“The way forward is collaboration. Dream big and work together.”
Teaching Professor Michael Kris released his latest album Cor Collaborandi: A Transnational Celebration of the Early Modern on September 24 via Acis Productions. This latest album is a true celebration of collaboration, a core tenet of musicianship, and brought a seven-year dream of Kris’ to fruition.
Recorded in August 2022 at Duke University Chapel, the album features UNC students and professors, as well as musicians from Europe and the UK. The Kris Collective, as the musicians are known for the album, consists of brass players and a small chorus of singers.
Cor Collaborandi features music by Giovanni Gabrieli, Orlando Lassus, Pietro Lappi, and others from the 15th and 16th centuries. As noted in the album’s press release, “The composers on the album shaped European sacred music as we know it; many of them held prestigious “maestro di cappella” positions in major cathedrals.”
We caught up with Professor Kris to learn more about this exciting project and the process of its creation.
What inspired you to curate and record Cor Collaborandi?
The absolute joy of performing this unique music with my collaborators and friends. Since 2013, I have been working with UNC students and professors and students from Europe and the UK to performing historic music in places such as London and the Salzburg Festival in Austria. From the start, we hoped to make a recording and bring our collective to the U.S., but logistical and financial barriers always made it seem unattainable. When I was notified in 2020 that I had been given the Chapman Family Teaching Award, this collaboration was the first thing that came to mind.
How did the Chapman Family Teaching Award allow this project to come to fruition?
The project was a dream, and we thought it would always remain just that, a dream. But the generous funding from the Chapman family transformed the project into reality. I am so thankful; it is really hard to express.
Do you have a favorite track on the album?
I am close to all these tracks, but two stand out to me. Orlandus Lassus has always been a favorite composer and his Magnificat on this recording really special. Also, the Ultimi miei sospiri after Philippe Verdelot by Antonio de Cabezón is interesting. I rearranged Cabezón’s arrangement for keyboard to six individual parts. It was a challenge, but my colleagues put it together for the recording through patience and talent. I am proud of how it turned out.
What was the recording process like for this album?
For me it went by in a blur of four days. There were so many moving parts to manage with an international project like this. However, one interesting note is that we actually produced the sessions simultaneously from two continents. Using a high-resolution remote connection, the session producer Adam Woolf, located six hours ahead in Spain, called takes and provided real-time feedback to the artists in Durham. A pretty futuristic approach for four-hundred-year-old music!
What do you hope listeners will take away from this album?
While the performance quality is undoubtedly world-class, the ethos of the project is most meaningful to me. Cor Collaborandi—the heart of collaboration—reflects not only the collective scholarship and talent of everyone involved, but also the essential support from the university and generous contributors like the Chapman Family. When we come together with a spirit of collaboration, only beautiful things can emerge.
Is there anything else you’d like readers to know about Cor Collaborandi?
The way forward is collaboration. Dream big and work together.
Cor Collaborandi can be purchased directly from Acis Productions or streamed on your favorite listening platform.
Listen to Cor Collaborandi on Spotify: