What’s Your Sign?
Music of the Medieval Zodiac
It’s a tale as old as time - 2 lovers meet in secret in the dark of night, bathed in starlight — only to be interrupted by an astrologer who insists that they must consult w pith the stars before embarking upon their tryst…
…Is the moon in the sign of the Bull? In that case - a path to marriage may be advised! But if the moon is in Cancer, beware…it is a time for fighting and arguing!
This March, Alkemie will premiere a new program, curated by Tracy and Ellie, that explores German medieval music inspired by the Zodiac. Along with our dear friend and early-music luminary Shira Kammen, we will explore music from Oswald von Wolkenstein, Hugo de Montfort, the Glogauer Liederbuch, and Carmina Burana that grapples with the timeless question - are we in charge of our own fates, or do the stars control our destinies?
Join Alkemie to find out what activities might be safe for you to engage in on March 6 (when the moon will be in Libra). One German 15th-century treatise advises that this is a good time to travel from place to place, and especially to travel westward - we hope that your travels take you to the Jalopy Theatre (on March 6) and to the Rotunda at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville (on March 8).
New York PREMIERE
Time/Date: Friday, March 6 @ 7:30 pm (doors open at 7:00 pm)
Location: Jalopy Theatre, 315 Columbia St, Brooklyn, New York
Alkemie maintains a no-one-turned-away policy. Please contact info@alkemie.org if you need to arrange for reduced ticket pricing.
What’s Your Sign ON TOUR
Early Music Access Project (Tickets Free; Reservation Required)
Time/Date: Sunday, March 8 @ 8:00pm
Location: The Rotunda at The University of Virginia, Charlottesville VA
Collaborator - Shira Kammen
Multi-instrumentalist and occasional vocalist Shira Kammen has spent well over half her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. A member for many years of the early music Ensembles Alcatraz and Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings, she has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, the Boston Camerata, the Balkan group Kitka, the King’s Noyse, the Newberry and Folger Consorts, the Oregon, California and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals, and is the founder of Class V Music, an ensemble dedicated to providing music on river rafting trips. She has performed and taught in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Israel, Morocco, Latvia, Russia and Japan, and on the Colorado, Rogue, Green, Grande Ronde, East Carson and Klamath Rivers.
She has played on several television and movie soundtracks, including ‘O’, a modern high school-setting of Othello and ‘’The Nativity Story’, and has accompanied many diverse artists in recording projects, among them singers Azam Ali and Joanna Newsom. Some of her original music can be heard in an independent film about fans of the work of JRR Tolkien. The strangest place Shira has played is in the elephant pit of the Jerusalem Zoo. She has recently taken courses in Taiko drumming and voiceover acting.
ARTISTS
Tracy Cowart (voice, harps, percussion)
Shira Kammen (vielle)
Ben Matus (voice, recorders, medieval bagpipes, percussion)
David McCormick (vielle, rebec)
Sian Ricketts (voice, recorders, douçaines)
Niccolo Seligmann (vielles)
Ellie Sutherland (voice, percussion)