Wintery Songs in Eleventy Part Harmony

Wintery Songs in Eleventy Part Harmony is a loose collaboration of Boston-based musicians organized by veteran singer/songwriters Jennifer Kimball and Rose Polenzani, that celebrates the holiday season with a delightful mix of sacred, secular, classical, folk, pop and traditional music rearranged, reharmonized, and often just plain turned on it's head. Wielding fiddles, cellos, ukes, guitars and glockenspiels, this ensemble re-envisions the sounds of the season with vocally exquisite arrangements. Kimball and Polenzani share a love of collaboration, songwriting, Christmas music and harmony singing. Together, they've created a new lexicon of holiday-ish music by redesigning familiar tunes (Joy to the World, Hark the Herald Angels Sing), composing new songs for the season (Snow Emergency in Somerville, Fall Slowly), welcoming lesser known wintery gems (I Can't Feel My Face/the Weekend, Tunnels/Arcade Fire), and featuring the gorgeous sound of a string section as versed in foot-stomping traditional tunes as they are in the nuances of accompaniment. "Wintery Songs is a sort of POPS in a teacup - stirred up with cinnamon bark and a splash of whiskey" says Kimball, who first had the idea for the show while performing with Polenzani, Anne Heaton and Rose Cousins at Club Passim in December 2009. Longing for a more Christmassy and collaborative set list Kimball and Polenzani first launched the show in 2010 on the same stage. Joined by Heaton, Catie Curtis, Margaret Glaspy and (soon to be Grammy Award winners) Aoife O'Donovan and Sarah Jarosz, Wintery Songs began it's reverent irreverent takes on what we know as holiday music. Their first album Hark (2015) represents the musical mix their live show is known for: some Sinatra swagger, some iconic Nutcracker, some original tunes. The group is planning a second album of eclectic sacred and secular music.