Backstage Pass featuring Musica Spei

Backstage Pass host Julia Figueras

On the next Backstage Pass, join host Julia Figueras live from WXXI's Studio A with Musica Spei. The a cappella choral group specializes in the sacred choral music of the Renaissance and will perform music for the season. Backstage Pass featuring Musica Spei airs Friday, December 19 at 1 p.m., repeating Sunday, December 21 at 2 p.m. on Classical 91.5/90.3/HD 91.5-1.

Musica Spei (Music of Hope) was formed in the summer of 1995 to explore the vast but largely unperformed repertoire of sacred, unaccompanied choral masterworks of the 15th, 16th and early 17th centuries. Musica Spei performs without a conductor and gives several concerts each season at various locations in the Greater Rochester, Buffalo and Canandaigua communities. In November 2001, Musica Spei sponsored the first Rochester Early Music Festival. It has performed with other local groups, including Madrigalia and Air de Cour, participated in several choral PRISM concerts presented by the Eastman School of Music in the Eastman Theatre, and appeared three times at Memorial Art Gallery exhibition preview parties. During the 2000-2001 season, Musica Spei was invited to perform at the national conference of the American Orff-Schulwerk Association and appeared at a celebrity-studded benefit for the Hochstein Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Backstage Pass is a live, hour-long radio series that is committed to highlighting performing artists– giving Classical 91.5/90.3 listeners the opportunity to hear local and visiting musicians performing live. The series is made possible in part by a grant from the Gouvernet Arts Fund at Rochester Area Community Foundation.