Bhakail Tavern 2025 – Baronial Bardic Competition
In the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), “bard” can mean a lot of things. Some bards are storytellers, others are poets, and I am a musician! In the 2025 Barony of Bhakail’s annual bardic championship competition, I performed two pieces.
My first piece is an arrangement I put together, inspired by Circa 1500’s recording, combining the 16th century tune “Westron Wynde” (better known as a cantus firmus) and a song from King Henry VIII’s songbook, which he simply titled “Hey Nony Nony Nony.” I accompany myself on lute.
My second piece is “Barbry Allen,” a ballad whose earliest record comes from 17th century broadside ballad collector, Samuel Pepys. In this performance, I use a later American melody, which I believe originates from somewhere around Kentucky.
Inspired by Circa 1500
Songs of the Wood – Song Cycle
James Devor composed “Songs of the Wood” for me and pianist Aaron Hungerford to perform. James and I collaborated frequently during our time at West Chester University, by which I mean, he enjoyed writing me vocal parts with wide ranges, huge leaps, and extended techniques, and I enjoyed telling him they wouldn’t sound as good as they looked on paper and then proving myself wrong. We had a lot of fun! This song cycle, recorded in late 2020, is the natural culmination of that artistic relationship.
Lieder Recordings
The COVID-19 pandemic cancelled my senior recital at West Chester University – thankfully, I had performed my junior the spring before! This set of three Lieder comes from my junior recital in 2019: “Liebst du om Schoenheit” (Mahler), “Lied der Suleika” (Shumann), and “Neue Liebe” (Mendelssohn). At this recital, I also performed “Deh vieni, non tardar” from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Eva Dell’Acqua’s “Villanelle,” and a set of three art songs by John Duke (“Good Morning, Midnight,” “The Bird,” and “I Carry Your Heart”). Christine McCloskey accompanied me on piano.
“Liebst du um Schoenheit” – Gustav Mahler
“Lied der Suleika” – Robert Schumann
“Neue Liebe” – Felix Mendelssohn
The Tender Land – Opera
In 2019, I played the principal role of Laurie in Aaron Copland’s opera The Tender Land at West Chester University. This show was a fun full-circle moment for me; the first piece by Copland I sang was “Stomp Your Foot” in 9th grade choir, and six years later, I got to perform it in a full production of The Tender Land. This was my last opera role at West Chester, and I had a wonderful time singing with Brenten Megee, who played Martin. This production was directed by Elizabeth Manus and conducted by Joseph Caminiti.
Bhakail Yule Revel XLV – Yule Singers
I direct and perform with the Yule Singers, a consort of vocalists and instrumentalists who play at Bhakail’s annual Yule Revel. The Yule Singers started when a handful of us decided it would be fun to sing historical music together at SCA events. We performed three times throughout the day at Bhakail’s Yule Revel, and after every performance, more musicians kept coming up to us and saying, “That looks fun! Can we play too?” Our original configuration was four singers and one recorder player; by the end of Yule, our numbers had risen to somewhere around 30 and included singers, recorder players, and percussionists!
Our repertoire runs the gamut of early music eras and genres, but at Yule XLV, we performed four 16th century carols: two from the Piae Cantiones (“Gaudete” and “In dulci jubilo”), “one from Spain “Riu Riu Chiu”, and “The Boar’s Head Carol.” That last one was only mostly historical; one of our members, Siobhan, wrote a filk verse about Bhakail’s beloved St. Salamandria and her miraculous endless bacon, and we just had to add it in!