Jackson Free Press

Musical superstars often skip playing in Jackson, but this weekend the city will host early music's equivalent of The Rolling Stones. The Tallis Scholars, a British a cappella group that specializes in Renaissance music, will perform this Friday at St. Philip's Episcopal Church. The group's distinctive sound, along with a carefully researched repertoire and non-stop international touring, has made it the top group in their genre.

The Tallis Scholars are named for the English composer Thomas Tallis, one of several Renaissance-era composers that the group has helped to introduce to contemporary audiences. Tallis and his contemporaries primarily composed church music with Latin texts. The music is polyphonic, with multiple voices singing different melodic lines that twist and turn across each other, creating a complex and intense sound.

Max Garriott, co-founder of the Mississippi Academy of Ancient Music, says The Tallis Scholars have a finely tuned performance style that makes their concerts especially memorable.

"The purity of their voices and the way that they blend together is so intense that it's hard to imagine anything finer or more appealing," Garriott says.

In addition to regular tours around the world, the Tallis Scholars have also helped to increase awareness in Renaissance music through Gimell, the group's recording label. Founded by Tallis Scholars director Peter Phillips, the label has released more than 50 recordings by the group. The releases include music by well-known master composers like Palestrina, as well as more obscure Renaissance composers.

The Mississippi Academy of Ancient Music--a long-running organization focusing on music of the Renaissance and earlier eras--presents the Tallis Scholars in Jackson. Rich McGinnis and Max Garriott were regular attendees of the Boston Early Music Festival during the 1980s. They co-founded MAAM in 1982 to bring some of the groups they had seen in Boston to Mississippi.

"We decided we'd rather make our record collection come alive by bringing the music to us (rather) than traveling to it," Garriott says.

MAAM has brought some of the top early music performers to Jackson over the past 30 years, including Musica Antiqua of Cologne and The Boston Camerata. They have had a long-running relationship with The Tallis Scholars, bringing the group to Jackson five times. The group's initial Jackson performance in 1988 came about due to a sudden open date in its schedule during one of its early American tours. MAAM made sure that the group would want to come back again. Don Lacy, a MAAM supporter, hosted a barbecue for the group at his home after the concert, which they believe helped get The Tallis Scholars back for the subsequent concerts.

"I think it was strictly a matter of southern hospitality," Lacy explains. "They said at that time, ours was the first private home that they had ever been in while touring America. I think they appreciated that MAAM and St. Philip's went the extra mile to make them comfortable."

St. Philip's Episcopal Church has been the site of all of The Tallis Scholars' performances in Jackson. Max Garriott believes that the church is perfectly suited for the group's sound, another factor in helping to get them to return.

"The acoustics are superb for their kind of choral sound," Garriott says. "They appreciated that we put them in such an acoustically appropriate place for their sound."

The Tallis Scholars perform at St. Philip's (5400 Old Canton Road) this Friday, March 15, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30. In addition to Renaissance music, the group will also perform works by contemporary composers Arvo Paert and Eric Whitacre. For more information, visit ancientmusic.org.