The Baltimore Consort is a musical ensemble that performs a wide variety of

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

Renaissance music Renaissance music is traditionally understood to cover European music of the 15th and 16th centuries, later than the Renaissance era as it is understood in other disciplines. Rather than starting from the early 14th-century ''ars nova'', the mus ...

and music from later periods. They began in 1980 as a group specializing in music of the

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

period, but soon expanded their repertoire to include

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

music,

broadside ballad A broadside (also known as a broadsheet) is a single sheet of inexpensive paper printed on one side, often with a ballad, rhyme, news and sometimes with woodcut illustrations. They were one of the most common forms of printed material between the ...

s, and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, French, and other European music of the 16th and 17th centuries. Their music bridges the genres of classical and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

History

The Baltimore Consort was founded by

Roger Harmon Roger Harmon is an American musicologist and lutenist who taught lute at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland. He is noted for founding the Baltimore Consort in 1980 with flutist Mindy Rosenfeld, which performed successfully for sever ...

and Mindy Rosenfeld in 1980. Harmon formerly had taught

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck (music), neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lu ...

at the

Peabody Conservatory The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University is a private music and dance conservatory and preparatory school in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1857, it became affiliated with Johns Hopkins in 1977. History Philanthropist and ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. They performed together for ten years before releasing their first album for Dorian Recordings, a collection of

Scottish music Scotland is internationally known for its traditional music, often known as Scottish folk music, which remained vibrant throughout the 20th century and into the 21st when many traditional forms worldwide lost popularity to pop music. Traditiona ...

called ''On the Banks of Helicon''. By the time of that recording the ensemble consisted of Custer LaRue (

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

Ronn McFarlane Ronn McFarlane (born 1953) is an American lutenist and composer, most notable as an interpreter of Renaissance music. He formerly taught lute at the Peabody Conservatory, and has recorded many albums as a solo performer and in collaboration with ...

(

), Mary Anne Ballard (

viol The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

), Larry Lipkis (bass viol, recorder),

Chris Norman Christopher Ward Norman (born 25 October 1950) is an English soft rock singer. Norman was the original lead singer of the English rock band Smokie (band), Smokie (1964–1986), which found success in Europe in the 1970s. "Stumblin' In", a 1978 ...

(

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, N ...

, bodhran), Howard Bass ( bandora), and Mark Cudek (

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

, bass

). Norman was replaced in 2003 by Mindy Rosenfeld, founding member of the original 1980 group whom he had replaced in 1987, and LaRue began an indefinite leave of absence in 2004, at which time

countertenor A countertenor (also contra tenor) is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of the female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice types, generally extending from around G3 to D5 or E5, although a sopranist (a ...

José Lemos began performing with the group, joined in 2005 by

Danielle Svonavec. The group has recorded some 15 albums for Dorian, including a Christmas album, ''Bright Day Star'', and a collection of bawdy songs with the ''a capella'' quartet called the Merry Companions, ''The Art of the Bawdy Song'' and a 2007 instrumental compilation, ''Gut, Wind and Wire''. Their various recordings also cover a number of the

Child ballads The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as ...

Discography

*''On The Banks of Helicon'' (1990) *''Watkins Ale'' (1990) *''La Rocque 'n' Roll'' (1993) *''The Art of the Bawdy Song'' (1993) *''Custer LaRue Sings 'The Daemon Lover' with The Baltimore Consort'' (1993) *''Bright Day Star'' (1994) *''A Trip to Killburn'' (1996) *''Tunes from the Attic'' (1997) *''The Ladyes Delight'' (1998) *''The Mad Buckgoat'' (1999) *''Shakespeare's Music'' (2001) *''Amazing Grace'' (2001) *''Adew Dundee'' (2003) *''The Best of the Baltimore Consort'' (2003) *''Gut, Wind and Wire; Instruments of the Baltimore Consort'' (2007) *''The Baltimore Consort Live in Concert'' (2008) *''Adio Espana: Romances, Villancicos, and Improvisations from Spain, circa 1550'' (2009) *''The Food of Love: Songs, Dances, and Fancies for Shakespeare'' (2019)

References

External links

The Baltimore Consort's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baltimore Consort, The Early music consorts Musical groups from Baltimore Musical groups established in 1980 1980 establishments in Maryland