Guest Director Eamonn Dougan, a regular with British companies like The Sixteen and I Fagiolini, leads the ensemble through a seasonal program exploring the rich panoply of the Italian madrigal alongside a selection of complementary works by composers today. Spring, for example, features Monteverdi’s radiant Sfogava con le stelle and Barbara Strozzi’s invocation of love, Priego ad amore, while Summer brings Gesualdo’s languid Deh, coprite il bel seno. The contemporary music includes works by Jonathan Dove, Howard Skempton, Kim Porter and Bernard Hughes.

Limelight Editor’s Choice

Love’s Four Seasons invites audiences into the intimate landscape of relationships, tracing the emotional highs and lows of love through the changing seasons. Led by Guest Director Eamonn Dougan (The Sixteen, I Fagiolini, Britten Sinfonia Voices), the ensemble explores the dramatic richness of Italian madrigals, alongside contemporary works that echo the timelessness of love.

From the longing and courtship of Spring with Monteverdi’s Sfogava con le stelle and Barbara Strozzi’s Pietosissimo amore, to the passion of Summer with Gesualdo’s Deh, coprite il bel seno, the program journeys through Autumn’s doubt and separation, culminating in Winter’s loss and mourning. Featuring composers Strozzi, Monteverdi, Gesualdo, and modern voices Dove, Skempton, and Hughes, Love’s Four Seasons explores shared human experiences of intimate connection.