Windborne has been called “The most exciting vocal group in a generation.” Their captivating show, which I saw for the first time last December, “draws on the singers’ deep roots in traditions of vocal harmony, while the absolute uniqueness of their artistic approach brings old songs into the present. Known for the innovation of their arrangements, their harmonies are bold and anything but predictable.”

When I wrote about Windborne last year — singers Lauren Breunig, Jeremy Carter-Gordon, Lynn Rowan, and Will Rowan from Vermont and Massachusetts — I was just being introduced to their music. Then Candice and I heard them live and I wrote the following as a comment to my original post at the intermission:

We’re at intermission of the Windborne concert and the group is terrific. The program is built around songs of the season and the group brings innovative arrangements even to traditional carols. Here’s hoping their following continues to grow!

Windborne is returning again this year to the Institute of Musical Traditions concert series and their Music for Midwinter program is set for Thursday, December 14th, at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark Presbyterian Church in Rockville, Maryland. We have already convinced our friends Sara and Bill to go with us, and I hope more people turn out to hear this terrific group.

Their website describes the group’s newest album:

Their latest project, Of Hard Times & Harmony, explores themes of social consciousness, singing in four languages and showcasing the depth of emotion their voices can evoke, as well as moments of true hilarity and wit 

The group is committed to bringing vocal traditions to a younger audience and over the past year has found surprisingly viral success on TikTok for such unlikely genres as Corsican polyphony or early 20th century labor anthems.

Here are two examples of their work: the short video of E Muntagne d’Orezza sung in Durham Cathedral, followed by their arrangement of the Phil Ochs song When I’m Gone.

In 2018, Windborne was part of a Christmas Celtic Sojourn on PBS. The description from the video describes the evening this way:

One of our Overtures assembled by Seamus Egan and Maeve Gilchrist . . . Windborne sing Personent Hodie (beginning at 1:35), Hannah Rarity is incorporated with the Wexford Carol, and of course spectacular dancing from Liam Harney’s Academy of Irish Dance in Walpole.

In How We Do It, you can get a sense of the playfulness of the group in live performance.

Windborne sings a powerful traditional setting of the Stabat Mater in this video from the village of Nebbiu in southern Corsica. Listen to the bells ringing at the 3:00 mark at the end, as if building is adding an appropriate coda.

As I did in last year’s post, with the approach of winter’s solstice I’ll end with Windborne’s arrangement of John Renbourn’s Traveller’s Prayer.

Praise to the moon, bright queen of the skies, | Jewel of the black night, the light of our eyes, | Brighter than starlight, whiter than snow, | Look down on us in the darkness below.

Enjoy, and catch the group at the IMT concert here in the DC area or at an upcoming performance near your hometown.

More to come . . .

DJB

Windborne Red and Black photo by Michelle Frehsee