Harmonia Stellarum Houston
Modeled after the great court chapels of the seventeenth century, Harmonia Stellarum Houston is an ensemble of vocal and instrumental virtuosos from across the US and beyond who devote their careers to performing on period instruments and with historically informed vocal technique. Our programming explores repertoire off the beaten path and presents popular masterworks in new contexts. In our intensive rehearsal phases we strive for growth as an ensemble developing a performance style that, grounded in meticulous scholarly research, fuses historical authenticity with artistic innovation.
The ancient idea that the harmony of music reflects the proportions of the universe was the basis for music theory from its very beginnings well into the mid-17th century, including the Musurgia universalis (1650) by German polymath Athanasius Kircher. In his analysis, the “choir of choirs” in the musical universe is the harmony of the stars—harmonia stellarum.