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 info@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!