Circe's Consort - Marionas (Official LIVE Video) "Marionas" means "of the sea" is a tranquil, swaying theme in 3 time, like many "boat" songs. Clearly this is the sea on a calm day. About Circe's Consort: Circe's Consort explores the music of the 16th and 17th centuries focusing on baroque aesthetics and continuo accompaniment --or improvised harmony. In 1573, a group of humanists, the Florentine Camerata, broke away from the rules of Renaissance music. What they thought of as a return to the expressive classical Greek style of drama and musical performance instead created a revolution. This new approach led to the birth of opera and has impacted all Western music ever since. We wanted to create a bridge of music from their time to ours. By creating music across the centuries, we hope to offer listeners insight into their own profound humanity. And a different perspective on our own troubled and miraculous times. Which is why you will occasionally find us in masks, a nod to our plague and theirs. The core of the ensemble is Richard Spendio, baroque harps, and Annalisa Ewald, baroque guitar and theorbo. We play on reproductions of historical plucked string instruments which offer a distinctly different sound and aura than their modern counterparts. Singers and other instrumentalists join us according to each program, which gives the group great flexibility. We perform early music from Italy, Spain, France and the New World, then a hotbed of musical innovation. Our name refers to the sorceress from Greek mythology, Circe, whom we think of as a playful and powerful magician, also capable of turning men into pigs (see the Odyssey and what happens to Odysseus' men.) We would very much like to make magic ourselves. No pigs involved. About Annalisa Ewald: Annalisa Ewald, baroque guitarist and theorboist, was groomed for the concert stage by Segovia’s colleague, Sophocles Papas, in Washington, D.C., then studied classical guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory and Bard College (BA, Classical Guitar Performance). Her live solo album garnered the No. 8 spot on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart. She feels privileged to have been mentored for twenty years by the profound Patrick O’Brien, Juilliard Department Head and internationally recognized authority on early music. She recently launched Circe’s Consort, with harpist Richard Spendio,an ensemble exploring music of the 16th and 17th centuries. About Richard: Richard Spendio attended SUNY at Geneseo (music and theater history) and the University of Pisa, Italy(Renaissance Studies) as an undergraduate, and then continued graduate studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, in these disciplines as well as studying pedal harp. Moving to New York to continue harp study, he began performing professionally on pedal harp in 1976, as a musician In Off-Broadway theatre productions, and soon, in many other solo and group settings. By the early 1980’s he began a series of long term steady solo pedal harp engagements playing classical and popular music at prestigious venues : the Peninsula Hotel, the Terrace (Butler Hall), the Hilton(Short Hills) and frequently at the Plaza Hotel. Keeping a longtime an interest in early harps, he was a charter member of the Historical Harp Society at its founding (1984). Here, the friendships he developed with historical harp pioneers Judy Kadar (Berlin), Mara Galassi (Milan) and particularly Cheryl Ann Fulton(California) provided invaluable insights and exchanges for the methods of adapting and transforming modern harp techniques into ones suited to single and double row harps of the 16th and 17th centuries. While continuing to perform on the modern Pedal Harp, he has been avidly pursuing the Renaissance and Baroque instruments, and since 2015, has been a member of the New York Continuo Collective, where playing with lutes, theorbos, and baroque guitars provides a great opportunity for study and performance.

