And the award for best title goes to...

As we prepare for our upcoming Purcell concert in April, I get más y más excited! Our first “all-Purcell” concert was in 2001, when we produced a monumental semi-staged presentation of Purcell’s semi-opera, King Arthur! Wow, as we sing from time to time: ‘those were the days’!

In 2016 we created our own opera: London City Limits: Opera on the Thames, with a pastiche of hits from Purcell’s operas and semi-operas, including The Fairy Queen, King Arthur, Dido & Aeneas, The Tempest, and lots of his songs and dialogues. We also included gems from his predecessors, Robert Johnson and Nicholas Lanier to create a very intricate story called “The Camping Trip,” created by Meredith Rudusky and your faithful writer. I understand that Purcell never really imagined his music in the wilds of New Mexico, but it worked really well!

Our most recent Purcell experiment was “in the before times,” in late 2019. I recall we needed a title, and Meredith Rudusky immediately saved the day, suggesting—no, demanding—Oh, Henry! The World According To Purcell. I recall it was meant to be a little quirky, combining The World According To Garp with a name suggesting the famous short story writer, O. Henry.

O. Henry (William Sydney Porter) as a young man in Austin, TX

[Fun facts: When O. Henry lived in Austin in the 1880s, he sang in the choir at St. David’s Episcopal Church and was also a member of the "Hill City Quartette", a group that sang at social gatherings. Word on the street is that they were headliners at Maggie Mae’s; the street could be wrong, of course.]

So, after Meredith’s strong title entry for our 2019 concert, we felt a little pressure to create an equally memorable, if somewhat confusing, title this year. I suggested the first part and Jonathan Riemer created the subtitle. And bravo, I say!

Hey! Y’all come! See the details below. We always think of Purcell concerts in a quasi-theatrical manner, with scenes created from disparate parts, and quirkiness, passion, humor, and tragedy created with human experience in mind.

—Danny

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Purcell. Henry PUrcell:
A License to Trill

Saturday, April 18, 2026, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, April 19, 2026, at 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78702.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2025-2026 events on the AoA website.

Admission (with fees): $53 VIP general; $38 general; $48 VIP seniors (60+);
$33 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.

Even though the title of our concert is similar to the title of a James Bond movie, the similarity ends there. Sorry for any possible confusion, Bond fans.

 The 17th-century composer Henry Purcell is deservedly known as England’s greatest composer before Edward Elgar and Ralph Vaughan Williams, and he was a strong influence on the styles of Benjamin Britten and contemporary composer Michael Nyman. As organist and composer at Westminster Abbey and also the Chapel Royal, he wrote vast amounts of sacred music, which resounds in modern day churches and concert halls. In his short life, he was an extraordinarily prolific composer with music for the theater, the opera, the court, the sanctuary, and the pub.

His music is used often in movie soundtracks: Have a close listen to the soundtracks of A Clockwork Orange, Kramer vs. Kramer, England, My England, Pride and Prejudice (2005), Moonrise Kingdom, Becoming Jane, and most of the films by Peter Greenaway. Rock groups such as The Who have also used some of Purcell’s ground basses and harmonic patterns.

TEMP has often explored the musical world of this genius, and we now have the opportunity to program a full concert dedicated to Purcell’s eclectic and diverse repertoire.

With gifted soloists, a choir of twenty-four, and eleven instrumentalists, TEMP will present selections from Hail! Bright Cecilia, the semi-operas King Arthur and The Fairy Queen, and more, including pieces suitable for a little rowdiness.

Soloists and featured singers include Jenifer Thyssen, Gitanjali Mathur, Jenny Houghton, Page Stephens, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, Cristian Cantu, Ryland Angel, and others.

 As Purcell himself wrote, “Prithee, be not so sad and serious”:
Come hear our final concert of the season for some sweetness, mystery, and joy!

TEMP 2025-2026 Season: Love Letters

A long, long time

Long, Long Time by Linda Rondstadt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OADhKjNz8mI

I never knew that January was a year unto itself, but the January we just experienced was such an event. It was a long, long time. You know what else has been a long, long time? That’s how long it’s been since we last did a troubadour-centric concert. March of 2013, to be exact.

How are these things related? Welp, did you know that this February that we are currently barely in, has exactly:
• 4 Sundays
• 4 Mondays
• 4 Tuesdays
• 4 Wednesdays
• 4 Thursdays
• 4 Fridays
• 4 Saturdays!

View fullsize

Comtessa de Dia, BnF Fr. 854, f. 141r

This happens only every 823 years, so that means that in 1203 CE, the last time this occurred, just one of the composers in our concert was maybe still alive. That would be the Comtessa de Dia, one of many women poet/composers, who was officially a trobairitz. That was all a long, long time ago. (Ah, speaking of trobairitz: Click on the image of Linda Rondstadt above for a classic example of a modern-day trobairitz song!)

Relatively speaking, our upcoming concert isn’t a long, long time away: about three weeks and some change! Hope you can make it; it might be a long, long time before we can do another troubadour program. But even though this is really the basis for my love of early music, I will abide and take things in stride.

Don’t miss the opportunity to hear this lovely repertoire! See the details below!
-Danny

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Troubadours of France & Iberia

Saturday, February 28, 2026, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, March 1, 2026, at 3:00 pm

Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78702.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2025-2026 events on the AoA website.

Admission (with fees): $53 VIP general; $38 general; $48 VIP seniors (60+);
$33 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.

The poetry, music, and culture of the troubadours of what is now southern France informed and inspired musicians and poets all over Europe for generations. Even now, a thousand years later, cultures around the globe refer to favored singer-songwriters and performers as troubadours. The original troubadours wrote of the ideology of love and its rules of conduct and secular morals, the importance of courtesy and honor in relationships, and the highly valued and much-misunderstood ideal of unrequited love. Western poetry itself emerged from the forms, styles, and themes created by the troubadours of Occitania from around 1100 to 1350.

Occitania, which is now the south of France, stretched from Aquitaine on the Atlantic coast to the east through Provence, and south to Catalonia. Occitan was spoken over a huge area, one that was larger than the traditional French-speaking area. For example, it was the first (and preferred) language of Richard Coeur-de-Lion, as well as that of his mother, Eleanor of Aquitaine. Occitan was the first literary language of modern Europe. The sacred music from Aquitaine and northern Iberia is also linked to the artistic force and creativity of the troubadours.

Along with music by a few of the greatest of the trobadors and the Comtessa de Dia (the principal woman troubadour or trobairitz), TEMP will present rarely heard Aquitanian chant from St. Martial de Limoges and motets from northern Iberia and Catalonia, preserved in Las Huelgas Codex, Codex Calixtinus, and Llibre vermell, all of which display the virtuosity and creativity prevalent in the music of the region at that time. We will also present love songs about “the distant beloved” by the 13th-century Galician poet/composer Martin Codax.

We perform this rare and intimate repertoire for you with our company of twelve singers and eight instrumentalists, plus our special guest, percussionist Spiff Wiegand from New York. Our medieval orchestra includes medieval fiddles, rebec, citole, harp, recorder, kantele, psaltery, and oud. The featured vocal soloists include Cayla Cardiff, Page Stephens, Tim O’Brien, and Joel Nesvadba for the trobador and trobairitz songs, with Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, Erin Yousef, Jenifer Thyssen, and more providing solos for the Iberian music.

TEMP hasn’t performed a unique troubadour concert like this since 2013;
Don’t miss this opportunity!

TEMP 2025-2026 Season: Love Letters

FEELINGS…whoa whoa whoa…FEELINGS

Have you ever had that feeling—well, you know, it’s not really a feeling, it’s a…yeh, an overwhelming desire to not do that thing that you really need to do. It’s the crushing obligation, the fear of failure, the sure exile and…oh wait, no, no exile. That’s a different story. It’s like when you need to buy a Christmas present for someone but there’s an lurking sense that you already gave them that very same present a few years ago (or that they gave it you and you don’t want to regift them ‘their’ present). So you think you should try to find your records to see if you noted which gift went to/came from whom and when, and then you remember that you’ve always thought that might be a pretty good idea but you—a paragon of procrastination—never got around to it.

ANYWAY it’s just like that: The above was just an allegory because I would never ever get mixed up about gifts going to/coming from whom and when. Never ever. But that whole story fits neatly into the initial overwhelming desire to not do that thing that you really need to do.

On the other hand, I really want to tell you about our upcoming concert for the season. Which season, you may ask? I trust that you’ll figure it out when you read our blurb below.

Y’all come!

–Danny

P.S.: Okay, so I did finally do that task I was dreading for so long—and that shirt really does look much nicer when it’s freshly ironed! Lesson learned, at least temporarily.

