About Us

Mission Statement

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Cantilena, a women’s chorus, is dedicated to encouraging and promoting the composition, study, and performance of choral music written for the treble voice. Cantilena strives to introduce both its members and an increasingly wider audience to works they are unlikely to encounter in other forums, with an emphasis on music composed specifically for women's voices. 

 

To elevate and expand the choral canon of works written by women, Cantilena crafts innovative programs, funds new commissions, and aims to broaden the choral audience through community outreach, public partnerships, and public events.

 

Cantilena performs a wide range of works from the classical repertoire, both old and new; more recently highlighting and commissioning works that address today's social and environmental issues.

 

Cantilena welcomes and celebrates individual identities in all of its activities and operations, including (but not limited to) race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, and sexual orientation.

 

History (About Us)

 

Cantilena was founded in 1968 as the Cambridge Chorale, an ensemble of mixed (SATB) voices. In 1980 the group became a women's chorus, and in 2000 changed its name to Cantilena to more appropriately reflect its identity. The name means, at its simplest level, a song, or a style of music where the melody is in the treble line. Cantilena is based in Arlington, Massachusetts.

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Past Repertoire (Highlights)

 

Over the years, Cantilena has premiered many new works, including “Fire in the Garden: a climate change trilogy” by Giselle Wyers (2020), performed in 2021; "Of a Sun She Can Remember" by Ellen Gilson Voth (2019), and "Jabberwocky" (2012) by Scott Wheeler. From the group of Composers in Red Sneakers, new works written for Cantilena include Roger Bourland’s “Dickinson Madrigals” (Book II), Brian Holmes’ “Let Evening Come” among many others, and last but not least, Director Emeritus Kenneth Seitz’s treasured volume of compositions and arrangements, including “Three Heartfelt Songs” (2002). Cantilena features the works of women composers including “Lifting As We Climb” a collaborative integrated with community by Joan Szymko (2023), ”Anne Frank: a Living Voice” by Linda Tutas-Haugen (2019) as well as songs in the choral cannon by Amy Beach, Abbie Betinis, Margaret Bonds, Mabel Daniels, Emma Lou Diemer, Joselyn Hagen, Sarah Quartel, and Gwyneth Walker.

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Cantilena is a member or grant recipient of the following arts organizations:​​

• Arlington Commission for Arts & Culture (Arts Arlington)

• Mass Cultural Council

• Chorus America

• Choral Arts New England

• Greater Boston Choral Consortium

• Boston Singers Resource