Circe's Consort - La Buelta and Folias (Official LIVE Video) La Buelta means "the turn" referring to the dance steps that went with its sprightly little melody. The bittersweet tune, Folias, was an international hit of the day referring to to the follies of love--with each country having its own version, of course. About Circe's Consort: Circe's Consort explores the music of the 16th and 17th centuries focusing on baroque aesthetics and continuo accompaniment --or improvised harmony. In 1573, a group of humanists, the Florentine Camerata, broke away from the rules of Renaissance music. What they thought of as a return to the expressive classical Greek style of drama and musical performance instead created a revolution. This new approach led to the birth of opera and has impacted all Western music ever since. We wanted to create a bridge of music from their time to ours. By creating music across the centuries, we hope to offer listeners insight into their own profound humanity. And a different perspective on our own troubled and miraculous times. Which is why you will occasionally find us in masks, a nod to our plague and theirs. The core of the ensemble is Richard Spendio, baroque harps, and Annalisa Ewald, baroque guitar and theorbo. We play on reproductions of historical plucked string instruments which offer a distinctly different sound and aura than their modern counterparts. Singers and other instrumentalists join us according to each program, which gives the group great flexibility. We perform early music from Italy, Spain, France and the New World, then a hotbed of musical innovation. Our name refers to the sorceress from Greek mythology, Circe, whom we think of as a playful and powerful magician, also capable of turning men into pigs (see the Odyssey and what happens to Odysseus' men.) We would very much like to make magic ourselves. No pigs involved. About Annalisa Ewald: Annalisa Ewald, baroque guitarist and theorboist, was groomed for the concert stage by Segovia’s colleague, Sophocles Papas, in Washington, D.C., then studied classical guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory and Bard College (BA, Classical Guitar Performance). Her live solo album garnered the No. 8 spot on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart. She feels privileged to have been mentored for twenty years by the profound Patrick O’Brien, Juilliard Department Head and internationally recognized authority on early music. She recently launched Circe’s Consort, with harpist Richard Spendio,an ensemble exploring music of the 16th and 17th centuries. About Richard: Richard Spendio attended SUNY at Geneseo (music and theater history) and the University of Pisa, Italy(Renaissance Studies) as an undergraduate, and then continued graduate studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, in these disciplines as well as studying pedal harp. Moving to New York to continue harp study, he began performing professionally on pedal harp in 1976, as a musician In Off-Broadway theatre productions, and soon, in many other solo and group settings. By the early 1980’s he began a series of long term steady solo pedal harp engagements playing classical and popular music at prestigious venues : the Peninsula Hotel, the Terrace (Butler Hall), the Hilton(Short Hills) and frequently at the Plaza Hotel. Keeping a longtime an interest in early harps, he was a charter member of the Historical Harp Society at its founding (1984). Here, the friendships he developed with historical harp pioneers Judy Kadar (Berlin), Mara Galassi (Milan) and particularly Cheryl Ann Fulton(California) provided invaluable insights and exchanges for the methods of adapting and transforming modern harp techniques into ones suited to single and double row harps of the 16th and 17th centuries. While continuing to perform on the modern Pedal Harp, he has been avidly pursuing the Renaissance and Baroque instruments, and since 2015, has been a member of the New York Continuo Collective, where playing with lutes, theorbos, and baroque guitars provides a great opportunity for study and performance.

Circe's Consort - Rujero and Paradetas This was a wildly popular theme with many versions based on the exploits of the perfect knight, Rujero, or Ruggiero, a ficitonal Saracen character madly and impossibly in love with a Christian lady, Bradamente, in Aristos's "Orlando Furioso." Written in a stately duple time it was often paired with the possibly sexier Paradetas in three, which contrasts nicely. About Circe's Consort: Circe's Consort explores the music of the 16th and 17th centuries focusing on baroque aesthetics and continuo accompaniment --or improvised harmony. In 1573, a group of humanists, the Florentine Camerata, broke away from the rules of Renaissance music. What they thought of as a return to the expressive classical Greek style of drama and musical performance instead created a revolution. This new approach led to the birth of opera and has impacted all Western music ever since. We wanted to create a bridge of music from their time to ours. By creating music across the centuries, we hope to offer listeners insight into their own profound humanity. And a different perspective on our own troubled and miraculous times. Which is why you will occasionally find us in masks, a nod to our plague and theirs. The core of the ensemble is Richard Spendio, baroque harps, and Annalisa Ewald, baroque guitar and theorbo. We play on reproductions of historical plucked string instruments which offer a distinctly different sound and aura than their modern counterparts. Singers and other instrumentalists join us according to each program, which gives the group great flexibility. We perform early music from Italy, Spain, France and the New World, then a hotbed of musical innovation. Our name refers to the sorceress from Greek mythology, Circe, whom we think of as a playful and powerful magician, also capable of turning men into pigs (see the Odyssey and what happens to Odysseus' men.) We would very much like to make magic ourselves. No pigs involved. About Annalisa Ewald: Annalisa Ewald, baroque guitarist and theorboist, was groomed for the concert stage by Segovia’s colleague, Sophocles Papas, in Washington, D.C., then studied classical guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory and Bard College (BA, Classical Guitar Performance). Her live solo album garnered the No. 8 spot on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart. She feels privileged to have been mentored for twenty years by the profound Patrick O’Brien, Juilliard Department Head and internationally recognized authority on early music. She recently launched Circe’s Consort, with harpist Richard Spendio,an ensemble exploring music of the 16th and 17th centuries. About Richard: Richard Spendio attended SUNY at Geneseo (music and theater history) and the University of Pisa, Italy(Renaissance Studies) as an undergraduate, and then continued graduate studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, in these disciplines as well as studying pedal harp. Moving to New York to continue harp study, he began performing professionally on pedal harp in 1976, as a musician In Off-Broadway theatre productions, and soon, in many other solo and group settings. By the early 1980’s he began a series of long term steady solo pedal harp engagements playing classical and popular music at prestigious venues : the Peninsula Hotel, the Terrace (Butler Hall), the Hilton(Short Hills) and frequently at the Plaza Hotel. Keeping a longtime an interest in early harps, he was a charter member of the Historical Harp Society at its founding (1984). Here, the friendships he developed with historical harp pioneers Judy Kadar (Berlin), Mara Galassi (Milan) and particularly Cheryl Ann Fulton(California) provided invaluable insights and exchanges for the methods of adapting and transforming modern harp techniques into ones suited to single and double row harps of the 16th and 17th centuries. While continuing to perform on the modern Pedal Harp, he has been avidly pursuing the Renaissance and Baroque instruments, and since 2015, has been a member of the New York Continuo Collective, where playing with lutes, theorbos, and baroque guitars provides a great opportunity for study and performance.