P.P.S.: I’m looking at this gift card from a huge service station/rest stop chain that has huge stores, and I’m really wondering who gave it to me… If it was you, call me. We need to talk.

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Joy and Light:
Delights of the Season

Saturday, December 13, 2025, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, December 14, 2025, at 3:00 pm

Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2024-2025 events on the AoA website.

Admission (with fees): $53 VIP general; $38 general; $48 VIP seniors (60+);
$33 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.

Join Texas Early Music Project for its annual multilicious feast of holiday music through the ages. Cultures across the centuries have celebrated this festive season with music and we are contributing our share with medieval chant, joyous carols, magnificent motets, rousing Celtic songs, exuberant folk-tunes, and more.

The Christmas music for our annual Joy and Light concert comes from all over Europe, including folk tunes and compositions from Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, and the British Isles that have remained popular through modern times. The British Isles are represented by a variety of popular ballads and folk songs from England, Scotland, and Ireland, all penned by that long-lived composer, Anonymous. France and Spain are similarly represented by anonymous composers, as well as the brilliant Tomás Luis de Victoria. For some of our more unique selections, we have chosen two lively secular Sephardic songs and one Israeli children’s song for Chanukah, and we will present newly composed music based in part on the Ukrainian folk tune that served as the basis for the popular Carol of the Bells.

Many of us know the charming and popular tune Resonet in laudibus by the title Joseph, Lieber Joseph mein, which dates from the 14th century. Both titles were popular with composers in the 16th and 17th centuries and many of the Resonet in laudibus motets were fairly large-scale works with multi-voiced and antiphonal sections. Rather than limit ourselves to the interpretations of one composer, we felt it would be more representative (and a lot more fun) to create our own large-scale work using a different composer from northern Europe for each verse or section. In our version, we use three verses by Michael Praetorius, and one verse each by Polish composer Bartłomiej Pękiel, the Franco-Flemish composer Jacob Regnart, and the German composer Samuel Scheidt.

We always try to feature a few beloved pieces from our holiday repertoire; this year those selections include Drive the Cold Winter Away featuring David Lopez, tenor soloist, with choir and orchestra. Enjoy the audio teaser from our Lullay, Lullay CD below.

Visit our Recordings page to view all of our CDs. They make great holliday gifts!

Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Joel Nesvadba, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Jenny Houghton, Ryland Angel, and Adrienne Pedrotti Bingaman are among the featured soloists, and we are happy to have both acclaimed harpist Therese Honey and kantele virtuoso Viktoria Nizhnik featured in our small orchestra.

Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid and enriching evening of music.
Encompassing more than 700 years of festive creativity and beauty,
this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart.
We coined a new word to describe the concert: multilicious!

TEMP 2025-2026 Season: Love Letters

My Dinner with Antoine

Welp, even though good ol’ Ben Franklin said “Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days,” that wasn’t the case with the visit from my friend Antoine. When he found out that we were featuring movements from the mass he’s recently written in our first concert of the season, he decided to come on over from “Yurp” so we could confab about it before we started rehearsals.

He had never been to AusTex before, so we did a little sightseeing and he just had to go to Antone’s—partly because he thought they had misspelled Antoine’s–and partly because he wanted to hear some blues. He dug it, needless to say, but couldn’t understand why they wouldn’t be interested in having a little sightreading session on stage since he had brought along the manuscript of a new motet that he’s been working on [he carries it everywhere— I’m surprised it fit in the overhead]. He really didn’t understand that members of the general public wouldn’t be able to read the kind of music notation that he’s used to.

He got over it after we drove around a little bit more. We had to stop for oil when the warning light came on in my car, but luckily we found some seasonal 10W-40. Then he wanted to go to another iconic Austin restaurant, so went to Fonda San Miguel for some of that interior Mexican food he had heard so much about. He dug that, too, and we stayed there for hours discussing musica ficta, modes, motets, and margaritas. The margaritas led him to unload tons of gossip about Josquin and the reasons he really left Italy, and also about his pranksterisms: leaving lots of scores unsigned and/or putting the wrong name on others. Antoine said that Jos joked, “Ha! In 500 years they’re gonna be pulling their hair out trying to figure out which pieces I really wrote!”

Sadly, the visit came to an abrupt end when he was summoned—rather, ordered—to get back to Ferrara asap because Lucrezia Borgia wanted to preview the mass she commissioned for her husband, the Duke. (It’s the same mass we are performing in a few weeks, and even though we didn’t really get a chance to confab on it, duty called in no uncertain tone of voice. So to speak.)

On the way to the airport, he was thrilled to see a local coffee place, hoping against hope that they would have his favorite coffee to sustain him for that long flight. He took a selfie with the only pumpkin spice latte he’s likely to have this season, unless he comes back for another visit! Oh, there’s info below about that concert I’ve been mentioning. That mass is really quiiite special; I’m sure Duke Alfonso I will get all shaken up over it! See the details below, including audio excerpts.

-Danny

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A Cry of many voices:
British Isles & The Lowlands

Saturday, September 20, 2025, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, September 21, 2025, at 3:00 pm

St. Martin’s Lutheran Church, 606 W. 15th Street

Admission (with fees): $53 VIP general; $38 general; $48 VIP seniors (60+);
$33 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.

Welcome to our 2025–2026 Love Letters concert season in which we will explore the timeless love of agape, the joy and pain of eros, and a dash of philia and storge. In our opening concert, we explore these themes in the music of the British Isles and the Lowlands (or Low Countries, corresponding to modern-day Belgium, The Netherlands, and parts of northern France), particularly during the transition from the late Medieval style to that of the early Renaissance.

The cry of many voices, 26 a cappella voices in this case, will sing both as individuals and as members of a unit while performing some of the most sublime, moving, and exhilarating music imaginable: The ultimate effect is greater than the sum of its parts. There is magic in the interweaving voices, in the hypnotically static harmonic rhythms alternating with florid vocal lines full of both subtle and obvious virtuosity, and in the architecture of starkly transparent solo lines alternating with thickly colorful choral sections. This is the world of the Eton Choirbook in England and the Scottish composer Robert Carver, who was greatly influenced by the Eton Choirbook. It is also the world of the Franco-Flemish composer Antoine Brumel, whose powerful Earthquake Mass developed uniquely on the continent. In order to further the experience of “many voices,” the featured piece from the Eton Choirbook by Robert Wylkynson is for 9 voice parts and the movements from Brumel’s Mass are for 12 parts. But wait—there’s more! Robert Carver’s O bone Jesu is for 19 parts! All three composers build magnificent pillars of sound using different compositional techniques.

As a contrast with these relatively massive vocal works, our consort of viols will offer more transparent timbres with pieces by English composers Robert Fayrfax, John Dunstable, and Hugh Aston, and continental (Lowlands) masters Josquin des Prez as well as Alexander Agricola and Antoine Brumel.

Enjoy these audio teasers from our CD Sacred: Music of the Divine from Medieval to Baroque:

Join us for a beautiful and moving concert that will illuminate the passage from the late Medieval to the early Renaissance with passion and beauty.

TEMP 2025-2026 Season: Love Letters

April: Good or Not? Discuss

We are approaching the end of April, which is either the ‘cruelest month’ (T. S. Eliot) or which is ‘in my mistress' face’ (Thomas Morley) or which makes us want to travel, according to Robert Browning: “Oh to be in England now that April’s there.” (I was thinking more along the lines of Belgium…) At any rate, it’s good news because the Central Texas summer isn’t here yet, but it’s bad news because the Central Texas summer could very well arrive tomorrow and last until October. Ugh. Let’s change the subject, eh?

In 2018, Maestro Daniel Johnson explained ensaladas, pieces that are also featured on our upcoming Alegría: The Spanish Renaissance program. See more videos on our Gallery page!

Rather than think about such things as weather’n’stuff that are out of our control (and that includes a lot of stuff!) let’s think about a nice salad, or ensalada, if you will. In our upcoming Alegría concert we will be performing a few ensaladas, which are unique pieces from Renaissance Spain composed by Mateo Flecha. These are little epics, illustrated with music in many different styles to fit the rapidly shifting texts; so it’s a little of this and little of that: a salad, prepared brilliantly by Señor Flecha. The most epic of these is La Justa (The Joust), a battle between good and evil, the light and the dark. Think of Dumbledore/Gandalf/Obi-Wan Kenobi on one side and several adversaries Who Shall Not Be Named on the other side.

Yet, there is much Alegría (joy) throughout! See the details below, including audio excerpts. Enjoy April while we have it!
—Danny

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Alegría: The Spanish Renaissance

Saturday, May 17, 2025, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, May 18, 2025, at 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2024-2025 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.

Seriously? There are ensaladas on this concert?!?
Usually, if you want an ensalada, you go to a restaurant, not a concert, right?

