Looking Forward from a Crossroads with Liza Malamut, Newberry’s New Director

“I’ve been fascinated with this music for a long time — it’s extremely unusual for our preconceived notions of what Renaissance music sounds like.”

Caccini, Hasse, Scarlatti: Haymarket Shares ’23 Season

The performance lineup features three mainstage operas; all three titles are rare and represent Chicago premieres.

9 Things To Know About Monteverdi’s Vespers

Even though his compositions were well known across Europe during his time, one of Claudio Monteverdi‘s most enduring works was likely not performed (in its entirety, at least) in his lifetime!

Argentina and Roots of European Baroque with Rubén Dubrovsky

Rubén Dubrovsky traces the popular dances of the European Baroque back to Latin American and African roots.

Free Movie Honors Hildegard von Bingen, A Trailblazing Composer & Nun

A 12th-century abbess gifted with extraordinary skills in medicine, science, and music.

Bargain hunter scores 700-year-old medieval times document

Instead of a kitchen appliance, Will Sideri stumbled upon a framed document hanging on a wall. It had elaborate script in Latin, along with musical notes and gold flourishes. A sticker said 1285 AD.

Early Music, New Era: Veteran Newberry Consort Directors to Retire After Upcoming Concerts

Approaching the end of a long tenure, the artistic, administrative, and life partners reflect and look ahead.

Playlist: 2021’s Top 9 Classical Christmas Albums

2021 was a tumultuous year for us all, but one thing we could count on was some great music.

Jeanne Lamon, Former Music Director of Tafelmusik, Dead at 71

Jeanne Lamon, the violinist and former music director of the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, died on June 20 at age 71. She succumbed to cancer, which she had been diagnosed with a few months prior.

What Are Shape Notes? Jeannette Sorrell of Apollo’s Fire Explains

Although shape notes were introduced in 18th-century England, this unique musical notation found popularity in the United States: first in New England and later in the American South. It’s recently experienced a renaissance of sorts…

2020’s 8 Best Classical Christmas Albums

Every year, the holiday season brings a new assortment of fabulous and festive Christmas albums.

Quiz: Can You Name These Unusual Instruments?

Test your knowledge of early music by seeing if you can name these predecessors of our modern instruments.

LIVE | Lutenist Paul O’Dette

Grammy-winning lutenist Paul O’Dette shares Elizabethan ballads and Scottish tunes in a video concert livestream.

Early Music Livestream With Lutenist Paul O’Dette

The Grammy-winning “dean of American lutenists” shares a program of Elizabethan ballads and Scottish tunes.

Playlist: 10 Trailblazing Composers You Should Know (…Who Also Happen to Be Women)

From medieval times to modernity, women have made important contributions to all aspects of music, including as composers.

Three Faiths Connected Through Music: ‘O, Jerusalem!’ With Apollo’s Fire

Does a city have its own distinctive musical style? The early music ensemble Apollo’s Fire and artistic director Jeannette Sorrell explore that question with their upcoming Chicago-area performance, “O Jerusalem! Crossroads of Three Faiths.”

Video: Music of the Baroque Shares a Louis XIV-Era Take on the Christmas Antiphon

As part of an Impromptu of secular and devotional holiday music from around the world, conductor Patrick Dupré Quigley led Music of the Baroque and organist Stephen Alltop in a performance of this lesser-known French Baroque Christmas song, ‘Hodie Christus natus est’ by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault.

Going Medieval on Twitter

Welcome to the wonderful world of medieval manuscripts! You’ll find that medieval manuscripts are not nearly as inaccessible as you might think. They are true multimedia events: for the sports lover, there are depictions of cats playing tennis. Music aficionados will find illustrations of rabbits and foxes playing viols and flutes. From the sacred to the profane, they prove without a doubt that the Dark Ages were anything but.

Barcelona Dedicates a Garden to the Late Soprano Montserrat Figueras

Montserrat Figueras, who specialized in early music, is being remembered by her native city.

Playlist: 14 Fantastic French Composers You Might Not Know (But You Should!)

Here are just a few of our many favorite French composers, from medieval to modern, that might be new to you.

Video: Hear Third Coast Baroque, Chicago’s Newest Early Music Ensemble

Watch Rubén Dubrovsky and Third Coast Baroque perform the virtuosic music of Vivaldi in the beautiful Trinity United Methodist Church in Wilmette, Illinois.

How Conductor Harry Bicket Gets a Modern Orchestra to Sound Period Perfect

Maestro Harry Bicket shared what’s in his “little box of tricks” to help musicians in modern orchestras sound period perfect.

From Ghetto to Palazzo: How a Jewish Composer in Renaissance Italy Harmonized Two Worlds

Salamone Rossi’s skill as a violinist and composer was highly valued at the Catholic court of Mantua. But as a Jew, he was still was seen as an interloper.

Hear the Mass Some Believe Saved Church Music

You may not be familiar with his music, but we all benefit from his work. Italian Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina is often called the “Savior of Church Music.”

The Secrets to Heavenly Singing from Peter Phillips, Conductor and Founder of the Tallis Scholars

“A choir is like any instrument. But because it’s people, a choir is an instrument that varies far more than a string orchestra would vary, for example, or an organ.”