PUBLIC LECTURE BY WILLIAM MAHRT, AS PART OF THE TWENTIETH ANNUAL WILLIAM BYRD FESTIVAL

William Mahrt grew up in Washington state; after attending Gonzaga University and the University of Washington, he completed a doctorate at Stanford University in 1969. He taught at Case Western Reserve University and the Eastman School of Music, and then returned to Stanford in 1972, where he continues to teach early music. Since 1964 he has directed the choir of St. Ann’s Chapel in Palo Alto, which sings mass and vespers in Gregorian chant on all the Sundays of the year, with masses in the polyphonic music of Renaissance masters for the holy days. He also directs the Stanford Early Music Singers; they have recently completed a cycle of masses of Josquin Des Pres as well as a series of concerts in the form of historical vespers services. Dr. Mahrt has published articles on the relation of music and liturgy, and music and poetry. He frequently leads workshops in the singing of Gregorian chant and the sacred music of the Renaissance.