BOYLE HEIGHTS : 17th-Century Music Featured at Concert

Cappella, a Los Angeles Chamber Singers group, will perform 17th-Century music in a free concert today at Church of the Resurrection.

The concert was arranged through a $4,400 grant from the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs that has allowed the choir to bring its music to inner-city neighborhoods. The concert will be the second of two planned performances under the grant, said music director Peter Rutenberg..

The 16 singers of Cappella, which specialize in songs from 1350 to 1650 a cappella, will perform “Glories of Venice and Mexico,” a selection of songs composed by Mexican composer Juan Gutierrez de Padilla and other European composers of the time.

Gutierrez de Padilla’s work was renowned throughout Mexico and Europe for its upbeat tempo that included folk rhythms reflecting music from indigenous peoples.

The community concerts, called Choral Voices for Neighborhood Harmony, arose in the aftermath of the 1992 riots. The singers recorded at First Baptist Church and performed there four weeks after the riots.

“We had such a good experience that we began talking to the church about returning and giving a gift of music to the community,” Rutenberg said. That resulted in a grant last year from the city for the two concerts this year.

The concert begins at 4 p.m. at the church, 3324 Opal St.