Liber unUsualis has garnered critical acclaim both in the U.S. and abroad. The ensemble was awarded an unprecedented "Honourable Mention" at the 1997 Early Music Network's International Young Artists Competition (UK) and was a semi-finalist in the 1998 Concert Artists Guild's Young Artists Competiton. The trio has performed at the York Early Music Festival, the Bloomington Early Music Festival, the Boston Early Music Festival Concurrent Event Series, the Society for Historically Informed Performance (SoHIP) Summer Concert Series, First Night Boston, the Schoolhouse Summer Concert Series in Provincetown, and the Berkeley Early Music Fringe Festival.

The members of Liber unUsualis (Melanie Germond, soprano; William Hudson, tenor; and Carolann Buff, mezzo-soprano) each hold Master's degrees in historical performance from Longy School of Music, where they began performing together in 1996. This shared academic background allows the group to unify their programs with research into both original manuscripts and scholarly editions as well as a thorough attention to historical context. The group remains strongly committed to reaching beyond the academic and technical aspects of performing Medieval and early-Renaissance repertoire, continually exploring ways to express the underlying emotion of the music.

Liber unUsualis is currently Ensemble-in-Residence at the Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Boston.

    Photo: Liz Linder
Mezzo-Soprano Carolann Buff holds a Master of Music Degree in Early Music Performance from Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she studied with Laurie Monahan. At Longy, Ms. Buff was recognized with Performance Honors, Distinction at Graduation, and the Patricia Sherman Award for Service and Scholarship. She performs frequently in New England including concerts at the Boston Early Music Festival, Old North Church, King's Chapel, the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Monadnock Music (NH), and with The Boston Bach Ensemble. Ms. Buff also is a member of the internationally recognized ensemble, The Waverly Consort which performs at such notable venues as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the Cloisters Museum in New York City. Most recently Ms. Buff has performed with the women's medieval vocal ensemble Tapestry, The Boston Camerata, and The Blue Heron Renaissance Choir.

Praised for her "clean and supple fioratura" (Boston Globe), soprano Melanie Germond received her Masters in Early Music Performance with Performance Honors and Distinction from Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1998. She received her B.A. in Voice at the University of Minnesota in 1995. Ms. Germond sings with the Newberry Consort Vocal Ensemble; and in Boston with Liber unUsualis and the Baroque chamber group Ensemble O, which recently performed at the 2nd Harare International Festival of the Arts in Zimbabwe.

    Photo: Fran Weimer
Tenor William Hudson received his B.S. with Honors in Music Education from West Chester University, PA and his M.M. with Distinction in Early Music Performance from Longy School of Music, Cambridge, MA where his primary teacher was Laurie Monahan. While at Longy Mr. Hudson was twice a winner of the Performance Honors Competition. He has performed extensively in the Boston area with such ensembles as Liber unUsualis, Ensemble Project Ars Nova (PAN), The Blue Heron Renaissance Choir, and the Boston Bach Ensemble. Mr. Hudson frequently tours with the New York based ensemble, The Waverly Consort. As a soloist he has appeared in the title role in Carissimi's Jephte, as "Lucano" in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea , J.S. Bach's St. John Passion, A. Stradella's oratorio San Giovanni Battista with the Jerusalem Baroque Orchestra, and Handel's Messiah with the Middlesex Singers. He can be heard on the Arsis, Titanic, and WAV recording labels.

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