Grammy-nominated Lorelei Ensemble returns to Luther College Nov. 9

The Grammy-nominated Lorelei Ensemble will deliver a bold and inventive program that champions the extraordinary range of the human voice at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 9, in the Center for Faith and Life Main Hall. This performance is part of Luther College’s 2025-26 Center Stage Series.

The Lorelei Ensemble is one of the country’s leading vocal ensembles.

“We are thrilled to have the Lorelei Ensemble performing Christopher Cerrone’s ‘Beaufort Scales,’ which earned a Grammy nomination in 2025,” said Susan Potvin, director of programming and outreach. “It’s rare that you hear the original artist performing their Grammy-nominated work in a live performance in our corner of northeast Iowa. You don’t want to miss it.”

“Beaufort Scales” is a 36-minute oratorio for eight voices and live electronics that draws inspiration from various iterations of the Beaufort Wind Force Scale created by Sir Francis Beaufort in 1805, along with texts from Herman Melville, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Anne Carson and the King James Bible.

“Beaufort Scales” is one half of the Lorelei Ensemble’s “Look Up” program on Nov. 9. At turns eerie and hypnotic, razor-sharp and precise, resonant and dissonant, this riveting performance features a cinematic backdrop and a cautionary tale in the era of climate change. The other half includes Meredith Monk’s “Other Worlds Revealed” and “Earth Seen from Above” from her 1993 opera “Atlas,” Molly Herron’s “Stellar Atmospheres” and Elijah Daniel Smith’s “Suspended in Spin.”

“The idea of ‘Look Up’ is about looking up to the sky and seeing we are one entity in this expansive universe, but also looking up and seeing what is happening on the planet right here,” said Beth Willer, Lorelei Ensemble artistic director.

Willer is the founder of the Lorelei Ensemble and has led the group since 2007. She graduated from Luther in 2003 after studying trumpet performance and vocal music education.

The Lorelei Ensemble is one of the country’s leading vocal ensembles. Its members include Elizabeth Bates, Sarah Brailey, Kathryn Cruz, Kristin Gornstein, Kate Maroney, Emily Marvosh, Clara Osowski and Sonja Tengblad. The Lorelei Ensemble has collaborated with leading composers to commission more than 70 new works that expand and deepen the repertoire of sounds, timbres, words, and stories that women use to reflect and challenge our world.

The Lorelei Ensemble performed as part of Luther’s Center Stage Series in 2018.

“The Lorelei Ensemble returns to Luther to perform a stimulating program that will inspire and challenge listeners to consider our physical world and the changing climate in the context of beautiful, unique vocal music,” Potvin said.

Before the performance, treat yourself to brunch starting at 11 a.m. in the Peace Dining Room at the Dahl Centennial Union. The cost is $33 per person.

Buy tickets for the Nov. 9 performance and for the pre-show dinner at tickets.luther.edu or at the Luther Ticket Office in the Center for Faith and Life. Contact the ticket office at tickets@luther.edu or 563-387-1357 for more information.

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