Not so fast, my friend; these ensaladas are a treat for the ears and the spirit, but have nothing to do with the delectable edible! Like most salads, they are created from a little of this and little of that, but that’s where the similarity ends. Filled with drama, Biblical quotations, exhortations, lovely melodies, and lots of humor, the ensaladas are toe-tappers from beginning to end! They were extraordinarily popular in many of the Cathedrals of Renaissance Spain—and were even banned in a few!

For a less raucous and solemn contrast, our program will explore some of the glorious wealth of polyphonic sacred music from the cathedrals and monasteries of 16th-century Spain, a repertoire that has served as inspiration for fans of choral music everywhere, with selections by Cristóbal de Morales and Francisco Guerrero. The Agnus Dei from the Missa Mille Regretz, by Morales, is not only a beautiful way with which to end a mass, but it is also a fitting homage to Josquin des Prez, the famous composer who composed one of the most unique chansons in the Renaissance, Mille Regretz. To be fair, there are questions about who really composed the chanson, but there’s no doubt about its hauntingly beautiful effect.

Other pieces in the concert feature the viol consort, led by our guest artist, viola da gamba star Mary Springfels, guest percussionist Peter Maund, and 3 sackbut (early trombone) players, led by University of Texas trombone faculty Nathaniel Brickens.

Soloists and featured singers include Jenifer Thyssen, Gitanjali Mathur, Jenny Houghton, Cayla Cardiff, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, Tim O’Brien, Ryland Angel, and many more.

Enjoy these audio teasers from our 2015 and 2018 performances:

¡Bailamos!

TEMP 2024-2025 Season: Reconnections

Happy Birthday Robert Burns!

…A Month Belated

Portrait of Robert Burns by  Alexander Nasmyth, 1787, Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

I mean…we could have had our Celtic concert during his actual birthday week, but I’m afraid that would have interfered with the famous and fabulous Burns Night celebrations that some of you have, and that just wouldn’t do. We decided that giving you almost a whole month to recover from your haggis and Scotch whisky was the considerate and compassionate thing to do so that you could enjoy our concerts better without that pounding ache in the space between your ears. [Extra points: What movie is that phrase from? Hint: It has nothing to do with Scottish Ballads or Irish dances. That I recall, at least.]

At any rate, Burns contributed a lot of poems to this concert, either in whole or by doing some minor (sometimes major) editing of pre-existing poems. Speaking of Scottish poems, do you know the correct pronunciation of the word ‘poem’ in Scotland? It’s a keeper!

Speaking of keepers, TEMP’s Celtic concerts date back to my UT EME days and we’ve been doing a couple of these Scottish ballads since then. But you can read more about TEMP’s history with the ballads in the concert blurb below. I need to go find some pain relievers because I’ve got an empathy headache just thinking about you folks recovering from Burns Night.

See you at the concert, I hope!
—Danny

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Celtic Memories

Saturday, February 22, 2025, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, February 23, 2025, at 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2024-2025 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.

Scottish ballads from the 18th century have been a part of TEMP’s core repertoire for decades. With roots dating back to performances with the UT Early Music Ensemble in the mid-90s, TEMP presented Celtic concerts focused mostly on Scottish ballads in 2007, 2008, 2013, 2019, and 2022 and they were the subject of our only ‘studio’ recording, The Bonny Broom and Other Scottish Ballads, from 1999.

With musical sources dating from the 16th–18th centuries featuring poems by Robert Burns and a few other poets, both known and unknown, the concert will give wonderful insight into the culture that created this very popular and accessible music. Even the English held Scottish ballads in high esteem and our own Benjamin Franklin adored these songs and considered them the height of great art. Scottish ballads are renowned for their evocative, heartfelt, and humorous aspects, but also for their beautiful and expressive melodies.

Some of the songs provide a glimpse into historical or cultural events, such as The Bonny Earle of Murray and There’ll never be peace till Jamie comes hame. Others create immediately visceral emotions with strong connections to the land (The Birks of Invermay) and strong connections to the human condition (The Winter of Life). And there are plenty of love songs to go around, including Etrick Banks, And I’ll kiss thee yet, yet, and Ae Fond Kiss! There will also be stirring reels and other dance pieces from Ireland and Scotland as well, such as old favorites Muileann Dubh, The Reel of Tulloch, and more.

Click on the CD images below to listen to audio teasers!

TEMP’s singers for this concert are Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Jenny Houghton, Page Stephens, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Ryland Angel, Holt Skinner, and Joel Nesvadba. Harpist Therese Honey will perform a solo or two and will be joined by TEMP core players Marcus McGuff (flute), Bruce Colson (violin), John Walters (mandolin), Héctor Torres (lutes and guitar), Carolyn Hagler (cello), and kantele player Viktoria Nizhnik from Karelia! Hey, people traveled a lot back in those days, too.

Music for the heart and soul and feet (dancing in your seats)
BYO haggis.

TEMP 2024-2025 Season: Reconnections

In praise of short stories

Pumpkin Cornbread photo and recipe by Healthy Seasonal Recipes

I was thinking of following up September’s ode to Molly Bloom and pumpkin spice with a Tolkien-inspired epic about the perils of shopping/traveling/surviving during the holiday season. I came to my senses when I looked at my calendar and realized the vast number of tasks I have to begin/undertake/improve/finish in the next couple of weeks, so I’ll leave you with this: Happy Thanksgiving, and may we all have pumpkin cornbread with our meals!

By the by, we’re giving a concert in December. I think you should come! Details below.

-Danny

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Joy & Light:
Delights of the Season

Saturday, December 14, 2024 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, December 15, 2024, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2024-2025 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.

Join Texas Early Music Project for its annual multilicious feast of diverse holiday music through the ages. Cultures across the centuries have celebrated this season of expectation and rebirth, and we are contributing our share with medieval chant and joyous carols, magnificent motets, sweet Celtic songs, exuberant folk-tunes, and more.

 Much of the music for this concert comes from Northern Europe, including folk tunes and chant from the Czech Republic, Germany, and Hungary that have remained popular through modern times. We have chosen three enchanting Sephardic songs for the Chanukah section, two secular and one sacred. In addition, we will present music by the “newly discovered” Vicente Lusitano, a mixed-race Portuguese composer. Active in the 16th century, Lusitano has been described as the first published Black composer.

 One of the central composers of the French Baroque, Marc-Antoine Charpentier was a master at composing graceful and exciting Christmas pastorales. We have combined one of his most popular pastorales and one of his most popular oratorios into a seamless, shorter work, featuring his intimate orchestration, solos, and choral airs. Enjoy the audio teaser from our Gaudete CD below.

Visit our Recordings page to view all of our CDs. They make great holliday gifts!

 The British Isles are represented by a variety of popular ballads and folk songs from England and Ireland, all penned by that long-lived composer, Anonymous. As usual, there will be a few pieces composed and arranged in the last few years using some of the styles of Medieval and Baroque repertoire.

 Cayla Cardiff, Joel Nesvadba, Erin Calata, Page Stephens, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Jenny Houghton, Ryland Angel, and Jenifer Thyssen are among the featured soloists, and we are happy to have both acclaimed harpist Therese Honey and kantele virtuoso Viktoria Nizhnik featured in our small orchestra.

Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid and enriching evening of music. Encompassing 700 years of festive creativity and beauty, this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart. We coined a new word to describe the concert: multilicious!

TEMP 2024-2025 Season: Reconnections

Paris in full bloom, with spice

Wow! You know, we almost scheduled a preview concert of our upcoming Paris City Limits program in actual Paris this summer, but then someone scheduled the Olympics there so we decided to wait and stay closer to home. I mean, the traffic alone deterred us. I know we could have waited until the Fall and we could do the Paris concert in Paris then, but we would miss some of the other important goings-on here in AusTex! Besides, I don’t know if you can get a latte aux épices de citrouille there, not that I’ve ever had a bona fide, certified PSL here. But that brings us to the heart of the matter:

It’s September, when we locals begins to look forward to the finer things of life, including cooler weather for several months at a time, so we can begin to enjoy outdoor spor… I mean musical activities and festivals and walks through the Hill Country on a cool autumn day and watch out for that cactus and there’s nothing like nature yes the wild mountain cedar then the sneezes and the rushing yes for the tissues yes then the beautiful country with fields of oats and wheat and buckwheat yessss I said buckwheat and yes I’ll have another buckwheat pancake and yes I would yes even as we see rivers and streams yes and culverts and wildflowers of all sorts of shapes and smells and… Whoa! What is that intoxicating aroma wafting through the junipers and cedars? Of course, it’s the perfume of the wild pumpkin spice!! I forgot, it’s September!! We’ve finally finished August, aka that long pre-pumpkin-spice month! 

