The Waverly Consort, one of America’s premier early music ensembles, will be in Milwaukee to perform The Christmas Story, a holiday celebration of Medieval drama and song. Each holiday season, the consort’s 13 players and singers tour this program of solemn and festive music dramatizing the biblical narrative as conveyed in manuscripts and illuminated miniatures from the Middle Ages. Since its premiere at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1980, this seasonal offering has become a favorite of audiences throughout North America.
Founded in 1964 to explore the sounds and styles of early musical repertories, the Waverly Consort has created a worldwide audience. In addition to annual tours of North America, the ensemble has appeared around the globe, performing at international festivals including the Casals Festival, the Hong Kong Festival, the Madeira Bach Festival and the Caramoor Festival. In its home city of New York, the group has performed myriad times at Lincoln Center, in addition to offering concert series at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and The Cloisters.
The ensemble has been featured on “CBS Sunday Morning” and NPR’s “Performance Today.” Its numerous recordings include the best-selling A Renaissance Christmas Celebration with the Waverly Consort and 1492: Music from the Age of Discovery , commemorating the Columbian Quincentenary and listed on Billboard’s classical chart of bestsellers for 17 weeks.
The Christmas Story runs approximately 75 minutes, without intermission. There is no pre-concert lecture or reception. Arrive early to read the extensive program notes.
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Performances are Saturday, Dec. 7, 5 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 8, 3 p.m. at St. Joseph Center Chapel, 1501 S. Layton Boulevard (S. 27th Street). For tickets, contact Early Music Now at 414-225-3113, 877-546-8742 or info@earlymusicnow.org.
