Madama Europa at the Gonzaga Court

Friday, October 28, 2022, 8:00pm | Nichols Concert Hall (Evanston)
Saturday, October 29, 2022, 8:00pm | Congregation Rodfei Zedek (South Side)
Sunday, October 30, 2022, 3:00pm | Ganz Hall, Roosevelt University (Downtown)
Pre-concert lectures begin one hour and 15 minutes before every performance.

Please review our Covid-19 policy.

Sparkling music for voices, strings, and brass centered around the famous Italian Jewish singer Madama Europa Rossi.

The Gonzaga Court in Mantua was home to many of the most renowned and diverse musicians in early modern Europe. There, the Rossi family formed a concerto of Jewish musicians who composed and performed for courtly occasions. Among them was Europa Rossi, a singer so celebrated for her talent that she became known as "Madama Europa" and was featured among the court's most famous artists, including the concerto delle donne, Mantua’s ensemble of professional women singers.

The Newberry Consort presents music by Mantuan court musicians, especially works that would have featured Madama Europa, her family’s concerto, and other famous women musicians who would have known them—including Lucia and Isabetta Pelizzari, players of the cornetto and trombone. The concerts will feature Erica Schuller as Madama Europa, as well as four spectacular vocal soloists and an ensemble of strings, harp, cornetto, trombone, guitar, theorbo, and harpsichord.