Lutefest 2023 – Monday Schedule

3:20–5:00PM

Bor Zuljan

Wire Connection—Wire-Strung Instruments From the Lute Family

Wire-strung plucked-string instruments were widely used since the middle ages. Hardly heard today (with some exceptions), they come in a surprisingly wide variety of shapes, tunings and sizes. This class will present a survey of these instruments, their music and the playing techniques, with an emphasis around the year 1600. Aiming to awake some more interest in some of these forgotten animals it will end in an open discussion to share precious personal practical experience from which we can all learn and progress.

3:20–5:00PM (II)

Elizabeth Kenny

John Wilson: a Man with Something to Hide? Wilson’s Manuscript and Mid-17th Century Song in England

In this class we will take a look at the life of John Wilson, and explore the lute book which he left at the Bodleian Library in Oxford on condition that nobody look at it until after his death. We’ll explore whether tablature has something to offer continuo players then and now, and whether the tablature conceals a richer harmonic palette than the often associated with the music of Wilson, Lawes and Lanier.

7:30PM

Nigel North

Concert