CHICAGO, February 11, 2009- The Newberry Consort announced today that it is joining the Newberry Library's Center for Renaissance Studies as a partner in medieval and early renaissance education at the completion of its 2008-09 season on May 3, 2009. Housed within the Newberry Library as an independent non-profit organization, the Consort plans to continue its 27-year-old mission of bringing early music to life through historically informed performances.
"We are thrilled to have the renowned Newberry Consort partner with the Center for Renaissance Studies," said Carla Zecher, director of the center. "I am especially delighted as my own research specialty is early French literature and music, a passion that the Newberry Consort shares. I look forward to working with the Consort to draw together performance and scholarship into our programming."
The Newberry Library's Center for Renaissance Studies, supported in part by an international consortium of 47 universities, serves scholars and the public through the use of the Newberry Library's world-renowned collections in the late medieval and early modern periods.
"This partnership will enable the Consort and the Renaissance Center to create wonderfully engaging programs that will also educate and inspire a new generation of early music scholars and performers," said David Douglass, Newberry Consort Director and Musician-in-Residence at the Newberry Library.
The Consort will announce its 2009-10 schedule this summer. Future performances under consideration include: Beautiful Dreamer, Music From Lincoln's America (to be performed in conjunction with an Abraham Lincoln exhibit at the Library in the fall of 2009), and a program of the music of William Byrd (the Consort's second annual Howard Mayer Brown memorial program.)
The Consort continues its 2008-09 programming on February 19-22 with What a Difference a Day Makes: Venetian Music for Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. More information is available at www.newberry.org/consort.
ABOUT THE NEWBERRY CONSORT
The Newberry Consort, which will become an independent non-profit organization in 2010, has brought early music to scholars and the general public through performances, recordings, and related educational activities for nearly three decades. The Consort draws on the Newberry Library's holdings in the music of the thirteenth through twentieth centuries, using original sources and scholarly editions. The Consort is ensemble-in-residence at the Newberry Library, at the Northwestern University School of Music, the University of Chicago, and Saint Clement Church.
ABOUT THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY
The Newberry Library provides a home to a world-class collection of books, manuscripts, and maps, and also to a growing community of readers. Our collections, spanning many centuries, feature a wide range of materials, from illuminated medieval manuscripts to rich genealogical resources, and from early printed books to the personal papers of Midwest authors. The Newberry offers highly acclaimed programs for serious readers: fellowships for scholars, seminars for undergraduates, professional development activities for teachers, and a variety of adult education seminars, public lectures, and workshops. Visit us online at www.newberry.org or in person at 60 W. Walton St., Chicago, IL.