The Newberry Consort Celebrates 40th Anniversary With Season of Early Music from Italy, England, France, Mexi

CHICAGO — In 1986, famed musicologist Howard Mayer Brown and early music pioneer Mary Springfels came up with an idea: Why not perform some of the music that was hidden in the archives of The Newberry Library?

From there, The Newberry Consort — made up of Springfels, Drew Minter (voice), David Hart (flute), David Douglass (violin), and later, Judith Malafronte (voice), Kevin Mason (lute), and Ellen Hargis (voice) — was born, performing concerts of medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music at the library, where they attracted a nationwide reputation.

Now, 40 years later, The Newberry Consort has evolved into an independent organization of international renown. In addition to producing many albums and touring the world, the Consort continues to offer an annual concert series that draws enthusiastic audiences from all over the Chicago area and beyond.

This season, to celebrate their 40^th anniversary milestone, The Newberry Consort is pleased to present four concerts that reflect qualities the group has become known for: historically informed programs, deep scholarship, and exquisite, expertly performed music that gives audiences a sensory experience of what life was like in another era.

“We wanted each program this season to reflect our wonderful legacy,” said Liza Malamut, artistic director of The Newberry Consort. “We hope this season not only honors where we have come from, but that it excites audiences and inspires them to join us as we look forward to our next 40 years.”

For the first concert of the season, happening Sept. 24-27, The Newberry Consort will partner with the Haymarket Opera Company to present Claudio Monteverdi’s 1607 operatic masterpiece, L’Orfeo. Following a 2025 presentation of the oldest surviving opera, Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, The Newberry Consort and Haymarket Opera return to the myth of Orpheus in a new, fully staged production of Monteverdi’s timeless take on the same myth. More than four centuries after the opera’s premiere, this co-production will captivate both seasoned opera lovers and first-time audiences, restoring Monteverdi’s revolutionary work to its full splendor for the 21st-century stage.

A troupe of soloists will portray the gods, nymphs, and spirits that populate the mythical underworld. The cast features Geoffrey Agpalo, Ryan Belongie, Hannah De Priest, Emily Mwila, Emily Fons, David Govertsen, Patrick Kilbride, Alexis Peart, Leo Radosavljevic, Kimberly McCord, Jonathan Woody, and Michael St. Peter. An ensemble of early-music specialists will perform Monteverdi’s inventive score on period instruments including cornetti, sackbuts, recorders, violins, viola da gamba, regal, harp, lutes, organ, and harpsichord. All performances of this show will take place at DePaul University.

After the fall concert, The Newberry Consort will return to its roots with a new program of festive holiday music from Mexico, entitled, “A Mexican Christmas,” happening Dec. 4-6. Although similar in scope to previous Christmas programs, this concert will include new works curated by Malamut in collaboration with musicologists Paul Feller-Simmons and Ireri Chavez-Bárcenas and will feature joyous villancicos and lush sacred polyphony from the convent and cathedral of Puebla, Mexico, for voices, winds, plucked instruments, and percussion.

In the spring, The Newberry Consort will take audiences back in time to the Hundred Years’ War, a period of conflict between the kingdoms of France and England during the 14th and 15th centuries. The program, “100 Years of Love and War,” happening March 12-14, will feature music and poetry from medieval England and France, and will include selections by Guillaume Machaut, John Dunstaple, and many other medieval songs, ballads, and dances—including the famous Agincourt Carol, recounting the Battle of Agincourt between the armies of Henry V of England and Charles VI of France.

The music will be performed on hurdy-gurdy, vielle, lute, shawms, slide trumpet and more, interspersed with readings of poetry and prose written during and about the Hundred Years’ War, curated by Michael Livingston, a professor of medieval literature and author of several historical fantasy novels, including The Shards of Heaven.

The Newberry Consort will wrap up its season with “Gabrieli’s Ring,” May 7-9, a program celebrating musical teachers and their students during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. From small-scale chamber music to grand polychoral masterpieces, this Renaissance extravaganza features works for singers, strings, cornetti, sackbuts, lutes, and organ—all composed by teacher-student lineages.

“I thought that this last concert was especially appropriate for The Newberry Consort’s 40^th anniversary season. The concept is centered on the idea of passing the things we love—in this case, music—from one generation to the next. Indeed, musical innovation isn’t possible without those important legacies!” Malamut said. “It is only fitting that we end with a big bash—brass, strings, lutes, and singers, oh my!—to celebrate our storied legacy in Chicago in beyond, and to keep passing our passion for historical music to the musicians and audiences who come after us, as well.”

