7:30pm Friday, October 23, 2026
Second Stage | Amherst (194 2nd Street, Amherst, VA)
Mary Anne Ballard, viol, rebec   •. Mark Cudek, cittern, viol, crumhorn, recorder, whistle, Renaissance guitar, percussion
Larry Lipkis viol, recorder, crummhorn, gemshorn, recorder and whistle 
Ron McFarlane, lute. •  Mindy Rosenfeld, flutes, fifes, bagpipes 
Danielle Svonavec, guest artist soprano. •. Robert Aubry Davis, narrator
Our American ancestors brought a rich trove of music from their “old countries” to the shores of  the New World. These songs and dances were preserved in the oral traditions of Appalachia and French and Scottish Canada, as well as some original sources from the other side of the Atlantic. We add a rousing campaign tune from the library of Thomas Jefferson to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our Founding. With soprano, Danielle Svonavec and narration by Millenium of Music host, Robert Aubry Davis.
Founded in 1980 to perform the instrumental music of Shakespeare’s time, the Baltimore Consort has explored early English, Scottish, and French popular music, focusing on the relationship between folk and art song and dance. Their interest in early music of English/Scottish heritage has also led them to delve into the rich trove of traditional music preserved in North America. Recordings on the Dorian label have earned them recognition as Top Classical-Crossover Artist of the Year (Billboard), as well as rave reviews elsewhere. Besides touring in the U.S. and abroad, they often perform on such syndicated radio broadcasts as St. Paul Sunday, Performance Today, Harmonia and the CBC’s OnStage.
Robert Aubry Davis, narrator, television and radio personality, is a native Washingtonian and an active member of the area's cultural community.  Davis is the creator and host of "Millennium of Music," a program dedicated to music from the thousand years before Bach. The program, now in its 43rd season, is carried by more than 100 public radio stations nationwide, internationally, and on SiriusXM Satellite Radio. He has been host and moderator of WETA TV's Emmy Award-winning weekly arts discussion program, "Around Town," since its inception in 1986. Davis can also be heard on SiriusXM's classical music channel.  He is a regular lecturer at a variety of area seminars and performances and has written liner notes for a wide variety of classical and folk recordings. Robert has been awarded knighthoods by the Republic of France and the Kingdom of Belgium for service to the arts; and was named a Knight of the Order of the Lion by the Republic of Finland.
Mary Anne Ballard’s rewarding life in early music includes 45 years playing viols and rebec with the Baltimore Consort, researching many BC programs; playing and recording with Galileo’s Daughters, Brio, and the Oberlin Consort of Viols; serving as Music Director for the Play of Daniel at The Cloisters and Trinity Wall Street; and curating a program of Thomas Jefferson’s household music for the UVa/Monticello symposium, “Soundscapes of Jefferson’s America.” As a teacher, she directed or coached early music at the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Peabody Conservatory, and the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute (where, she taught a legendary beginning viol class for more than 35 summers).
Mark Cudek is the former Chair of the Historical Performance Department at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, and also Artistic Director of the Indianapolis Early Music Festival. In recognition of his work as Founder/Director of the Peabody Renaissance Ensemble and also the High School Early Music Program at the Interlochen Arts Camp, Mark received from Early Music America the 2001 Thomas Binkley Award and the 2005 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Early Music Education. He has toured and recorded with Apollo’s Fire and Hesperus, and, in his youth, worked as a café guitarist in the Virgin Islands. Mark is the 2014 recipient of the Johns Hopkins University Alumni Association’s Global Achievement Award and in 2018 was promoted to full Professor.
Larry Lipkis is Composer-in-Residence and Director of Early Music at Moravian University in Bethlehem, Pa, where he just celebrated the 50th anniversary of his founding of the Early Music program in 1976.  Larry is also a faculty member of the Amherst Early Music Festival, is a longtime music director for the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival and sits on the Board of Managers of the Bach Choir of Bethlehem.  In the summer of 2026, his recording entitled "Pierrot and Friends: Four Commedia Concerti" was released on the Naxos American Classics label.
Ronn McFarlane has released over 40 CDs on Dorian and Sono Luminus, including lute solo collections, lute songs, lute duets, music for flute & lute, viola da gamba & lute, the complete lute music of Vivaldi, and Baltimore Consort albums. In the tradition of the lutenist/composers of past centuries, Ronn has composed new music for the lute. These original compositions are the focus of his solo CD, Indigo Road, which received a Grammy Award Nomination. Other CD releases, One Morning, and Barley Moon, feature "Ayreheart," an ensemble brought together to perform Ronn's original music.  Ronn's most recent solo album, The Celtic Lute, features his arrangements of traditional Scottish and Irish music from the 17th and 18th centuries. Visit www.ronnmcfarlane.com.
Mindy Rosenfeld plays historic and modern flutes; recorders, whistles, crumhorns, bagpipe and early harp. A member of San Francisco's Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, as a guest artist Mindy has performed with American Bach Soloists, Musica Angelica, San Diego Bach Collegium, Catacoustic Consort, Apollo's Fire, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Oregon and Carmel Bach Festivals and Opera Lafayette, among others. With an MM from San Francisco Conservatory and a BM from the Peabody Conservatory, Mindy divides her time between performing, teaching, and a crazy amount of driving to and from her coastal Northern California home.
Danielle Svonavec, soprano, holds degrees in Mathematics and voice from the University of Notre Dame.  While still a student, she stepped in on short notice as soloist for the Baltimore Consort's nine-concert 1999 Christmas tour. Since then she has toured with the Consort and appeared with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, Pomerium, the South Bend Chamber Orchestra, and the South Bend Symphony. She currently serves as a Cantor at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame, and teaches choral music at the Bethany Christian School in Goshen, Indiana.
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