“Before Chamber Music” with COMTESSA – Sept 1

Before Chamber Music is all about the music that came before Haydn, Mozart, and the great string quartet writing that followed. COMTESSA is a Montreal-based ensemble performing music written before 1500. This is the music that goes with the Age of Chivalry – picture gothic cathedrals with soaring spires and menacing gargoyles, baronial castles and princely palaces surrounded by moats, and knights in shining armour to defend them. Now add the minstrels and story tellers who sang the heroes of the day into myth and legend. That’s COMTESSA, a modern-day troupe of minstrels rendering the music of medieval times into music for our time. Themes of unrequited love – pining for the unavailable, longing for the ideal, pleading devotion in exchange for just one kiss; tales of heroism – dragons to be slayed, maidens to be rescued – all grand gestures pressed into singular, highly individuated expressions. But, shared in the telling, a conversation erupts and yes! It’s chamber music before chamber music, complete with instruments like the vielle, lute, and organetto. These are the early ancestors of the violins, viols, and keyboards all central to the master works of later centuries and they are coming to Bloomfield! Join us! Experience it all. Live. In person. Free admission. Family friendly. Donations welcome. https://comtessa.ca