The Newberry Consort Presents Music of Medieval Traveling Minstrels

CHICAGO (Jan. 24, 2024) — To open its 2024 programming, the Newberry Consort is pleased to present “I Sing a New Song: The Epic Journey of a Traveling Musician in the Middle Ages,” taking place March 1-3 in Evanston, Hyde Park and downtown Chicago. Tickets range from $45 to $65, and are $10 for students with a valid student ID.

Also, for the first time ever, The Newberry Consort will offer a post-produced virtual version of the concert, available for streaming online from March 20 through April 18. Tickets for the virtual concert are $25 per household, and there is also a pay-what-you-want option.

Developed in partnership with the Cleveland-based medieval ensemble Trobár and internationally recognized keyboard specialist Catalina Vicens, this program will tell the story of a traveling menestrel, or minstrel—a professional traveling musician in Europe during the Middle Ages—and her companions as they undertake the perilous journey on foot from Paris to a menestrel school in Brussels. The concert will feature voices and an array of medieval instruments, including vielle, medieval slide trumpet, shawm, and organetto—a small lap pipe organ that was a popular instrument used in the 13th and 14th centuries.

“Minstrel schools were held in the late Middle Ages during Lent, a penitential period during which the services of local professional musicians were less needed. This meant that they had the time to travel the long distances to these schools, which were essentially large conventions where musicians would network, compete for prizes, and learn new songs to take back to their home cities,” said Liza Malamut, artistic director of The Newberry Consort, who developed the program in collaboration with Allison Monroe, artistic director of Trobár and a longtime Newberry Consort musician.

Malamut said France, Germany, and the Low Countries were popular locations for menestrel schools, though participating musicians came from around Europe, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles through challenging terrain.

During the Middle Ages, traveling minstrels performed at a wide variety of venues, including at weddings or taverns, signaling to the townspeople from castle towers, and even for religious events. I Sing a New Song will showcase the breadth of this musical repertoire, including rollicking estampies, ornamented song melodies, and instrumental tunes that may have been connected with the menestrel schools. Composers include Guillaume de Machaut, Oswald von Wolkenstein, Guillaume DuFay, and many more, as well as anonymous compositions from collections such as the Manuscrit du Roi and the Buxheim Organ Book. The music will be accompanied by vivid art projections curated by musicologist and graphic designer Shawn Keener.
One of the highlights of the performance will be an appearance by Vicens, one of the most famous historical keyboard performers in the world, who will be playing a historical replica of an organetto that was commissioned specifically for The Newberry Consort.

In addition to the organetto, the concert will also feature Malamut on medieval slide trumpet, the predecessor to the trombone; Debra Nagy and Priscilla Herreid on shawms and recorders; Monroe on medieval strings such as the vielle and rebec; and singers Karin Weston and Elena Mullins Bailey, who are also members of Trobár.

Prior to performing the concerts in Chicago, The Newberry Consort and Trobár will perform this same program in Cleveland on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 7 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Heights, OH. Tickets for that show are a suggested donation of $20 and are available for purchase here.

Event Details

I Sing a New Song: The Epic Journey of a Traveling Musician in the Middle Ages

Friday, March 1, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. at Bond Chapel, University of Chicago, 1025 E. 58th St., Chicago
Saturday, March 2, 2024 at 7:30 p.m. at Ganz Hall, Roosevelt University, 430 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago
Sunday, March 3, 2024 at 4 p.m. at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 939 Hinman Ave., Evanston

Tickets: $45, $65 for preferred seating, $10 for students with a valid student ID

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.