This event will feature a discussion and musical performance of John Donne’s “A Nocturnall on S. Lucies Day”.
Hallie Fishel – Soprano
John Edwards – Lute
Ruby Joy – Reader
Abstract:
Lucy Russell, the Countess of Bedford, surrounded herself with artists working in the melancholy milieu; poets John Donne and Samuel Danyel and composer John Dowland all being recipients of her patronage. It has been suggested that Donne’s A nocturnall upon S. Lucies Day, Being the shortest day was penned while Lucy was very ill, so that he could have a carefully wrought tombeau ready if she did succumb. In a talk and performance we investigate the intersection of themes, emblems and ‘etiology’ of Donne’s poem, read in ‘original pronunciation’ by actress Ruby Joy, with songs and lute pieces from Lucy’s circle (Dowland, Samuel Danyel’s brother John and others), sung and played by The Musicians In Ordinary, Hallie Fishel and John Edwards.
The Musicians in Ordinary with special guest Ruby Joy:
Named after the singers and lutenists who performed in the most intimate quarters of the Stuart monarchs’ palace, The Musicians In Ordinary for the Lutes and Voices dedicate themselves to the performance of early solo song and vocal chamber music. Soprano Hallie Fishel and lutenistJohn Edwards have been described as ‘winning performers of winning music.’ A fixture on the Toronto early music scene for over 10 years, They have concertized across North America and lecture regularly at universities and museums. Institutions where MIO have performed range from the scholarly to those for a more general public and include the Shakespeare Society of America, the Renaissance Society of America, the Shakespeare Association of America, Grinnell College, the Universities of Alberta, Toronto and at California at San Diego, the Kingston Opera Guild, Syracuse, Trent and York Universities and the Bata Shoe Museum. They have been Ensemble in Residence at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania and at St. Michael’s College in the University of Toronto. Ruby Joy is a Canadian-American actress about to embark on her fifth season with the Stratford Festival. Since graduating from NYU Tisch School of Arts, she has performed in theatre, film and TV.