Ok, I know I digressed, but I must go. I need to begin my search for you-know-what while I’m finishing up the work on our Paris concert (in Austin). Check out all the details below. I need to find a latte aux épices de citrouille, stat!!

—Danny

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Paris City Limits:
Circa 1550

Saturday, September 28, 2024 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, September 29, 2024, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2024-2025 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, email boxoffice@early-music.org.

We’ve named our 2024-2025 season Reconnections: Reflections with friends, old and new. Our most recent Paris City Limits concert was almost exactly six years ago, and we all know that is a long time to be separated from a dear friend. How fortunate that the dear friend in question has such a rich history: Renowned for its popular music of France from the 16th and 17th centuries, Paris City Limits regales audiences with exuberant dances, popular folk songs, dazzling chansons, and heartfelt songs of love and melancholy by both the masters of the day and some relative unknowns.

Imagine a music festival that explores the rustic and sophisticated musical hits of 16th-century Paris and its environs. There are some top hits by Josquin and Lassus, some lyrics by the leading serious poet of the time, Pierre de Ronsard, as well as wondrously gentle and touching songs by Janequin and the new kid on the rue, Pierre Clereau. Then it will be time for some exuberant Breton dances to put a smile on your face and a tap in your foot.

There are dozens of chansons attributed to the master of the day, Josquin des Prez, and we will be performing four of them. Three of those four are for six parts, allowing the master to experiment with textures and harmonies. As the finale, TEMP’s 16-voice chorus will perform Janequin’s spectacular and picturesque chanson about the birds (Le chant des oyseaux). Enjoy the audio teaser from our Paris City Limits CD below.

Click/tap on the CD cover images to enjoy more audio samples
and visit our Recordings page to view all of our CDs.

Our featured singers for this year’s Paris City Limits include TEMP regulars Jenifer Thyssen, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, Jenny Houghton, Cayla Cardiff, Page Stephens, Jeffrey Jones Ragona, Ryland Angel, and more. The instrumental ensemble features harpist Elaine Barber, violinist Bruce Colson, our viol consort (Mary Springfels, Kit Robberson, Joan Carlson, John Walters, and David Dawson), recorder player Susan Richter, and lutenist Héctor Alfonso Torres.

Venez, y’all!

TEMP 2024-2025 Season: Reconnections

The Ides of April.

Is that a thing, or not? Discuss.

Hmmm April 15. Seems like I’m supposed to be doing something important today. I mean, I do recall that on March 15, I made sure to avoid going to the Roman Senate, but I have this stabbing feeling that I’m missing something about today. So I made a little list of possibilities.

I do recall that I wanted to let you all know that you should check out TEMP’s Musical Taco that is coming out tomorrow, April 16. It’s monumental: Our 100th Taco! We started making them during the COVID 19 lockdown so we could provide a little solace, humor, news, and music for you while we were working remotely. (The idea was Mary Ashton’s, I’m pretty sure!) We made them weekly for several months and then moved to every two weeks, and now we mostly get them to you every two weeks. ’Ish. Sometimes.

So then, in an effort to avoid thinking about what I was supposed to do on April 15, I got curious and counted the number of blogs we’ve released since we started doing these. To my astonishment, I discovered that this might be the 114th blog. Yes, I lost count.

And so then, forgetting that April 15 was something I was even supposed to be concerned about, I decided to count the number of concerts that TEMP has given. The answer: Not enough. To that end, I’m glad to announce TEMP’s next concert, the final one for the 2023-2024 Season. It’s Italian all the way, with lots of ‘firsts’ involved. See details below!

And, as we said way back in 2014 before a similarly-themed concert:

Preservare il passato. Arricchire il presente. Coinvolgere il futuro.
Si tratta di musica antica in una luce completamente nuova. Unisciti a noi.

Meanwhile, I guess I’ll find out on April 16 what it was that I forgot to do on April 15.

Saluti!
–Danny

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Italia mia:
Diverse Voices of the Late Renaissance

Saturday, May 11, 2024 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, May 12, 2024, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2023-2024 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email temp@early-music.org.

Through the happy union of musicology and live performance, we can now present music to you that was not available or even known just a few short years ago. Due to recent research, we are able to present madrigals by Maddalena Casulana, the first woman composer to have an entire book of her music published. Some of her music wasn’t discovered until quite recently, so we are fortunate to have this timely opportunity. Likewise, music by the first published Black composer, Vicente Lusitano, hasn’t been available to us until the last few of years. His mastery of Renaissance polyphony and inventiveness create a wonderfully rich and beautiful architecture of sound. Although he has been in our sights for quite some time, this is the first program in which we can really explore music by Salomone Rossi, Italian Jewish violinist and composer who, like Monteverdi, was a transitional figure between the late Italian Renaissance period and early Baroque. This should give just an idea of some of the incredible musical diversity available in Italy, the heart of the Renaissance, from about 1538 until about 1638, when tastes and styles transitioned from the Renaissance aesthetic to the beginnings of the Baroque.

In addition to these brilliant but relatively unknown composers, we will feature both chamber and large-scale choral works by Monteverdi, excerpts from La Pellegrina, (the 1589 extravaganza created for an important Medici wedding), and intimate or casual pieces that are suitable for the end of our 2023-2024 Street Songs season. And we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to sing the stirring title piece, Italia Mia, by Philippe Verdelot.

Our 20-voice choir will also provide the vocal soloists for the concert, and will include Jenifer Thyssen, Jenny Houghton, Shari Alise Wilson, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Page Stephens, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, Ryland Angel, and others. TEMP’s small orchestra of viols, violin, and plucked strings will feature Mary Springfels, Therese Honey, and theorbist Héctor Torres.

Join us as we explore 100 years of a variety of the delicious tastes of Italy
(not including some of those favored by Lucrezia Borgia…)

Click on the image above to  buy tickets now!

Scorching Hot Valentines…

Codex Buranus, München: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Clm 4660, f. 72v

…for my Friend, Billy Pilgrim

My “Spidey sense” tells me that it’s Valentine’s Day! Dang, I didn’t put up a tree or anything. Didn’t send any cards. Bought no prezzies. Didn’t think of putting up any lights, although I guess I could finally take down my Halloween decorations. Then again, Halloween is just around the corner, I think, so I may as well leave them up. That reminds me that my email used to be @soon.com, in honor of the curious relationship I have with time. I’m thinking about changing my ways. Maybe next year or so. You know: ’ish.

Anyway, since it’s Valentine’s Day, then that means we have must have a concert coming up. Or perhaps we already did it? Nope, nope, I’m pretty sure we haven’t done it because I’m really looking forward to it. I do remember that I haven’t experienced the joys of a live Medieval Carmina Burana concert in about 6 years, so it’s still on the way. And speaking of love poetry for Valentine’s Day, those 13th-century poets wrote some scorchers! Carmina Burana is just full of them! You should send Billy Pilgrim an earnest/scorching hot Valentine. Maybe it will entice him to come home from Tralfamadore.

I bet there will be details below. I should look at the details too, so I don’t schedule taking down my Valo-ween decorations at the same time.

But you should watch the video of our December Joy & Light concert before it goes away on Feb 26 and then come to the Carmina Burana concert shortly after that. One can never celebrate too many holidays at the same time.

And Happy Valentine’s Day!
–Danny

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THE ORIGINAL CARMINA BURANA:
FORTUNE’S SLIPPERY WAY

Saturday, March 2, 2024 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, March 3, 2024, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2023-2024 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Neil deGrasse Tyson mentioned the 13th-century manuscript Carmina Burana on his documentary TV series, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey! What he didn’t say was that it contains unabashedly joyful and passionate songs about love, spring, mythology, love, dancing, drinking, love, flirting, philosophy, and…love!

Although Carmina Burana was given wide name recognition in 1937 by the composer Carl Orff, whose cantata of the same title popularized some of the Medieval texts and brought its existence into the light, the original version deserves just as much attention. With images of the cycle of the seasons and melodies which were often based on the most popular tunes, polyphony, and dances from Western Europe at the time, the songs of Carmina Burana reflect the lives of the 12th- and 13th-century Bavarian monks and students who collected and/or composed the pieces in this famous anthology. The poems, at once sensual and refined, satirical and sincere, offer a fascinating glimpse into life in the late Middle Ages. There are songs of love and flirtation, verses in praise of good food and good wine, diatribes against gossip and jealousy, odes to mythical heroes—all of these and much more are found in this extraordinary compilation of songs, dances, and chants.

