| Bad News First… Exactly four days after our last newsletter was sent out on February 16th, Madeleine, who had already started sewing on six costumes for our next performance, fell on black ice, broke her wrist and had to have emergency surgery. However, between moments of excruciating pain, she was able to return to sewing and had two volunteers help her on a couple of costumes that needed immediate attention. Between all else in her life as well as countless sessions with her occupational therapist, we are happy to report that Madeleine has still been able to find time to finish working on all six costumes. Everyone is asking about the costumes! Below are sneak peeks of four small parts of the colorful and rather ornate costumes. The first image is of the cuff to Paul’s Baroque jacket, followed by Speare’s Medieval vest. Paul’s jacket is actually a woman’s jacket from a thrift store with added tail and cuffs and lots of gold trim, designed by Madeleine. Speare’s vest is also from a thrift store and made for a woman. The yellow sleeve shown here is actually a Star Trek shirt that Madeleine was also able to modify. Along with the cross pendant for Kim, the Renaissance “Juliet-jeweled” cap was a tedious task using small pieces to embellish a small pie-shaped hair piece that she had to construct from scratch. She also constructed a tall steeple hennin in spun gold fabric for Laura’s Medieval costume. (Incidentally, the photo of the Medieval gold hennin is pictured on top of Kim’s Renaissance costume.) Creating the costumes is great fun for Madeleine. She is currently finishing up two Medieval, two Rennaisance and two Baroque costumes and quite thankful that her wrist is almost back to normal. You can follow along with progress of each of the costumes by connecting with our official Facebook and Instagram pages on a regular basis for photos. You will find bios about each performer between now and the date of the concert and there will also be tiny rehearsal clips of some of the music we are working on, so listen out for some teasers!! |
| And Now for the GREAT News!! Tickets are now available for our Early Music Concert & Period Costume Fashion Show at Howland Cultural Center on Sunday, June 26th at 4:30pm! Come listen to the music, learn about the Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque eras and see the vibrant garments of the past. Tickets go fast at this wonderful venue so make sure you reserve your spot today! TICKET DIRECT LINK About the Performance… We are very pleased to announce that Howland Cultural Center board member, Tom Conroy will be our master of ceremonies for this special event. This concert is filled with some of the most beautiful music ever composed and will feature three accompanists who are each quite exceptional. Joining us are Richard Kolb on lute and theorbo, James Fitzwilliam on harpsichord and organ, as well as Holly Mentzer on Medieval harp, viola da gamba and recorder. We will have more vocalists for this concert than usual, so there will be plenty of solos, duets, quintets and even an octet, which will be a first for us as we continue to grow! This concert holds a good bit of complicated pieces that we are all very eager to share. Ranging from von Bingen to Dowland to Monteverdi to Bach, we will cover all emotions, tempos and volumes. And, if you particularly enjoy the likes of Monteverdi or Purcell, then this concert is definitely not one to be missed! |
| MORE EXCITING NEWS! What is the new Brasiles Arts Collective? The Brasiles Ensemble is also pleased to announce the new Brasiles Arts Collective. You can find out more about this new part of the Ensemble from the special tab recently added to our website. The Brasiles Arts Collective We will be adding more and more information about BAC in the coming weeks, so please follow the official Facebook page. Can you help us with our growth? In addition to creating The Brasiles Arts Collective, we have also started a volunteer group, Friends of The Brasiles Ensemble, to help us with our growth! On this new website tab, VOLUNTEER, you can find out what we sometimes need assistance with and easily print up a form with your contact information and checking off what areas you are interested in. We really appreciate your time and interest! We hope to see you at the concert! Here is just one of the beautiful pieces to hear us perform live! |
The Brasiles Ensemble 