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Hurly Burly
Early Music Ensemble & Choir Previous Concerts & Projects
2010 Spring concert May 23rd: Mirth & Miracles, a re-visiting of an earlier idea of juxtaposing upbeat secular pieces with sacred songs & melodies
 2009 December Concerts: "Owt of Your Slepe Arise", were held at Trent University and St. John's Anglican Church. June 14 2009 saw another spring concert, "Ere summer comes or cuckoo-birds do sing", featuring music and readings from the time of Shakespeare. We also started recording tracks for our new CD over the summer (see above for more details). Dec. 14th, 2008 was our annual seasonal concert, "In Sweetest Harmony - a concert of medieval holiday music." We also gave a free, shortened version of the concert at Trent University in the Lady Eaton College dining hall on Dec. 4th, for anyone who couldn't make it to St. John's concert. We recorded roughly half of the tracks for our new, upcoming CD in 2008, and hope to have it completed by the end of 2009. June 20th, 2008: Hurly Burly's spring concert took place on a Friday at Sadlier House (George St.) this year. We had a chance to try out the acoustics in the former dining hall, and found working in the new space to be quite an enjoyable experience. We did a sneak preview of some of the songs that will be gracing our upcoming CD, mostly medieval pieces from the Carmina Burana and the Cantigas de Santa Maria. Spring/Summer 2008: We're working towards recording our second CD, which will be a collection of Medieval Cantigas de Santa Maria, songs from the Carmina Burana, and Medieval pilgrimage pieces. We'll be doing several recording sessions throughout the spring and summer, and will hopefully have the new CD available by our winter '08 concert, if not sooner.
Sunday, December 9th '07 was Hurly Burly's annual Christmas concert. This year our theme was Winter '07 - There's been a bit of a delay due to our members' various time constraints and the fact that, with a not-for-profit group, family and work always come first, but: Hurly Burly is still (finally!) planning the recording of our second CD! We're all very excited about getting a chance to record a second CD, since we feel we have grown so much as a group in the years since our first CD, and we're eager to reflect our long-standing love of music from the medieval period, especially around the time of the Cantigas de Santa Maria and the Carmina Burana, both of which will feature prominently on our next recording. Sunday, June 10th '07 was Hurly Burly's spring concert: Devotion, Debauchery and Delight: A concert of mostly 13th C. music as it would have been heard in courts, castles and taverns. We had a lot of fun with this one and we're pretty sure the audience did too! Our repertoire for this concert was largely drawn from the Carmina Burana and the Cantigas de Santa Maria (which we plan to visit again for our next CD), with a few other things thrown in for spice. We got to a new level with our instrumental arranging, which was great, and we're hoping the energy will continue through to the December concert. Sunday, December 10th '06, we had our annual seasonal concert at St. John's, "Hollis Berrie", for what might have been our biggest audience yet! This year we got to continue the momentum started by the annual local charity concert "In From the Cold", and were happy to see familiar faces from that concert at our own show. We were very pleased with the concert format this year, which began with a walk-in in full song, and included some wonderful period readings appropriate to the season. Friday May 26, '06, Hurly Burly put on its spring concert, "Musicke for a May's Eve". A mix of old and new, instruments and voices to welcome in the new season. From dances and songs, to trilling birds and bonny lasses, a fitting mix for the start of the year. We had fun with a lot of new repertoire, including several quite challenging pieces, the trickiest being a tongue-twisting quartet version of "Le Chant des Oiseaux". During the rest of the spring and summer we performed at a few other events, including a Shakespearian theatre production down in Toronto, for which we had fun learning a handful of Shakespearian-era tunes (a couple of which you can hear at this year's seasonal concert!) Tues. Jan. 31st '06 - Cindy, Ken, Roy and Tanah from Hurly Burly performed at Tim McGee's lecture, "The Romance of Medieval Music", in the LEC Dining Hall at Trent University in Peterborough. The talk was part of the Ashley Public Lecture Series "Music in Society". We learned more about the role of improvisation, variation and preludes in early music, and performed the entire set exclusively on "period" (replica) instruments - no modern flutes or harps subbing in this time around. Cindy's shining moment was singing a solo troubadour piece, "Reis Glorios", in her tenor voice! That's Hurly Burly singers for you, always versatile. All of the women in Hurly Burly have at some point sung soprano, alto and tenor parts. Sept.-Dec. '05 - The group was quite active througought the fall and winter of '05. We performed at the History Department get-together on Sept. 22 at Lady Eaton, and at the medieval evening over in Otonabee on Oct. 19th. We will also did a set for the Peterborough Historical Society Fundraiser on Nov. 25 at St. Paul's. Our seasonal concert, "One Thousand Years of Christmas" was held on Sunday, December 11th in our usual spot at St. John's Anglican (Guild Hall), and was a great success. August '05 - We had great fun this year with our spring concert (May 29th), "Bawdy & Soul - Romps & Revelations From the Middle Ages". It was possibly our most interestingly structured concert yet. The first half of the concert was sacred music, including a number of Cantigas de Santa Maria, and several pieces from the Crusades. The second half was dedicated to secular music, including songs from the original Carmina Burana (not the Carl Orff version). Interspersed