The music is as varied as the texts, with melodies that are memorable and hummable. There are melodies clearly influenced by chant, by popular tunes, or by dances—sometimes all within the same song. Some of the selections from the Carmina Burana are among the most popular of TEMP’s medieval repertoire: Veris dulcis in tempore, sung by women, is both haunting and joyful in its exultation of springtime and the importance of love; Sic mea fata canendo solor is an exultant ode from a young man as he thinks about his love and describes his feelings in delicious detail! Did we mention that this concert is rated PG-13?

TEMP will feature some of its favorite soloists, including Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Jenny Houghton, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Page Stephens, Ryland Angel, and others. Our 10-piece medieval orchestra with its enchanting timbres and delightful combinations features medieval fiddles or vielles, oud, early harps, psaltery, recorder, and more. Of particular interest will be the northern European string instruments kantele and jouhikko, played by Viktoria Nizhnik.

Prepare for the arrival of spring with this rousing look at Medieval passions!

Click on the image above to  buy tickets now!

Joy, Light, & Everything Pumpkin Spice

Welp, we all know what’s about to happen, right? I’m gonna make a reference to the artificial jet lag created by the time change and that I kinda like it. And then I’m gonna say something like “it must be that time of year for another sweet potato curry, washed down with a pumpkin stout, and then chased by a slice of pumpkin cheesecake” or somesuch.

So let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?

Time’s a’wastin’ because I need to be finalizing the music for our Joy and Light concert in December and preparing for the Fall Texas Toot workshop in East Texas and trying to make time to watch our London City Limits concert video because we spent a lot of time on the concert and the audio/video editing and it’s pretty danged good! You should watch it. Details are on our website.

So, you see, rather than go on and on about not being able to find any pumpkin spice contact lens solution, I’m gonna get back to work! And think about the pumpkin spice ice cream I might have during a break.

See details about about our upcoming Joy and Light concert below!

And Happy Thanksgiving!
–Danny

P.S. Don’t forget: TEMP CDs make great holiday gifts! Purchase CDs at our concert venue or order from our Recordings page!

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Joy and Light: Delights of the Season

Saturday, December 9, 2023 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, December 10, 2023, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2023-2024 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Join Texas Early Music Project for its annual multilicious feast of diverse holiday music through the ages. Cultures across the centuries have celebrated this season of expectation and rebirth, and we are contributing our share with medieval chant and joyous carols, magnificent motets, sweet Celtic songs, exuberant folk-tunes, and more.

 Much of the music for this concert comes from Southern Europe, including folk tunes from France that have remained popular through modern times as well as newly written pieces based on French chant. The enchanting Sephardic songs that we have chosen for the Chanukah section come from Turkey and Morocco. In addition, we will present music by the “newly discovered” Vicente Lusitano, a mixed-race Portuguese composer. Active in the 16th century, Lusitano has been described as the first published Black composer.

 In addition to the haunting motet for 5 voices by Lusitano, we have created a “medley” on the popular 14th-century tune In dulci jubilo (also known to modern carolers as Good Christian Men, Rejoice), using settings by different composers of the German Renaissance and Baroque: Michael Praetorius, Hieronymus Praetorius, and Dietrich Buxtehude. The settings range from verses for 2 parts, 3 parts, and so on, up to 12 different parts.

 The British Isles are represented by a variety of popular ballads and folk songs from England and Scotland, all penned by that long-lived composer, Anonymous. As usual, there will be a few pieces composed and arranged in the last few years using some of the styles of Medieval and Baroque repertoire.

 Tim O’Brien, David Lopez, Cayla Cardiff, Erin Calata, Page Stephens, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Jenny Houghton, Ryland Angel, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, and Jenifer Thyssen are among the featured soloists, and we are happy to have both acclaimed harpist Therese Honey and kantele virtuoso Viktoria Nizhnik featured in our small orchestra.

 Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid and enriching evening of music. Encompassing 700 years of festive creativity and beauty, this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart. We coined a new word to describe the concert: multilicious!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

A Day in the Life of the Market

“Buy my fine singing Glasses” from The Cryes of the City of London Drawne After the Life, by Marcellus Laroon (London, 1687)

Well, it finally happened; I knew it was coming and just kept putting it off. It was time to go shopping and I knew that pandemonium and chaos would engulf me for a while. But it was necessary. It was necessary to buy some fair bone lace, some cambric, buskins, doublets, and small coals. I also needed to find a cooper and to talk to the town crier about my old lost mare.

It was indeed as loud and unruly as I feared, with all sorts of vendors trying to entice me to buy oysters and haddock and sprats and cowcumbers and marking stones and raspis and … well, the variety was interminable. But — you know, after a while I sorta zoned out and listened to the wonderful harmonies that were being created by all this din and spontaneous vocal advertising. I eventually found all the items I was seeking and gave the crier my notice about my horse. Then I left, went to Wheatsville, and I bought some organic yogurt, some Ceylon cinnamon, an espresso (double), and got some victuals at the deli. Altogether a successful venture.

“Twelve pence a peck oysters” from The Cryes of the City of London Drawne After the Life, by Marcellus Laroon (London, 1687)

I must say I was reminded of this wonderful piece by Richard Dering, The City Cries from the early 17th century, in which he depicts a similar scene at the London street markets in c. 1615. Of course, the vendors don’t all ‘yell/sing’ at the same time; Dering lays the whole thing so you can hear the individual characters, all supported by a consort of viols.

Whoa! Such serendipity! TEMP happens to be performing that piece in its season opener October concert! You should check it out; I hope to be there! It’s also TEMP’s 25th concert season, a momentous occasion! There’s more info below.

I think I’ll go to the market again today. I need to talk to the chimney sweep.

New oysters, anyone?

—Danny

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London City Limits: Town & Country

Saturday, October 7, 2023 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, October 8, 2023, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2023-2024 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Thanks to boosts from popular culture on television and in movies, more people than ever are aware of and interested in the very important Tudor courts of Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth I. During the time they ruled England—more than 90 years, from 1509 until 1603—England’s influence in the world increased dramatically and English musical and artistic culture became more prominent. Our concert picks up towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign and concludes during the second reign of the House of Stuart, at the end of the 17th century. This repertoire for voices, viols, and lutes fashions a colorful account of life in and around London for almost 100 years. This is music from the streets, the theater, the Tudor courts, and the cathedrals. Also, in honor of the 400th anniversary of the passing of one of Britain’s most important composers, we will have choral pieces by William Byrd (1543–1623). 

In those times, shoppers at street markets around the world would have heard various vendors hawking their wares with unique cries and slogans. In the later years of Elizabeth I and beyond, a popular style of composition came about that combined quite a number of these oral advertisements into notable compositions, both comedic and informative, while still being delightful. Richard Dering’s The City Cries presents a full day in the life of the market with more than 70 distinct characters/vendors represented by 13 singers in our performance.

We will have graceful songs and dances from Shakespearean productions and courts, vocal pieces suitable for singing in private homes, and more sophisticated pieces for the professional singers in the courts and cathedrals. These pieces are composed by well-known madrigalists such as Thomas Morley, Thomas Weelkes, Thomas Campion (I detect a trend), and others.

Enjoy these audio teasers from our CD Building Bridges to the Past, which will also be in London City Limits! 

A little later in the century, there are the social and political commentary songs, mostly ballads from the Pills to Purge Melancholy, a collection of broadsides and ballads. Some of the poems broach the issue of groups of people who are suppressed in order to elevate other groups, simply because the “powers that be” could, in fact, do so. The most dramatic piece of the concert is probably The Cloak’s Knavery, another ballad that speaks of political malevolence that leads to societal ills.

Although she performs with us so often she could be considered to be a regular, she’s still our special guest: viola da gamba superstar Mary Springfels (New York Pro Musica, Waverly Consort, Sequentia, the Newbury Consort, and more) will lead our consort of viols. Likewise, countertenor/tenor Ryland Angel joins us again and will perform solo and small ensemble works, along with other soloists Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Jenny Houghton, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, Page Stephens, and others.

Help us celebrate our 25th Season!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

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Going on Pilgrimage…

…and I have nothing to wear!

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Pilgrim's outfit belonging to Stephan Praun (1544-1591). Germanisches National Museum

Greetings, and many thanks to all who have written to congratulate us on getting the services of that renowned designer of the finest haute couture pilgrimage-wear, Yves de St. Jaime-en-el-Cielo-con-Diamanté, who has sent some preliminary photos of the gorgeous smocks we will all be wearing on this and other pilgrimages.

All of his designs will be replete with staffs, rosaries, and scallop shells, which have traditionally been the symbol of a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela. (Click on the image to enlarge.)

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Sadly, due to supply chain issues, we will not be able to supply everyone with their very own Tarta de Santiago, the traditional almond cake that is available for pilgrims at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Feel free to make and bring your own cake!

A veces se gana, se pierde algo. (You win some, you lose some.)

Don your most fashionable pilgrimage gear and come to our Medieval Pilgrimage concert! Details below.

