Christopher spoke with Columbus, Ohio music columnist Jim Fischer about our new concert, “Love is but a Jest,” which we’re performing this Friday for Early Music in Columbus. Check out Christopher’s interview here.

Lutenist Garald Farnham was interviewed by music critic Robert Plylar for The Observer newspapers in advance of our Chautauqua concert and master class to be given this month.

Click here to read Observer Today article

Please join us on Sunday, March 4 at 2pm, for “Love, Lust, Longing… Loss – an Elizabethan Romp” at the Bayport-Blue Point Public Library!

“Love, Lust, Longing… Loss” has proven popular with audiences of all kinds, from those who know every John Dowland song by heart to those who have yet to dip a toe into this amazing repertoire. You will come away with a sense of the richness and range of popular music during the Renaissance – from bawdy tales of soldiers and wenches to heartfelt love songs to tongue-in-cheek lovelorn laments and political satires. This performance will surprise lute song enthusiasts with fresh interpretations of more “well-traveled” songs, and delight them with rarely-performed gems.

We’ll be reprising the Good Pennyworths’ first concert program with soprano Laura Campbell, mezzo Kirsten Kane and tenor Timothy Joyce, with baritone Garald Farnham on lutes.  Details can be found on our Dates page and on the Library’s homepage.

For the New York City version of the concert, Garald worked with tenor Christopher Preston-Thompson and soprano Tiffany Bizup once again, joined by lovely mezzo Julia Mintzer.

This set of talents brought new musical opportunities to the repertoire. Remember in our Boston Early Music Festival post, we told you that Christopher had taken an interest in the early harp? Well, the NYC concert was his first public performance as a harpist! He wrote his own harp arrangement for his solo Veni, veni Emmanuel and added harp accompaniment to Garald’s lute for several other songs. Tiffany Bizup was inspired to break out her flute and added flute obbligato to Patapan and other carols. The fuller instrumental sound provided a lovely contrast to our usual a cappella and lute/vocal arrangements. We hope we can continue to spice up our performances with new instrumental additions from time to time.
continue reading "Recap: ‘A Pennyworth of Christmas’ in NYC, Dec. 17, 2011"

The Good Pennyworths will be performing “Songs from Shakespeare – True Love Never Did Run Smooth”

Friday June 17 at 1:30p
Old South Church, Gordon Chapel
645 Boylston St ◆ Boston, MA

As part of the Boston Early Music Fringe Festival!

For more info visit our Dates Page

Erika Lloyd, Soprano
Tiffany Bizup, Soprano II
Christopher Preston Thompson, Tenor
Garald Farnham, Baritone and Lute

More information about these performances on our Dates page ~ Hope you can join us!

Good Pennyworths Quartet

Catch us on the road June 19-27, 2010! We’ll be touring our most ambitious concert to date – “Songs From Shakespeare: True Love Never Did Run Smooth” – traveling from Western New York through Ohio to Michigan. (And yes, that’s the final title.)

Dates so far…

Sat, June 19 at 8 pm – Buffalo, NY (Ascension Church, 16 Linwood Ave.)
Sun, June 20 at 2:30 pm – Chautauqua, NY (Hurlbut Mem’l Church, Chautauqua Institute campus)
Mon, June 21 at 7:30 pm – Columbus, OH (Redeemer Lutheran Church, 1555 S. James Rd. off I-70)
Tue, June 22 – Detroit Area, MI
Wed, June 23 at 7 pm – Grand Rapids, MI (MAJIC Concert Series Fundraiser, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 250 Commerce Ave SW)
Thu, June 24 at 7 pm – Ann Arbor, MI (Ann Arbor Downtown Library, 343 S. Fifth Avenue)
Fri, June 25 at 7 pm – Toledo, OH (St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 428 N. Erie Street)
Sat, June 26 at 7:30 pm – Port Clinton, OH (Firelands Presbyterian Church, 2626 East Harbor Rd.)
Sun, June 27 at 3:30 pm – Cleveland, OH (Lute Society of America Concert Series, Harkness Chapel, Case Western Reserve U.)

Please join us if you live nearby. If you don’t, we’d love it if you would pass the word along to friends and family who do. Full concert details are posted on the “Dates” page of the site.

Rehearsals are going well for our new concert, and we’re thrilled to be working with director and Shakespeare Geek Extraordinaire Kate Harte-DeCoux on the staging. Kate did a phenomenal job of choosing the Shakespeare dialog for the show, which thematically connects one song to the next. Kate is the Artistic Director of Mortal Folly Theatre. We’re also thrilled to be working with tenor Christopher Preston Thompson, a talented singer/actor with Shakespeare credits in both opera and theater, who is starting to move into the Early Music genre. For more info on this concert, go to the “Dates” page.

Save the Date! We will be performing our new concert of songs from Shakespeare at 3:30pm, Saturday, March 27 at Advent Lutheran Church, 2504 Broadway at W93rd Street, Manhattan. Suggested donation – $20; $10 students and senior citizens. Keep your eyes on this space — we hope to announce an additional date soon.

William Shakespeare’s plays feature many songs; some he commissioned specially for his plays, others he “appropriated” from other sources and adapted the lyrics for dramatic purposes, and some were simply popular songs of the period which he included merely to cover costume changes or to please his audience. We’ve taken these songs, using the original tunes whenever possible, and woven them together using Shakespeare’s own words into a tale about fools, lovers and the ups and downs of these “giddy-paced times.” Stage Direction by Katherine Harte-DeCoux (Artistic Director, Mortal Folly Theatre). Featuring Garald Farnham, Erika Lloyd, Alane Marco and guest artist Christopher Preston Thompson.