Photo by Taylor Rossi www.taylorrossiphotography.com
A new kind of early music ensemble.
See the Engagements page for information on upcoming performances.
Our Mission
The Pandora Consort was formed with the mission of sharing historical music and stories that uplift historically marginalized composers, particularly early female composers. We are committed to crafting performances that push the boundaries of the traditional Classical concert format and provide greater accessibility to new audiences, whether through multimedia, interactive performance, or multi-genre collaboration. In pursuit of creating new works, we are committed to supporting and collaborating with other emerging artists from all mediums and building a collection of materials that support historical music research and scholarship.
The Pandora Consort is composed of young artists who are passionate about early music, Kendra Comstock and Angie Tyler. Both graduates of the Historical Performance Masters program at the Longy School of Music, Angie and Kendra met and bonded over their love of singing early music and creating unique performances. The two have performed with the Boston Camerata, SoHIP, Newton Baroque, Ensemble 44, Seven Times Salt, the Concordia Consort, and other early music ensembles throughout New England. The Pandora Consort aims to reimagine classical music performance with multimedia, interactive performance, and exploring historically under-represented music. The Pandora Consort is particularly interested in performing rare works by female early music composers.
In the Summer of 2022, the Pandora Consort premiered their program Vox Feminae with SoHIP Boston, which included works by Barbara Strozzi, Isabella Leonarda, Antonia Bembo, and Elisabeth Jacquet De la Guerre. This group was formed with the mission of creating accessible, modern performances of early music by supporting young artists of every medium to create relevant, innovative performances that can attract a wider audience. In 2022, following their performance with SoHIP Boston, the Pandora Consort hosted the the first ever Worlds Collide Series, bringing together Boston-based emerging musicians across all genres to create original compositions and fundraise for Massachusetts charities of their choice.
In 2023 the ensemble received a grant from the Anna Sosenko Assist Trust to perform Vox Feminae during the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Series, and an Encouragement Award from the Mixtape Recital Series to support the development of a new program: The Witching Hour. In February, 2024 the Pandora Consort will reprise this program as part of the Pegasus Rising Concert Series with Pegasus Early Music and NYS Baroque.
The name comes from the myth of Pandora’s box, and the human need to seek the unknown and echoes the mission of the ensemble to push the boundaries of what a classical concert is.