A Worthy Mirror

screening party

Join members of Alkemie for the premiere screening of their new concert film, A Worthy Mirror. The screening will take place at “The Secret Loft” in Ridgewood, near the Halsey street subway stop (L). Exact address will be distributed to ticketholders ahead of the event.

A WORTHY MIRROR represents a time-traveling dialogue with the 12th-century trobairitz–the feminine counterpart of the poet-composers known as troubadours. Together with Forward Music Project, we are commissioning eleven female and non-binary composers to respond to and converse with the 36 extant trobairitz texts (of which we only have music for one). This body of lyric poetry represents a large group of historically female and anonymous femme voices in the literary tradition. Witty, ironic, heartbreaking, and erotic—these texts present a mirror to reflect upon what feels foreign about the past and what feels familiar, what is the role of gender and self in relationships, and how do we make space for the multiplicities of identity, both in the 12th century and today.

Love to My Liking

Berkeley Festival and Exhibition

In this Love to My Liking, Alkemie performs 13th-century trouvère songs, dances, and motets—the majority of which have never before been recorded, and several of which were transcribed by the ensemble from their original manuscripts. Continuing the tradition of the troubadours, 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, punctuated by repeating refrains that recur across songs and texts.