Tickets for all shows and season tickets are on sale now.

2026–2027 Season Details

● L’Orfeo-SOLD OUT (wait list available)
The Newberry Consort and Haymarket Opera Company join forces to present a fully staged production of Claudio Monteverdi’s 1607 operatic masterpiece, L’Orfeo. More than 400 years after the opera’s premiere, this co-production will captivate both seasoned opera lovers and first-time audiences, restoring Monteverdi’s revolutionary work to its full splendor for the 21st-century stage.

Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026 at 7 p.m. at Jarvis Opera Hall at DePaul University, 800 W. Belden Ave., Chicago

Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 at 7 p.m. at Jarvis Opera Hall at DePaul University, 800 W. Belden Ave., Chicago
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026 at 2 p.m. at Jarvis Opera Hall at DePaul University, 800 W. Belden Ave., Chicago
Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026 at 2 p.m. at Jarvis Opera Hall at DePaul University, 800 W. Belden Ave., Chicago

Tickets: $60-$105. (Saturday and Sunday performances almost sold out).

● A Mexican Christmas
This December, The Newberry Consort returns to its roots with a new program of festive holiday music from Mexico. Curated by Newberry Consort Artistic Director Liza Malamut in collaboration with musicologists Paul Feller-Simmons and Ireri Chavez-Bárcenas, this program will feature joyous villancicos and lush sacred polyphony from the convent and cathedral of Puebla, Mexico for voices, winds, plucked instruments, and percussion.

Friday, Dec. 4, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, 4220 N. Sheridan Ave., Chicago
Saturday, Dec. 5, 2026 at 4 p.m. at Galvin Hall, Northwestern University, 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Sunday, Dec. 6, 2026 at 4 p.m. at The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, 50 E. Erie St., Chicago

Tickets: $70 for preferred seating, $45 for general admission, $25 for affordable access tickets, $10 for students with a valid student ID, and free for children 16 and under.

● 100 Years of Love and War

This March, The Newberry Consort presents music from the time of the Hundred Years’ War, a period of conflict between the kingdoms of France and England during the 14th and 15th centuries. The music is interspersed with readings of poetry and prose written during and about the Hundred Years’ War, curated by award-winning historian and author Michael Livingston.

Friday, March 12, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Chicago, 5650 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago

Saturday, March 13, 2026 at 4 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 939 Hinman Ave., Evanston

Sunday, March 14, 2026 at 4 p.m. at St. James Cathedral, 65 E. Huron St., Chicago

Tickets: $70 for preferred seating, $45 for preferred seating, $25 for affordable access tickets, $10 for students with a valid student ID, and free for children 16 and under.

● Gabrieli’s Ring
The Newberry Consort’s final program of this 40th-Anniversary season is a celebration of teachers and their students during the late Renaissance and early Baroque. This program features works for singers, strings, cornetti, sackbuts, lutes, and organ—from small-scale chamber music to the grand polychoral masterpieces—all composed by teacher-student lineages including: Andrea Gabrieli, Giovanni Gabrieli, Heinrich Schütz and Sophie Elisabeth; Marc'Antonio Ingegneri and Claudio Monteverdi; Salomone Rossi, and many more.

Friday, May 7, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at First Unitarian Church of Chicago, 5650 S. Woodlawn Ave., Chicago
Saturday, May 8, 2026 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 939 Hinman Ave., Evanston
Sunday, May 9, 2026 at 4 p.m. at The Richard H. Driehaus Museum, 50 E. Erie St., Chicago

Tickets: $70 for preferred seating, $45 for general admission, $25 for affordable access tickets, $10 for students with a valid student ID, and free for children 16 and under.

Season passes
Season passes are 20% off the regular ticket price and may include 2 or 3 concerts. There is also a “Build Your Own Subscription” subscription option that gives ticket buyers the option to mix and match the number of concerts (two minimum) and venues. Please note that tickets for the L’Orfeo concert must be sold separately.

To purchase tickets please visit www.newberryconsort.org.

About the Newberry Consort:
The Newberry Consort brings together singers and instrumentalists of the highest caliber to create historically informed performances of music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque, and beyond. By integrating historical performance and research with contemporary themes and multimedia, we inspire audiences, musicians, and scholars by providing a window into earlier times and diverse cultures. The Consort continues to uplift Chicago’s early music community through mentorships, teaching, and engagement of local artists.