by Mike Telin

When we think of the Medieval period, musical variety is usually not the first thing that comes to mind. But Allison Monroe and her Trobár Medieval colleagues would beg to differ with that sentiment. “There’s a lot of variety in the repertoire,” Monroe said during a recent interview.

“And the human aspect. We just performed a Troubadour program in Chicago which included Crusade songs, love songs, and pastorals. There’s just so much in the repertoire, and the more you dig into it the more you discover that people back then were just like us. And we’re still singing about the same things today.”

On Friday January 27 at 7:00 pm at  Convivium 33 Gallery, the Cleveland based Trobár Medieval will present “Daughters of Light,” which features the music and visions of two abbesses, the ninth-century Byzantine-Greek Kassia, and the twelfth-century German Hildegard von Bingen. In addition to Monroe (voice, vielle, rebec, psaltery), performers will include Elena Mullins (voice, harp, percussion), and Karin Weston (voice, flute, harp), with guest artists Rosemary Heredos and Nadia Tarnawsky.

The program will be repeated on Saturday the 28th at 7:00 pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Cleveland Hts. and on Sunday the 29th at 3:00 pm at St. Anselm Church in Chesterland. Performances are free, but donations are suggested. [Read more…]