Cypriot-Dutch singer Kristia Michael is equally at home in early music and contemporary repertoire.

During this recital she not only sings music by the medieval mystic Hildegard von Bingen, but also pieces written especially for her, including by Yannis Kyriakides, who also has his roots in Cyprus. For “Now we send you this message” he delved into the history of the island: a letter from 1426 to Cyprus’s then monarch Janus of Lusignan, written on behalf of the sultanate of Mamluk, which would soon take over power. The court of Lusignan left behind a gold mine of music in the tradition of the ‘ars subtilior’, fragments of which Kyriakides incorporated into his composition.