—Danny

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Medieval Pilgrimage in Iberia

Saturday, May 13, 2023 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, May 14, 2023, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2022-2023 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

View fullsize

Map showing the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela.

There was never a more popular time for religious pilgrimage than during the Middle Ages. In those times, people made long and dangerous trips, lasting months or years, in a search for spiritual meaning or fulfillment or as an act of penance. Several of the most important sites of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages were located in what is now northern Spain. 

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Llibre Vermell: Stella splendens

The Llibre Vermell (it was discovered in a red binding in the 19th century, and therefore is called the Red Book) comes from the monastery at Montserrat in Catalonia. Some of the music is sophisticated, but some of it was intended to be sung by the pilgrims themselves and included chants, rounds, folk songs, circle dances, and polyphony. We will also perform music from the Cistercian convent in Burgos (Las Huelgas Codex), Las cantigas de Santa Maria from the royal court of Alfonso X, and selections from Codex Calixtinus, from the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

Enjoy these two Llibre Vermell audio teasers from our related CDs: Stella splendens and Sacred.

A company of fourteen women singers explores the music of pilgrimage in Medieval Spain. This music celebrates the richly transparent timbre of treble voices in unison or in polyphonic settings, making the most of sweet consonances and pungent dissonances. Mary Springfels (vielle and citole) joins the ensemble and the TEMP Medieval orchestra of vielles, harps, recorder, and oud. Featured soloists include Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Gitanjali Mathur, Page Stephens, Laura Mercado-Wright, and more! An an extra-special bonus, local luminary Tim O’Brien will provide a little background information and personal reflections from his pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago.

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

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Now what was the name of that movie?

You know the one…

It’s just on the tip of my brain! It reminds me of fútbol/soccer but it’s a movie… It’s from the early 90s and it has that actor—she’s in most of Wes Anderson’s movies and she makes everything more interesting.

You know the curse they always talk about: “May you live in interesting times”? I wonder: Are “interesting times” in a movie also a curse? (It turns out not to be a Chinese curse but rather a misquoted statement from a British statesman in the 1930s.)

Oh right! And the movie we’re talking about is based, at least partly, in Britain. And it is interesting, not only because of that actor, but also because of its relationship with linear time, something we have explored several times in concerts! Hmmm. I wonder if that actor sings, because she would be great in our ‘It’s About Time’ programs; she’s too busy, I know, but she does look exceedingly authentic in Renaissance clothing! Oh! And that movie is set in the Renaissance! At least partly. And it’s called Orlando!

So very interesting, because our upcoming concert is also set in the Renaissance, and it’s called Orlando, too! Sadly, Tilda Swinton couldn’t be in it…

At any rate, check out the details of our Orlando! below. Come to our “Return to the Renaissance”concert!
-Danny

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Orlando!
Music by di Lasso for Voices & Viols

Saturday, February 11, 2023 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, February 12, 2023, 3:00 pm*
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

*We are happy to present preconcert music beginning about 2:15 pm before the Sunday concert by a consort of student viola da gamba players from Woodcreek Middle School in Humble, TX. They are featured in the January, 2023 edition of EMAg, The Magazine of Early Music America.
Viols of the Creek
Pedro Funes, Director

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2022-2023 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Orlando di Lasso (aka Orlande de Lassus, Roland de Lassus, etc.) was one of the most prolific and versatile composers of the late Renaissance or any other musical era. As indicated by the variations on his name, he was astonishingly mobile: He was from the Lowlands, worked in Italy for at least ten years before returning to Antwerp via France and perhaps England, and then settled in Bavaria for the remainder of his life, although he continued to travel extensively. He was one of the rare composers equally adept at the truly silly and the utterly solemn.

His motets and masses were among the most diverse and exceptional of the entire continent, with subjects varying from the transcendent to the eccentric. Even in motets with standard Biblical texts, the range of expression and harmonic approach of his normal style made the typical become extraordinary.

Although sacred music dominates his extensive output of music, di Lasso was also a master of the styles and genres of secular music. He wrote with equal facility in each language in all the prominent secular forms of the time, including Italian madrigals and villanelle, French chansons, and German lieder. He wrote with equal facility in each language and with the “local flavor,” reflecting the many places he lived, and yet maintained his personal expressiveness and skill. Some of his secular compositions are serious and emotionally powerful while others are downright silly, ribald, risqué, and lots of fun!

A small choir of 20 voices will perform some of his best, most brilliant, stunningly beautiful works in varying combinations, including large scale pieces for 8 and 12 parts, and will include solos by Gitanjali Mathur, Jenifer Thyssen, Laura Mercado Wright, Cayla Cardiff, Ryland Angel, and more. For a change of pace, sonically speaking, we will have a four-part viol consort, featuring Mary Springfels.

Join Texas Early Music Project as we Return to the Renaissance
and the music of a truly cosmopolitan composer.

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

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The sound of one hand clapping for a series of realizations

Ya know, it’s hard to put one past me. I’m very observant. I’ve noticed a few things. Like, not too long ago, I noticed they were playing the World Series. Clue A. And then I noticed that all my clocks were wrong. Clue 2. And then, as I was shivering in my apartment at teatime, I noticed I was having some very good pumpkin spice tea to go along with my pumpkin bread and realized with a premonition-like chill that I was going to have some butternut squash dal and curry for supper and that I was going to wash it down with pumpkin stout. I think those count for Clues 3 and D. Maybe E, too.

“Obviously,” I said assuredly, “it’s my favorite time of the year and that means we must have our annual Christmas/Holiday concert coming up soon.”

So check out the blurb below (after you check out the video and graphics that Allison comes up with to illustrate this) and we’ll see you at the grocery store, standing in line to buy Thanksgiving sustenance, and then we’ll see you at An Early Christmas in December!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and see you at the concerts in December!
-Danny

P.S.: There is no truth to the rumor that I use pumpkin spice contact lens solutions. That is absurd. The stores have been out of that for months. Maybe next year....

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An Early Christmas

Saturday, December 10, 2022 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, December 11, 2022, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2022-2023 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

Take advantage of preferred seating and other perks by buying season tickets!

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Join Texas Early Music Project for its annual multilicious feast of diverse holiday music through the ages. Cultures across the centuries have celebrated this season of expectation and rebirth, and we are contributing our share with medieval chant and joyous carols, magnificent motets, lively Celtic songs, exuberant folk-tunes, and more.

Most of the music for this concert comes from Northern Europe and the British Isles. We’ve chosen pieces from Medieval England and France that glimmer with the transparency of the styles of the period. Renaissance Netherlands, England, and France give us both glorious polyphonic and appealing chordal ambiance. A little Baroque music from France and England will leave us with memorable (and recognizable) tunes. Although several of the pieces were written by the long-lived Anonymous, some composers of note are Praetorius, Scheidt, Sweelinck, and the “newly discovered” Vicente Lusitano, a mixed-race Portuguese composer. Active in the 16th century, Lusitano has been described as the first published Black composer.

In addition to the haunting motet for 5 voices by Lusitano, we have created a “medley” on the popular 14th-century tune Resonet in laudibus (also known as Joseph lieber, Joseph mein), using music by different composers of the German and Polish Renaissance for each verse. This unique, brand-new arrangement is for full choir and our small Renaissance orchestra. It is remarkable to hear how composers who worked in geographic and temporal proximity to each other set the different verses and sections.

As usual, there will be a few pieces composed and arranged in the last few years using some of the styles of Medieval and Baroque repertoire, and we will be presenting a short set of traditional and Sephardic music for the Chanukah celebration.

Tim O’Brien, Joel Nesvadba, Cayla Cardiff, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Jenny Houghton, Ryland Angel, Adrienne Pedrotti Bingamon, and Jenifer Thyssen are among the featured soloists, and we are happy to have both acclaimed harpist Therese Honey and kantele virtuoso Viktoria Nizhnik featured in our small orchestra.

Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid and enriching evening of music. Encompassing 700 years of festive creativity and beauty, this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart.
And you can use our new word, multilicious!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

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The Eagle Loved a Good Quodlibet!

Dürer, Self-portrait, Study of a Hand and Pillow, 1493

I remember being a fan of Albrecht Dürer’s work when I was mere polywog of a music student. Anytime we listened to music from Renaissance Germany, one of Dürer’s works was likely to grace the cover or be prominently placed in some part of the album notes (which were reasonably sized, since they were LPs!) And then in Europe, I saw his self portrait and saw that outsized thumb and felt real kinship with him; no I don’t have an overly large thumb, but I was a polydactyl at birth and my right thumb is a bit, um, odd, as a result of the surgery to remove that extra thumb. And so I wondered if he felt the same amount of pain that I did when I would catch a baseball slightly wrong and it would hit my thumb in just the wrong place…holy-moly!, and he probably didn’t have a mitt as good as mine. Anyway, if he did, he has my sympathies.

