Chalice Consort is collaborating with global early music scholars and musicians to produce the first annual Early Music Mining Conference, to be held in San Francisco on April 10, 2010.

This Conference features the presentation of newly edited and previously unpublished works of Renaissance choral music in what British choral conductor and early music scholar Jeremy Summerly has called "a landmark event for the global early music community."

Under the direction of early music specialist Davitt Moroney, Chalice Consort will open the Conference with a performance of Thomas Ashwell's Missa Ave Maria, followed by the modern-day premiere performance and presentation of the four newly "mined" editions. After each presentation, there will be a moderated panel discussion of each new edition. The Conference will end with all attendees being invited to vote for their two favorite editions, which will then be performed by Chalice Consort at a future concert.

The panel of luminary early music scholars and directors includes Jeremy Summery (Royal Academy of Music, London), David Trendell (King's College, London), and Geoffrey Webber (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge), moderated by Davitt Moroney (University of California, Berkeley).

According to Summerly, this event is especially significant because the Competition and Conference, in effect, provide "new" music for all those interested in music of the Renaissance era, something that is not possible in the traditional sense of "new." Summerly says that while "performers of contemporary music can commission composers to write new pieces, the equivalent for early musicians" can only be the "re-discovery of forgotten treasures, championed by the editor and realized by dedicated performers."

For additional information on the Early Music Mining Conference and full conference agenda, visit www.chaliceconsort.org.

Early Music Mining Conference

Saturday, April 10, 2010, 10:00 am – 6:30 pm

St. Mark's Lutheran Church, 1111 O'Farrell Street

San Francisco, CA