upcoming performances
Irish Session at Coopershill Pub (Peterborough, NH)
Enjoy good food, a great pint of Guinness, and a rollicking traditional Irish session led by members of ISHNA, including Dan Meyers, David McGrory, Ciarán Nagle, Tara Novak, and Björn Wennås.
ISHNA with the Tutti Music Collective (Boston)
Tutti Music Collective (TMC) presents its fall concert “A Celtic Celebration – exploring the rich tradition of Celtic music." The concert features Irish folk band Ishna and Tutti Music Collective’s orchestra and choir, under the direction of Elijah Langille, conductor. This program explores the rich tapestry of Celtic festivals, tracing their ancient Pagan roots and their evolution into Christian traditions, and blending choral music with traditional Irish and orchestra instruments. This unforgettable and collaborative evening performance offers Irish jigs, reels, ballads and storytelling, brought to life by three dedicated ensembles – a memorable evening that will transport you to the heart of Celtic culture.
The Genius of Josquin with the Tufts Early Music Ensemble (Boston)
EME explores Josquin’s secular songs and ingenious and beautiful mass movements based on them, as well as music of his contemporaries, including Mouton and Isaac. For violas da gamba, lute, sackbut, recorders, harp, flute, harpsichord, krummhorn, and voices. Jane Hershey, director, and Dan Meyers, special guest
Teaching at the Texas Toot (Palestine, TX)
Our classes include an array of introductory and technique classes, small, one-on-a-part ensembles and larger mixed vocal and instrumental groups. The size of the workshop enables us to create classes for all levels of students, from those of modest skills to advanced players and singers. In addition to classes, there will be a faculty concert, madrigal singing, refreshments, and more.
Resplendent Joy with the Folger Consort (Washington DC)
Continuing a beloved tradition for the winter holidays, Folger Consort celebrates with festive music from Spain and Portugal.
The performance will showcase the lush, many-voiced motets of 16th-century Portuguese composer Vicente Lusitano and lively 16th- and 17th-century villançicos (early Spanish Christmas carols). Plus, there will be holiday music by Lusitano’s contemporaries Cristobal de Morales and Adrian Willaert, along with songs celebrating the season with flashy dances and works for our ensemble that include lute, guitar, viols, winds, and voice.
An Irish Christmas with Ishna (Peterborough NH)
An Irish Christmas with Ishna isn’t just a concert: it is a celebration of the holiday spirit. Incorporating stories, ancient Irish ballads, Christmas standards, lively fiddling and award-winning step dancing, this show is sure to leave audience members with a most memorable Christmas experience. For Ishna, Christmas is about community and common connections, bringing young and old together at this special time of year. Come share in the holiday joy!
An Irish Christmas with Ishna (Canton MA)
An Irish Christmas with Ishna isn’t just a concert: it is a celebration of the holiday spirit. Incorporating stories, ancient Irish ballads, Christmas standards, lively fiddling and award-winning step dancing, this show is sure to leave audience members with a most memorable Christmas experience. For Ishna, Christmas is about community and common connections, bringing young and old together at this special time of year. Come share in the holiday joy!
"City of Fools" with the Boston Camerata (Boston)
City of Fools explores age-old themes of justice and corruption as told through ancient minstrel songs. Satirical works from medieval France, Provençe, and Germany provide a sharply-etched and astonishingly contemporary perspective on our own nation’s current travails. “Be prepared for a surprise or two along the way!” shares Camerata Artistic Director Anne Azéma. The concert will include songs of the great Provençal troubadour and satirist Peire Cardenal, as well as pungent excerpts from Carmina Burana and the Roman de Fauvel.
Zafarán at Blackstone River Theatre (Cumberland, RI)
Zafarán crosses time and boundaries, and incorporates musical traditions from around the Mediterranean, weaving together such diverse threads as Southern Italian chants, Sephardic love songs, Romani laments, and Turkish and Greek folk tunes. With driving rhythms, virtuosic improvisation, and the powerful voice of award-winning Italian singer Carmen Marsico, Zafarán bridges languages and cultures with their own eclectic blend of musical styles, combining deep traditions with original songs and ideas.
Wednesday Night English Country Dance (Arlington, MA)
Join some of New England’s best dance callers for a welcoming and fun evening of dancing—all dancers, from beginner to experienced, are welcome! Music provided by Dan Meyers (winds) and Catherine Miller and Marnen Laibow-Koser (fiddles).
Saravanda: Dances of New Spain with Ensemble Origo (Storrs, CT)
Though the sarabande and the chaconne were stylized sections of courtly suites by Baroque composers such as Scarlatti and Bach, their origins are far removed from any European court, stemming instead from New Spain. At least one surviving song — a villancico for Christmas — links it with enslaved Africans, suggesting that both populations were involved in the creation of the genre. This program, which is related to one Ensemble Origo presented in 2023, a dancer joins the ensemble’s instrumentalists to demonstrate both the seventeenth-century courtly dances in relation to early dances from New Spain. The program aims to bring what is known of the genres’ lost—or suppressed—histories to light, thus rethinking Eurocentric notions of these distinctive musical genres, their history, and their trajectory.