Medieval sounds come to life at June concert at Grey Towers in the Poconos

Tri-County Independent
·2 min read

MILFORD — Duo Custos and mezzo-soprano Tracy Cowart come to Upper Delaware River Region on Saturday, June 18, with a 5:30 p.m. concert at Grey Towers National Historical Site in Milford, Pike County. This performance, "Beasts of God and Man," will take place outdoors under a canopy.

The Real Donkey Serenade

Duo Custos features Christa Patton on Medieval woodwinds and bray harp, and Dongmyung Ahn on rebec and vielle, predecessors of modern string instruments, and this event will also include Tracy Cowart on vocals and other instruments. The name of the concert is no coincidence, for the music is all about animals: donkeys, pythons, panthers, and a host of winged creatures.

The composers of these songs lived in interesting times, which is not always a pleasant thing, concert organizers state. By the end of the 13th century, the Christian Crusaders who'd hoped to seize the Holy Land had failed, but those who did make it home alive brought back Middle Eastern melodies and rhythms whose influence you'll detect in some of Duo Custos' repertoire. Then, in 1346, an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague began its march through Europe, where it would end up killing 30 to 60 percent of the population.

Millions died, but music survived.

"That music was a smorgasbord of collected and reinvented folk songs and dances as well as Gregorian chant," explains Yosif Feigelson, artistic director of Kindred Spirits Arts Programs.

"It juxtaposes the sacred and the secular, the divine and the profane."

If you go

This is the first of four Kindred Spirits concerts under the open-air canopy at Grey Towers N.H.S.

Tickets: People can buy tickets ($25; parking is free) online through Eventbrite or in person at The Artisan Exchange, 219 Broad Street, Milford. Seating is limited.

For more information: Visit kindredspiritsarts.org, email kindredspir@yahoo.com, or call 570-409-1269 to learn more about supporting Kindred Spirits. Donations and volunteers are encouraged.

KSAP is a not-for-profit organization of volunteers that brings performing artists to northeast Pennsylvania. The organization also arranges educational enrichment workshops for high school students.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Medieval sounds come to life at June concert in the Poconos