PORTLAND, OR – The professional vocal ensemble based in Portland, Cappella Romana presents the extraordinary concert Venice in the East: Renaissance Crete for three performances beginning in Seattle, WA at St. James Cathedral, 804 Ninth Avenue, on Friday, April 27 at 8 PM. The second performance takes place at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1716 NW Davis Street in Portland, on Saturday, April 28 at 8 PM, and the third at Our Lady of the Lake Parish, 650 A Avenue in Lake Oswego, on Sunday April 29 at 2 PM.

Italy meets Greece in Venice in the East, a sonic exploration of the Greek Islands when they were ruled by the Venetian empire. Cappella Romana is reviving Renaissance music from Crete, celebrating the island’s historical significance as a vibrant hub for Greco-Italian culture.

The program features thrilling Greek and Latin music for Eastertide, including a boisterous rendition of “Christos Anesti” (“Christ is risen”) for full choir. Alexander Lingas, Cappella Romana’s music director and founder, conducts.

Venice in the East is a commission of the Utrecht Early Music Festival (Netherlands), the largest early music festival in the world, where it was premiered by Cappella Romana in 2016.

Learn more about the music of Venice in the East at a free pre-concert lecture and discussion, one hour prior to each performance.

Tickets are available online at: www.cappellaromana.org.

Cappella Romana performs early and contemporary sacred classical music in the Christian traditions of East and West. The ensemble is known especially for its presentations and recordings of medieval Byzantine chant (the Eastern sibling of Gregorian chant), Greek and Russian Orthodox choral works, and other sacred music that expresses the historic traditions of a unified Christian inheritance. As noted on the Cappella Romana website, “Our vision is to give a glimpse of transcendence through the music of the Christian East and West.”