State of the Byrds Address 2026

Wrapping up our 2025-2026 Season

Thank you for an incredible season.

It was our biggest yet!

SEASON HIGHLIGHTS

We started off strong this season in October, celebrating Palestrina’s 500th Anniversary with a U.S. tour to San Francisco, New York City, Birmingham, and Princeton, and commissioning a new work by Kerensa Briggs for the occasion. I even had a moment to call Palestrina the Taylor Swift of the Renaissance on television!

Our Christmas program, A Ceremony of Carols, saw our biggest turnout yet, with over 550 people in attendance that weekend. We were grateful for a shout-out in the Seattle Times, which welcomed many newcomers to our audience. We were also delighted to present The Tudor Choir’s program, Christmas in a Wintry World, directed by Doug Fullington.

For our Series #3 program, Flemish Masters, we returned to San Francisco and Victoria, B.C. one of the friendliest cities we’ve ever visited.

On Good Friday, we released our new commission, Reflections on Stabat Mater, and it went viral! Well, as viral as we can go: an account with nearly a million followers shared the release, garnering almost 50,000 views. Not only is our commission making the rounds, but our release of music by Kevin Siegfried is also receiving glowing reviews.​

This spring, we were thrilled to welcome our new Director’s Assistant, Michelle Salomon. Michelle has been incredibly helpful behind the scenes, contracting singers, managing communications, and providing invaluable on-site support.​

We concluded our season with our most ambitious production to date. Our performance of Handel’s Dixit Dominus featured superstar violinist and concertmaster Augusta McKay Lodge, a full baroque orchestra, and a chant choir. The program was a recreation of a 1707 Vespers service, the kind of liturgical setting for which a young Handel would have originally composed.

WHAT'S AHEAD

In July, we are looking forward to our annual Renaissance course. This year, 40 singers from around the world will gather at Château de La Côte—a 15th-century château nestled in the rolling countryside of the Périgord Vert in Dordogne, southwestern France—to study Franco-Flemish masterpieces. (Fun fact: these courses often fill within just two weeks of registration opening!)

Next season, Seattle will host the Early Music America Summit! We are honored to be part of the event, presenting a program of English Renaissance music—our bread and butter—on Sunday, October 25. For our annual Christmas program over Thanksgiving weekend, we will feature a sampling of carols through the ages. Then, on February 7–8, we will present Music from the Sistine Chapel, a program featuring Allegri, Palestrina, Victoria, and Lassus. We plan to conclude our season with When David Heard, a program of modern and Renaissance music on one of the poignant "lamentation" texts in the choral tradition. Includes music by Arvo Pärt and John Tavener.

SUPPORT OUR PROGRAMMING

However, we still need your support! There are two vital projects we are seeking to fund for the upcoming season:

Christmas Recording: A Ceremony of Carols ($19,000 raised / $30,000 goal) Our Ceremony of Carols program was a resounding success last year and deserves a professional Byrd recording. We have already raised $19,000, and we need your help to bridge the remaining $11,000 gap to make this recording a reality.

Tallis’s 40-part Spem in alium ($6,000 goal) We plan to bring this monumental masterpiece to life as a spectacular centerpiece for our English Renaissance program during the Early Music America Summit.

Thank you!

Every note we sing is made possible by your generosity. From funding our upcoming Ceremony of Carols recording to helping us bring Tallis’s 40-part Spem in alium to the Seattle summit, your gifts are the foundation of our music-making. Thank you for believing in our creative vision and for being a vital part of our community.