throughout the music were period readings. We learned a lot of great new music for this concert, and got to showcase all our talented musicians with a number of solos, duets, trios and quartets. December '04 - Hurly Burly performed at several concerts to promote our new CD, "Syng We In This Hall". As usual there was a great turn-out, and we have to give thanks as always to all our friends and family who helped out and supported us through it all, and to all our fans who keep coming out to our performances, despite unfriendly weather and other obstacles. October '04 - Hurly Burly learned a lot about 15th Century music for our concerts in October. We were asked to perform at the annual meeting and dinner of the Richard III Society in Toronto, and happily agreed - only to find our repertoire was sadly lacking in music from the period. So, not being daunted by the sheer madness of learning a whole new repetoire in a few short months, the group dove head first into the 15th Century - a time when polyphony and counterpoint ruled! Never has learning music seemed so much like learning math! But we prevailed and soon began to enjoy our new pieces, which we played for the Richard III Society folks and then later at a free concert up at Trent University. Our favourite piece by far was the Agincourt Carol, which we will be revisiting in our December concerts. June '04 - Hurly Burly spent the spring and early summer working hard on our first proper CD, which we recorded at the farm of one of our members, Karina Bates. She graciously cleared out her great room for the recording, and we recorded the CD over a period of two days. It was strange singing mainly Christmas music in June, but the group was full of enthusiasm and the recording went well. While we lost our recently acquired tenor, David Gallop (who moved out West), we had Leigh back with us for the recording despite her busy schedule. October-December '03 - Hooray! The choir finally has a true tenor - another new member is now in our midst, David Gallop on voice and concertina. Although David will not be around for our spring concerts, he will be joining us for our seasonal concert and hopefully next fall ('04) as well. This brings the number of Hurly Burly members up to nine. Summer & Fall of '03 - Our theme this time around was "Animalia", fun period songs about animals (it's amazing how many of them there are!). We also gained a new member, Ken Field on recorders and voice. Roy was especially pleased to have another low voice on his part (Ken's also a bass). We performed at St. John's and Trent, and also for a group of children up at the Lakefield public library. That was especially fun, since we got our audience (parents and kids) up and dancing for the Horse's Bransle and Black Nag. December '02 - Hurly Burly's first public Christmas concert! Put on at our favourite new spot, St. John's Anglican Church. Festive early music in a wide range of styles, from the Middle Ages to the late Renaissance (with a few later pieces thrown in). We have since made this an annual event. We might at some point re-visit our practice of caroling on street corners, but for now we're pleased to be staying warm and cosy inside. November '02 - Hurly Burly re-visited the Llibre Vermell in a free performance up at Trent University, at Lady Eaton College. First time singing in a university lecture hall. Our audience mainly consisted of Trent students, some in a medieval studies course, with a few profs thrown in for that extra intimidation factor. We also sang at the Festival of Trees in Peterborough. Our first experience trying to compete with the noise of a big crowd. We learned a lot from this one! May '02 - Hurly Burly put on its first official concert open to the public, at St. John's Anglican in Peterborough. We performed the full set of the Llibre Vermell 14th C. pilgrimage pieces, using voice and instruments. It was a wonderful success in all ways - we had a great turnout, everyone had a good time, and the general public is now aware that there is an early music group in Peterborough. Before we had been kind of "under cover", playing mostly for SCA events, or singing seasonal carols. We have now exposed ourselves to the world! After this, we hope to do at least one major concert every year, as well as continuing to sing just for fun, and to do our annual seasonal carolling for charity. Charles Smith, who recorded our first CD (below) was there to record the concert as well. Thanks, Charles! March '02 - We finally finished recording our first Hurly Burly CD at the end of last year, working with SoundSmith studios in Trent River, ON. We wanted the recording to reflect all the different types of music we do, which includes straight instrumental, a capella songs, and pieces which incorporate both instruments and voices. (See below for info on our annual carolling for charity projects). Copies of the CD are available by request for a minimal fee to cover production costs. Earlier Years - When the choir first started out, we had an annual tradition of carolling for charity, often doing it busker-style in downtown Peterborough (out on the streets and in the local cafés), with all the change collected going to the charity of choice. In '02 we sang indoors at the Festival of Trees, and in 2001 we sang at Extendicare in Peterborough. Other charities include: The YWCA Womens' Shelter ("Crossroads" program), the Humane Society, the Salvation Army, and the Peterborough Housing Development Corporation (a non-profit organization that fixes up old houses and converts them into affordable housing). We might revive this tradition again at some point. We have also organized two early music colleges (workshop days) back when the choir was still affiliated with the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism). To learn more about our workshops, click on one of the following links: 1997 Early Music College / 1998 Music College
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