Alkemie Holiday Special!

Did you miss a concert (or several) last year? Want to give someone else a present that takes up no space but inspires both delight and thought? We're re-releasing all of our concert videos for a limited time this December!

Unlisted links will be sent by email upon purchase; videos will be available through January 31.

Mirroring the Other (preview): Alkemie looks at the Jewish experience in medieval Germany through newly-composed musical settings of Jewish texts and transcriptions of extant chant, monophonic & polyphonic works. Stories are drawn from Yiddish epic tales and the Codex Manesse, as well as secular songs, religious poems, liturgical texts, and contemporary chronicles. Delight in early Purimshpil and the onomatopoeic sounds of medieval life as well as the beauty of the earliest Jewish chants that survive in Western notation.

Florilegium (preview): Violets, grapes, roses, medicinal herbs, and Tolkien's "Simbelmynë" (or Evermind) all make an appearance in this concert of 16th-century music from England and France. (n.b. olfactory cards not included.)

Sweet Friendship (excerpt): Alkemie celebrates seven years of friendship with our most diverse program yet: dancing with choreographies old and new, rarely heard songs from the Loire Valley Chansonniers, and new tunes by band member Niccolo Seligmann.  ​

Love to my Liking (excerpt): Like the troubadours in the South, the trouvères of Northern France wrote some of the most captivating vocal music of the 13th century. Their songs of public and private adoration wove together allusions both sacred and secular – creating mystical and spicy meditations on love and longing.  For this program, Alkemie has also created choreographies based on contemporary sources, adding visual counterpoint to the bright melodies of vigorous popular tunes and courtly estampies.

Hildegard Refracted (excerpt): Experimental arrangements of the music of 12th-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen sung & played on old and new instruments - including medieval winds, synthesizers & electric harp. Pieces are juxtaposed with lighthearted video content created by the performers that explores Hildegard’s medical and mystical writings.

Like a Woman (preview): 15th-century French songs from the female poetic perspective. These pieces,  wrenchingly emotional and playful by turns, provide a counternarrative to the pedestals & pitfalls of courtly love . . . a paradigm with a legacy that complicates partnerships to this day.