2022-2023: A Year in Review from Liza Malamut

6/15/2023 - A Year in Review from Liza Malamut

I can’t believe our 36th season is over! It seems like only yesterday that I arrived in Chicago, even though the calendar tells me more than a year has gone by! During this time, The Newberry Consort presented four major programs: Madama Europa in the Gonzaga Court, featuring lush Italian music from sixteenth-century Mantua; an encore of A Mexican Christmas, guest directed by Artistic Director Emerita Ellen Hargis; Oracles, Prophets, and Dreams, with music by Orlande de Lassus and other composers; and Singen und Sagen: Music for Hope in a Time of War, a spectacular and heartfelt collaboration with the amazing vocalists of Bella Voce. 

In addition to that, we performed virtuosic music of the Seicento at the Chamber Music on the Fox Series in West Dundee, and this summer brings even more events: historical music from the Ottoman Court in a concert curated by Ronnie Malley at the Newberry Library, talking about all things sackbut at Chicago’s first ever women’s trombone retreat, and of course, an encore performance of the Juan de Lienas Vespers at the prestigious Boston Early Music Festival.

This season was truly a time of exciting transitions! We performed at nine venues in Chicagoland, five of which were brand new to the Consort. We welcomed three new Board members: John Winemiller, Chris Stavrou, and Linda Kronig. We welcomed Paulina Francisco, our fabulous general manager, to the Consort team. Our season-ender gala featured seven! sackbut players! including none other than the amazing Jürgen Krauss of the Great British Baking Show, who baked a cake for the occasion! We were honored to become the ensemble in residence at Roosevelt University, a partnership which will continue next season—look for our young artist mentees at future concerts!—and best of all, I was beyond excited to meet all of you, our audience! It was wonderful to connect with and speak with many of you during the pre-concert lectures, at the gala, and after the shows. I know there are still many of you I have yet to get to know, and I can’t wait to do so.

I hope you’ll stay tuned for our upcoming season announcement! We look forward to collaborations in Chicagoland and beyond, explorations of rarely-performed repertoire, community events, and even a bit of touring. Thank you for being with us for this musical adventure, and see you all soon!

Yours truly,

Liza Malamut