Circe's Consort - Españoleta (Official LIVE Video) A very famous characteristically Spanish melody and chord progression, likely conceived for guitar, since the chords and melody lie so very well on the fretboard, though Ribayez paired it with harp. About Circe's Consort: Circe's Consort explores the music of the 16th and 17th centuries focusing on baroque aesthetics and continuo accompaniment --or improvised harmony. In 1573, a group of humanists, the Florentine Camerata, broke away from the rules of Renaissance music. What they thought of as a return to the expressive classical Greek style of drama and musical performance instead created a revolution. This new approach led to the birth of opera and has impacted all Western music ever since. We wanted to create a bridge of music from their time to ours. By creating music across the centuries, we hope to offer listeners insight into their own profound humanity. And a different perspective on our own troubled and miraculous times. Which is why you will occasionally find us in masks, a nod to our plague and theirs. The core of the ensemble is Richard Spendio, baroque harps, and Annalisa Ewald, baroque guitar and theorbo. We play on reproductions of historical plucked string instruments which offer a distinctly different sound and aura than their modern counterparts. Singers and other instrumentalists join us according to each program, which gives the group great flexibility. We perform early music from Italy, Spain, France and the New World, then a hotbed of musical innovation. Our name refers to the sorceress from Greek mythology, Circe, whom we think of as a playful and powerful magician, also capable of turning men into pigs (see the Odyssey and what happens to Odysseus' men.) We would very much like to make magic ourselves. No pigs involved. About Annalisa Ewald: Annalisa Ewald, baroque guitarist and theorboist, was groomed for the concert stage by Segovia’s colleague, Sophocles Papas, in Washington, D.C., then studied classical guitar at the San Francisco Conservatory and Bard College (BA, Classical Guitar Performance). Her live solo album garnered the No. 8 spot on the Billboard Traditional Classical chart. She feels privileged to have been mentored for twenty years by the profound Patrick O’Brien, Juilliard Department Head and internationally recognized authority on early music. She recently launched Circe’s Consort, with harpist Richard Spendio,an ensemble exploring music of the 16th and 17th centuries. About Richard: Richard Spendio attended SUNY at Geneseo (music and theater history) and the University of Pisa, Italy(Renaissance Studies) as an undergraduate, and then continued graduate studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, in these disciplines as well as studying pedal harp. Moving to New York to continue harp study, he began performing professionally on pedal harp in 1976, as a musician In Off-Broadway theatre productions, and soon, in many other solo and group settings. By the early 1980’s he began a series of long term steady solo pedal harp engagements playing classical and popular music at prestigious venues : the Peninsula Hotel, the Terrace (Butler Hall), the Hilton(Short Hills) and frequently at the Plaza Hotel. Keeping a longtime an interest in early harps, he was a charter member of the Historical Harp Society at its founding (1984). Here, the friendships he developed with historical harp pioneers Judy Kadar (Berlin), Mara Galassi (Milan) and particularly Cheryl Ann Fulton(California) provided invaluable insights and exchanges for the methods of adapting and transforming modern harp techniques into ones suited to single and double row harps of the 16th and 17th centuries. While continuing to perform on the modern Pedal Harp, he has been avidly pursuing the Renaissance and Baroque instruments, and since 2015, has been a member of the New York Continuo Collective, where playing with lutes, theorbos, and baroque guitars provides a great opportunity for study and performance.

Videographer - Robert Leger Editor - Paul Falcone

Videographer - Robert Leger Editor - Paul Falcone