celebration of Love” program for the organization’s All-Eastern Conference in Pittsburgh during February 2002. The ensemble’s May 2001 program honoring America’s military veterans, “A Field Afar,” was co-produced with WVIA Public Television and is presently enjoying broadcast throughout the region. During the summer of 2002, the ensemble enjoyed a ten-day concert tour of Wales and Oxford
The ensemble’s acknowledged mastery of Medieval and Renaissance repertories has been increasingly balanced by similar success with contemporary vocal works, and the ensemble now regularly premieres new works from the region’s finest composers and arrangers.
The Consort has brought to northeastern Pennsylvania five such world premieres, as well as the first regional performances of important works by John Tavener, Arvo Pärt, Jean Belmont, Frank Ferko, and Kim Sherman. In 1998, The Lyric Consort also researched and presented a series of three lecture-concerts exploring Pennsylvania’s first publication of sacred music, James Lyon’s 1761 collection, Urania.
In addition to this busy performance schedule, The Lyric Consort regularly records for radio broadcast on the Music from St. Stephen’s and Concert Hall programs of northeastern Pennsylvania’s public radio affiliate, WVIA-FM; and in both 1995 and 1996, the ensemble was featured in the WNEP-TV holiday special, Christmas All Night. The Lyric Consort contributed to the 1996 WVIA-Discs choral compilation, Summoning Angels; to the musical score for the 1997 Carl Liss film, Apartment D; and, since 1999 has released three compact disc recordings: A Lyric Consort Sampler, Christmas From St. Stephen’s, and the live, in-concert recording, A field afar. . .
The quality of the ensemble’s work has been recognized through grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, as well as the Annette Evans, Arcadia, and Scranton Area Foundations, and in 1999, The Lyric Consort was honored with inclusion to the inaugural artist roster for the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation’s support program, Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour.