Upcoming events

Forgotten Clefs is excited to present its 2023-2024 season! Visit the ensemble on YouTube for more of your favorite Renaissance tunes!

Surviving Inquisition
May
20

Surviving Inquisition

7:15pm | Pre-Concert Discussion with Renaissance music scholar Giovanni Zanovello and member of Forgotten Clefs, multi-instrumentalist C. Keith Collins

Exploring Spanish and Sephardic music over a 400-year span, Surviving Inquisition traces the journey of Sephardic Jews from the 13th century in Alfonso el Sabio’s Castile, through the early years of the Inquisition in late 15th century Catholic Spain, to Italy in the early 17th century, where many Jews lived following expulsion. Using European and Arabic instruments, Surviving Inquisition intertwines traditional Sephardic tunes with Catholic music from Medieval manuscripts; sets music of the likely converso Juan del Encina (1468-1530) alongside that of the Spanish Catholics Juan de Anchieta (1462-1523) and Christobal de Morales (1500-1553); and moves between secular Italian songs and sacred Hebrew psalms in music of the Jewish composer Salamone Rossi (1570-1630), living in diaspora in early 17th-century Mantua, Italy.

FAR Center for Contemporary Arts
505 W. 4th Street

Livestreamed at www.BLEMF.org

SPONSORED BY PAUL BORG

CO-SPONSORED BY THE LOU AND SYBIL MERVIS CHAIR IN THE STUDY OF JEWISH CULTURE, INDIANA UNIVERSITY

and THE PEARL SCHWARTZ PROGRAM IN JEWISH CULTURE AND THE ARTS FUND of the ROBERT A. AND SANDRA S. BORNS JEWISH STUDIES PROGRAM, INDIANA UNIVERSITY

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Ferrara’s Musical Feast
Feb
3

Ferrara’s Musical Feast


Welcome to Ferrara, where our musical feast is preceded by prayer and reflection from Corpus Domini and San Vito convents with music by nuns Leonora d’Este and Raffaela Aleotti. Shawm and sackbuts serve up the main course, celebrating 300 years of Estensi rule in the Duchy of Ferrara.

Nashville United Methodist Church, Nashville, Indiana | Free Event | $25 recommended donation

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Ferrara’s Musical Feast
Feb
3

Ferrara’s Musical Feast


Welcome to Ferrara, where our musical feast is preceded by prayer and reflection from Corpus Domini and San Vito convents with music by nuns Leonora d’Este and Raffaela Aleotti. Shawm and sackbuts serve up the main course, celebrating 300 years of Estensi rule in the Duchy of Ferrara.

Trinity Episcopal Church, Bloomington, Indiana | Free Event | $25 recommended donation

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Pipers of the Prophecy
Oct
29

Pipers of the Prophecy

Come enjoy Renaissance motets, chorales, and anthems based on texts from Isaiah, Luke, Matthew, and others as we look towards the Advent season. Composers such as Hassler, Morales, Aleotti, and Weelkes will help Forgotten Clefs tell the age-old story. You will be transported to an animal-crowded manger setting by crumhorns, shawms, and recorders in a suite of piva dances!


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The Very Last Castle
Oct
29

The Very Last Castle

Join Forgotten Clefs for a live performance of The Very Last Castle by Travis Jonker, told through music and dance. Highlighting the story’s themes of friendship, courage, and diversity, the Forgotten Clefs use Renaissance instruments like the sackbut, dulcian and crumhorns to bring the tale to life.

All ages are welcome | Free

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Pipers of the Prophecy
Oct
28

Pipers of the Prophecy

Come enjoy Renaissance motets, chorales, and anthems based on texts from Isaiah, Luke, Matthew, and others as we look towards the Advent season. Composers such as Hassler, Morales, Aleotti, and Weelkes will help Forgotten Clefs tell the age-old story. You will be transported to an animal-crowded manger setting by crumhorns, shawms, and recorders in a suite of piva dances!

Free Event | Recommended donation: $25

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The Very Last Castle
Oct
26

The Very Last Castle

Join Forgotten Clefs for a live performance of The Very Last Castle by Travis Jonker, told through music and dance. Highlighting the story’s themes of friendship, courage, and diversity, the Forgotten Clefs use Renaissance instruments like the sackbut, dulcian and crumhorns to bring the tale to life.

All ages are welcome · Registration is requested, walk-ups welcome as space allows.

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Sing Joyfully! A Celebration of William Byrd
Oct
8

Sing Joyfully! A Celebration of William Byrd

Join us as we team up with the Schola Cantorum of Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, PA for a celebration of the music of William Byrd!

Together we will perform motets and instrumental works by Byrd, in observance of the 400th anniversary of his death.

Free event.

More information here: http://bit.ly/3F88mzP

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Flourish Hoboys! Wind Music from Renaissance England | Zionsville, IN
Nov
20

Flourish Hoboys! Wind Music from Renaissance England | Zionsville, IN

Forgotten Clefs presents the soundscape of Renaissance England by exploring musical gems from the Tudor court and common street festivities. Sharing optimistic pipe & tabor tunes to rich, polyphonic sacred works, Forgotten Clefs hopes you will join them for a lively evening of historically informed performance!

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Flourish Hoboys! Wind Music from Renaissance England | Bloomington, IN
Nov
19

Flourish Hoboys! Wind Music from Renaissance England | Bloomington, IN

Forgotten Clefs presents the soundscape of Renaissance England by exploring musical gems from the Tudor court and common street festivities. Sharing optimistic pipe & tabor tunes to rich, polyphonic sacred works, Forgotten Clefs hopes you will join them for a lively evening of historically informed performance!

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The Very Last Castle
Aug
27

The Very Last Castle

Join Forgotten Clefs for a live performance of The Very Last Castle by Travis Jonker, told through music and dance. Highlighting the story’s themes of friendship, courage, and diversity, the Forgotten Clefs use Renaissance instruments like the sackbut, dulcian and crumhorns to bring the tale to life.

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The Very Last Castle - Monroe County Public Library
Feb
2

The Very Last Castle - Monroe County Public Library

Join Forgotten Clefs for a live performance of The Very Last Castle by Travis Jonker, told through music and dance. Highlighting the story’s themes of friendship, courage, and diversity, the Forgotten Clefs use Renaissance instruments like the sackbut, dulcian and crumhorns to bring the tale to life.

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The Very Last Castle - Brown County Public Library
Feb
2

The Very Last Castle - Brown County Public Library

Join Forgotten Clefs for a live performance of The Very Last Castle by Travis Jonker, told through music and dance. Highlighting the story’s themes of friendship, courage, and diversity, the Forgotten Clefs use Renaissance instruments like the sackbut, dulcian and crumhorns to bring the tale to life.

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Prophecy | Nativity
Dec
6

Prophecy | Nativity

The rollicking string Pifa in Handel's Messiah always kicks off the Christmas season for many of us. You'll hear instruments from the Renaissance including cornetto, sackbut, recorders, and shawms.

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BLEMF 2020
May
19

BLEMF 2020

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic BLEMF presented a virtual offering in lieu of its typical in-person events. Forgotten Clefs was featured with videos from past programming.

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Shawms and Stories 2020
Jan
21
to Jan 24

Shawms and Stories 2020

Shawms and Stories brings a 30 minute musical storytelling program for families to libraries, museums, and community centers. In the third season, Forgotten Clefs performers tell a story about travel, music, and teamwork with original music by Patrick Dittamo. We’ll sing songs and read the story, introducing unusual instruments (like sackbut, pipe and tabor, and lute).

  • Spencer Elementary School - Spencer, Indiana

  • Ellettsville YMCA - Ellettsville, Indiana

  • Brown County Head Start - Nashville, Indiana

  • McCormick’s Creek Elementary School - Spencer, Indiana

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Virginia Notes: 1619
Sep
14

Virginia Notes: 1619

Learn about the beginnings of the Virginia General Assembly and hear music of the English Renaissance on period instruments!

Lecture by Dr. Christine A. Anderson

Music of: Byrd, Dowland, Taverner, Tye, & Weelkes.

With Guests:

Michael Holmes – voice, recorders, sackbut

Sian Ricketts – voice, recorders, shawm, dulcian

Joel Kumro – organ

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Virginia Notes: 1619
Sep
13

Virginia Notes: 1619

Learn about the beginnings of the Virginia General Assembly and hear music of the English Renaissance on period instruments!

Lecture by Dr. Christine A. Anderson

Music of: Byrd, Dowland, Taverner, Tye, & Weelkes.

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The Days of the Knights
Jun
21

The Days of the Knights

Forgotten Clefs tells a tale of chivalry, love, and conflict in “The Days of the Knights.” Music from three centuries highlights events from a knight’s journey, where you’ll learn of battle, unrequited love, and victory! This program features instruments from thirteenth- through seventeenth-century Europe, including recorders, shawms, sackbut, harp, bagpipes, vielle, and percussion.

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