14 Jul Kiss and Tell: February 4-7, 2027

Superstar countenor Reginald Mobley joins Les Délices for Baroque music and a world premiere

In Kiss and Tell, countertenor Reginald Mobley joins Les Délices to explore the coded language of love and desire in bucolic poetry from the late 17th & 18th centuries. Cantatas by Handel and Scarlatti give voice to shepherds’ pining and their secret trysts while instrumental music by Corelli illuminates a legacy of artistic creation emanating from historical queer circles of influence like Queen Christina’s Arcadian Academy in Rome and the Duke of Chandos at Cannons. The program’s centerpiece is Kiss and Tell, a new myth-inspired cantata by composer Damien Geter with a libretto by Tsitsi Jaji that draws from Classical Greek (Apollo), Norse (Loki), West African (Anansi), and Japanese traditions to celebrate love and belonging across time and space.