The other thing that I should mention about this concert is that when I saw the New York Pro Musica in concert in at Texas Tech in 1970 (or ‘71?), the program they did was very similar to the program that we are doing. It was from Renaissance Germany and it was heavy on music by Ludwig Senfl, at any rate, and I remember falling in love with the song Ach Elselein, which we are doing, of course. Also, one of the viol players on their tour was on her first tour with them: Mary Springfels! And she’s in our concert as well!

So come to our concert, and 1) hear both gloriously extravagant and calmly intimate music by Senfl and his teacher, Heinrich Isaac; 2) say hi to our frequent guest, Mary Springfels; 3) try not to think too much about Dürer’s freakishly large thumb; 4) hope that I don’t hit my right thumb on a music stand or something, because when I hit it in just the ‘right’ spot where there’s a bit of nerve lurking just under the surface, I’m likely to say something very unconcert-like.

Did I mention that Sara Schneider will be our pre-concert lecturer and we will be offering pre-signed copies of her book? The Eagle and the Song Bird is about the subject of our concert, Emperor Maximilian I, and members of his court, including our friends Senfl and Dürer (she doesn’t mention his thumb.) Click on the book image to pre-order your signed copy now!

See the details below and we hope to see you there!
-Danny

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When Max was Emperor
Musical Splendor for the Holy Roman Court

Saturday, October 8, 2022 at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, October 9, 2022, 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 
2111 Alexander Ave, Austin, TX 78722.
Visit the Arts on Alexander 2022-2023 events on the AoA website.

Admission $35 general; $30 seniors (60+); $5 students with ID
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

Take advantage of preferred seating and other perks by buying season tickets!

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Our first full concert of the 2022-2023 season explores early Renaissance music from the courts of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor from 1508-1519. Though he was known as “the last knight,” he was also an ardent supporter of the arts and sciences, and his royal court reflected his interests, whether with music, visual arts, philosophy, cartography, literary arts, and more. 

In the same ways that Albrecht Dürer represented the visual arts in the royal court, there were two musicians who epitomize the musical life of Maximilian’s empire. The Flemish master Heinrich Isaac and his student, the Swiss-born Ludwig Senfl, were both active as court chapel masters to Emperor Maximilian’s Hofkapelle, whether in Innsbruck, Augsburg, or other places that the Emperor and his court traveled for numerous imperial congresses or for seasonal changes. 

Maximilian’s royal children, Margaret and Philip, inherited his passion for music. Both supported excellent chapels in Brussels and Mechelen, with musical masters such as Antoine Brumel, Pierre de la Rue, Jacob Obrecht, and others. We will sample a few strikingly intense pieces from these satellite courts as well as many pieces from Maximilian’s own imperial chapel. One of the striking and virtuosic works in the program will be Iaaac’s six-voice motet Virgo prudentissima. Composed by Isaac in 1507 while he was in Constance for the imperial Reichstag of that year (which was organized to prepare for the coronation of Maximilian I as Holy Roman Emperor), this amazing motet has grandeur, polyphonic complexity, and textural diversity, but never loses its forward motion or becomes static. 

The music splendor of Maximilian’s Holy Roman Court will be interpreted by eighteen singers, a consort of viols, two lutenists, and three sackbut (early trombone) players. As a special treat, we will have a pre-concert lecture by Sara Schneider, host of KMFA’s “Early Music Now”, TEMP Board member, and author of the historical novel The Eagle and the Songbird, which is about the Emperor and members of his retinue, both historical and fictional. 

Pre-concert Lecture:
Leaving Innsbruck: On the Road with Kaiser Max and his Musicians
Saturday, Oct. 8 at 6:45 PM & Sunday, Oct. 9 at 2:15 PM

Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519) ruled from the saddle as he traveled all over his empire: modern-day Belgium, Germany, and Austria. And wherever he went—court, cathedral, or battlefield—his musicians went with him! We'll follow him on some of his travels, and learn about the ways music enriched life and was used as a political tool at the imperial court.

Remember what they say: “Life is a quodlibet, old friend!”

COVID Protocols

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

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A special bargain!

Available for only a short while, 3 for the price of 11...

Coming Soon!

☞

Coming Soon! ☞

So you know how some blogs are really just like infomercials, designed to lull you into complacence, sort of like hypnosis, before they creatively entice you to buy something that you didn’t know that you needed? Or maybe it’s the other kind of informercial that’s swinging for the fence with every word, with every phrase designed to make you buy something that you didn’t know that you needed and you should buy it now, and you do, just so they’ll stop talking!?!??! Or maybe it’s the kind that is designed to confuse, as though they don’t really know what they’re selling, but it turns out to be a stealthomercial about something kinda different from what you thought it might might be.

Well, we would never do that, you know! We will just come right out and say that you really, really need to come to our Convivencia concert in May. (See the details below!)

And for the low, low price of whatever a ticket costs, we will throw in, absolutely free, a chance to win a CD in our post-intermission drawing.

This is one of our more cherished repertoires, with concerts from 2004, 2005, 2010, and 2015. We are eager to present the 2022 version to you, with special performers and a special guest lecturer. See? Not much stealth involved there at all!

If you wish to attend the Saturday, May 14, lecture and performance, you’ll need to buy your tickets in advance, either online or via phone at 512-377-6961. Due to the requirements of our venue, tickets cannot be sold at the door.

Please join us for our final program of the season!
–Danny

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Convivencia: The Three Worlds of Renaissance Spain

with special guests
Julie Slim, singer
Mary Springfels, viols

Special Guest Scholar & Lecturer: Professor Edwin Seroussi,
Director of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Pre-performance lecture one hour before the concert begins.

Saturday, May 14, 2022, at  7:30 pm; 6:30pm pre-concert lecture
Temple Beth Shalom, 7300 Hart Lane
Tickets for Saturday’s performance must be purchased in advance online or by phone: 512-377-6961
Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (with ID)
&
Sunday, May 15, 2022, at 3:00 pm; 2:00pm pre-concert lecture
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (with ID)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Convivencia means coexistence.

In our season finale, we explore many of the cross-cultural ties and themes that connected the three great cultures of early Spain: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian. Convivencia illuminates the lives and emotions of the inhabitants of Spain in the early Renaissance musically and poetically.

The swirling and sensuous rhythms and intricate melodies of Arabo-Andalusian and Sephardic music alternate with courtly, sometimes boisterously exuberant works of the Spanish masters such as Juan del Encina, Cristóbal de Morales, and others from the Spanish courts. Glimpses of daily life and cultural interactions are lovingly presented through songs and dances from the 15th and 16th centuries, performed on reproductions of historical instruments.

TEMP is pleased to welcome popular Lebanese-American singer, songwriter, and recording artist, Julie Slim, in her first performance with us. She is well known to Austin audiences through her performances with the Threshold Choir, her own group Julie Slim & RendezVous, and Bereket (the UT Middle Eastern Ensemble). Julie is a multitalented musician, skilled in jazz, Middle-Eastern styles and languages, composition, percussion, and much more, with an eclectic background in performance and commitment to collaboration and connection.

We are also proud to present our Special Guest Scholar & Lecturer, Professor Edwin Seroussi, Director of the Jewish Music Research Centre at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. A pioneer in the study of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern musical cultures and traditions, Professor Seroussi was awarded the 2018 Israel Prize in the music category. He has also won the Joel Engel Prize for Life Achievement in Jewish Music Research, Tel Aviv Municipality. Professor Seroussi received his PhD in Music from UCLA.

TEMP is always proud to present our core musicians, such as soloists Gitanjali Mathur, Cayla Cardiff, Jenny Houghton, Daniel Johnson, David Lopez, Ryland Angel, Tim O’Brien, and 9 more singers. Besides our guest instrumentalist, well-known local performers such as Elaine Barber, John Walters, Josh Peters, and others will perform on a variety of Medieval and Renaissance instruments such as oud, psaltery, harp, rebec, vihuela, viols, recorder, and sackbuts.

Click on the CD images below to listen to audio teasers!

Join us for our final concert of the season in Renaissance Spain when we say ¡Adiós, que tengáis un buen verano! and then prepare to attend our first concert of the 2022-2023 season in Renaissance Germany, with music from the court of Maximillian I, and we will say Hallo und hurra, es ist fast Herbst!

COVID PROTOCOLS

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

I knew I shouldn't have worn shorts on Tuesday…

…because on Wednesday it was 55 degrees colder and then it got to be 60 degrees colder! Remind me to avoid tempting the Weather Channel–since it controls the weather, of course–next year. Or ever.

