Houston Early Music

presenting the world's finest period ensembles and soloists … bringing to life music from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance to the Baroque and Classical periods. Experience with us early music played on original instruments, by musicians reviving
performances of the past.

Please see our web site for
all information on our next concert,
including program notes and selections

Fortune's Wheel

4:00 PM, Sun., Jan.13, 2008
Trinity Episcopal Church
1015 Holman (at Main) [map]
Pre-concert lecture, 3:00 PM
Tickets: 713-432-1744

MIRIE IT IS – A Musical Glimpse of Medieval England

The medieval English music that has survived has aged well. The passionate outcries, joyous celebrations, moving religious dialogues and earthy love songs seem timeless when performed by ensemble members Robert Mealy, Shira Kammen, Lydia Knutson and Aaron Sheehan. With the infectious danceable tunes and some rarely heard polyphony, it's a delightful evening of "joye and blisse!"

"Scholarly, playful...This is a group to watch!"
The Boston Globe

• See Program Notes
• See Program Selections
• See review

Noted for performing "with a wonderful air of spontaneity and freedom" (The San Diego Reader), Fortune's Wheel will present a concert of most of the surviving vernacular treasures from the once vast, now largely lost repertoire of the English Middle Ages.

Fortune's Wheel is a spirited collaboration of four distinguished early-music performers—vocalists Lydia Heather Knutson and Aaron Sheehan, and instrumentalists Shira Kammen & Robert Mealy performing on vielle (medieval fiddle) and harp. Devoted to rediscovering the riches of medieval musical traditions, the ensemble made its debut at the 1996 International Festival of Early Music in Mexico City, where critics acclaimed the group's "style, diction, tuning, perfect balance, and total engagement with the music." Since then, the ensemble has been presented by early music concert series in San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, Tijuana, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Houston, Jackson, Tucson, Columbus, Cambridge, and Duke University. They have also appeared at the Boston Early Music Festival, the Berkeley Early Music Festival, the Amherst Early Music Festival, The Cloisters and the Frick Collection in New York City, Yale University's Collection of Musical Instruments, and many other series.

Fortune's Wheel released its first CD, Pastourelle, on Dorian Recordings. Website www.fortuneswheel.org

Prior to the concert, at 3:00 pm, ensemble member Robert Mealy will give a preconcert talk discussing the music to be performed on the program.

Tickets are $30 for general admission, $25 for seniors, $10 for students, under 15 free.

Tickets may be purchased at the door or by calling 713-432-1744.