Anyway, we are puttering along, working on the May Convivencia concert, planning all the concerts for next season, working on grants, wrapping up the creation of our first newsletter (due out next week), and just generally not taking it easy, because All The Things Must Be Done.

And Amplify Austin Day, hosted by I Live Here I Give Here, is happening in a few days. See the details below!

Remember, even if you don’t live here, you can give here. Since TEMP is expanding its reach via videos on YouTube and other formats, you can support us from afar. Even from abroad. Or from around the corner.

More soon!
-Danny

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AMPLIFY TEMP!
6 PM CST MARCH 2 — 6 PM CST MARCH 3

Amplify Austin Day, hosted by I Live Here I Give Here, is Central Texas' biggest day of giving, and we are excited to participate once again! As you know, we've been thrilled to perform in person this year! We are so grateful for all that we've been able to accomplish thanks to a supportive, wonderful community. We humbly request your continued support as we continue to fulfill our important mission—to preserve and advance the art of Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical music—in new and creative ways.

Please visit our Amplify page to read more about it.

Here’s how you can help:

Your #amplifyaustin gift made anytime from now through March 3 allows us to:

• employ artists who have lost most, if not all, of their work this past year; 

• explore novel ways to deliver high quality performances and education to an audience no longer bound to Austin's city limits;

• grow and mature as an organization that is evolving with the times; and

• qualifies us for a variety of matching funds, listed on our Amplify page.

Early giving is open now, and every gift matters. But making your donation during the event time frame means your donation is AMPLIFIED by a community that supports its nonprofits.

We'd like to take a moment to specifically point out the "LoveTitos" match: In honor of its 25-year anniversary, Tito’s Handmade Vodka is working with I Live Here I Give Here to spread love and goodness throughout our hometown. Just be sure to enter #LoveTitos in the public message box at check out, and Tito's will add an extra $25 to your donation! They've allotted $25,000 to this match (Three cheers for Tito's!), but it will go fast. 

NO NEED TO WAIT: DONATE NOW!

WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!

Awww, I forgot to mention Robert Burns's Birthday

Portrait of Robert Burns by Alexander Nasmyth, 1787, Scottish National Portrait Gallery.

So, I don’t know about you, but when I think about a ceilidh, I think of a gathering, usually informal, with fun, often-times impressively good music from Ireland and/or Scotland [and/or other places, I guess, but that’s for a different blog.]

And since I’m thinking of a fun time with dance and music and Ireland and/or Scotland, then I’m likely to be thinking of something to drink, which means Guinness (or some other dark stout. And if it’s a day that ends in ‘y’, then it’s probably pumpkin stout that I’m thinking about. But that’s for later.)

But then if I think of a stout in Ireland or Scotland, I’m likely to start thinking about jovial pubs I’ve been to and enjoyed, and how that helps to complete the picture.

But then when I’m thinking of pubs, I can’t help but think of pubs from some movies and how they seem like fun—but then suddenly, they don’t seem like fun at all, like when everyone tells you that you should leave, you don’t have time for a Guinness, and they don’t have room for you. But at least they take the time to give you helpful warnings like “Go! Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors. Beware the moon, lads!” and other things that might not immediately make sense.

Hmmm. Where was I? Oh, right! So our upcoming Celtic Crossings concert isn’t exactly a ceilidh, but there will be songs and dances from Scotland and Ireland, but there won’t be any stout, Guinness or otherwise. And though some of the dances and songs might be sort of casual, like one might find in a pub, we won’t be advising you to “Keep clear of the moors and beware the moon,” since there won’t be a full moon that weekend; so the chance of a werewolf sighting is low.

See you at the concert. BYO Haggis, but no food is allowed in the sanctuary!
-Danny
P.S. Rabbie Burns’s birthday is January 25!

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Celtic Crossings

Saturday, February 12, 2022, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, February 13, 2021, at 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Scottish ballads from the 18th century have been a part of TEMP’s core repertoire since the late 90s. With musical sources dating from the 16th–18th centuries featuring poems by Robert Burns and an exciting roster of other poets, the concert will give wonderful insight into the people who created this very popular and accessible music.

Even the English held Scottish ballads in high esteem and our own Benjamin Franklin adored these songs and considered them the height of great art. (We are performing one of his favorites!) Scottish ballads are renowned for their evocative, heartfelt, and humorous aspects, but also for their beautiful and expressive melodies.

Some of the songs provide a glimpse into historical or cultural events (Frennet Hall), while others create immediate visceral emotions with strong connections to the land (The Banks of the Devon). And there are plenty of love songs to go around! There will be some stirring dance pieces from Ireland and Scotland as well.

Click on the CD images below to listen to audio teasers!

TEMP’s soloists for this concertare Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Jenny Houghton, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, and Tim O’Brien, as well as frequent guest artist, Ryland Angel. Harpist Therese Honey will perform a solo or two and will be joined by TEMP core players Marcus McGuff (flute), Bruce Colson (violin), John Walters (mandolin), Héctor Torres (lutes and guitar), Carolyn Hagler (cello), and will feature kantele player Viktoria Nizhnik from Karelia! Hey, people traveled back in those days, too.

Come enjoy these enchanting pieces with musical links to another time and place that still lives! 
BYO haggis.

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Ave,
Austin, TX 78722

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COVID PROTOCOLS

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!

It's beginning to feel a bit like…

…Concert Time!

Overheard at the grocery store:

A (answering cell phone, loudly in speakerphone mode): Hey, I’m at the store, what’s up?
B (yelling into his phone): What do you want to do tonight?
A (also yelling) I dunno. What do you want to do tonight?
B: Well we could see what’s streaming on WhateverFlix.
A: Nah, we’ve done that the last 18 months.
B: Well, ok, whatever you want is fine with me.

Enter person C, friend of A:

C: Hey, A, I was in produce and heard you talking with B. Listen, I don’t know about tonight, but on December 11 or 12, you should go to the TEMP An Early Christmas concert.
B (even louder): Well, cool beans, sounds like a good plan! So, A, where do you want to go for dinner before the concert?
A: I dunno. Where do you want to go for dinner before the concert?
C (walking away sheepishly, muttering to nobody in particular): And take your phone off speaker in the grocery store.

It’s just a thought. Read all about the concert below!
-Danny

P.S.: Hope to see you at the concert! All phones will be silenced.

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An Early Christmas

Saturday, December 11, 2021, at  7:30 pm
&
Sunday, December 12, 2021, at 3:00 pm
Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Avenue

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

Take advantage of preferred seating and other perks by buying season tickets!

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Join Texas Early Music Project for its annual multilicious feast of diverse Christmas music through the ages. Cultures across the centuries have celebrated this season of expectation and rebirth, and we are contributing our share with medieval chant and joyous carols, magnificent motets, lively Celtic songs, exuberant folk-tunes, and more.

Almost all of the music for this concert comes from Northern Europe and the British Isles. We’ve chosen pieces from Medieval England and France that glimmer with the transparency of the styles of the period. Renaissance Netherlands, England, and France give us both glorious polyphonic and appealing chordal ambiance. A little Baroque music from France and England will leave us with memorable (and recognizable) tunes. Although most of the pieces were written by the long-lived Anonymous, some composers of note are Dufay, Sweelinck, Handl (not Handel), and St. Godric of Victor, who died in 1170. In addition to a few pieces composed in the last few years using some of the styles of Medieval and Baroque repertoire, we will be presenting a short set of music for the Chanukah celebration!

Encompassing more than 700 years of humanity’s hope, love, and joy, TEMP puts its distinctive stamp on the intangible essence and passion of Christmas, with arrangements for solo voices, small chorus, harp, violin, mandolin, viols, lute, and Karelian chromatic kantele.

Tim O’Brien, Cayla Cardiff, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, Jenny Houghton, Ryland Angel, Meredith Ruduski, and Jenifer Thyssen are featured soloists, and we are happy to have both acclaimed harpist Therese Honey and kantele virtuoso Viktoria Nizhnik featured in our small orchestra.

Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid and enriching evening of music. Encompassing 700 years of festive creativity and beauty, this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart. And you can use our new word, multilicious!

Hosted by Arts on Alexander on the campus of Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2111 Alexander Ave,
Austin, TX 78722

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COVID PROTOCOLS

TEMP will be adhering to all State and City regulations, as well as guidelines from the CDC concerning masking and social distancing, as well as the requirements of our venue. We urge you to buy your tickets in advance, as the audience size will be limited so that the audience can be safely distanced. The audience is strongly requested to be masked at all times; we will have masks available for your use as well. Please feel welcome to contact us with questions or concerns.

Join us as we are gaderen: gathering again!

Click on the image above to buy tickets now!

Did you enjoy this post? Give us a “like” below, leave a comment, and/or share with friends!