Saturday, May 17th, 2014 at 8:00 pm - Cleveland, OH
A PILGRIMES SOLACE
An evening of Elizabethan lute song & poetry
in tribute to Edward Doughtie

Tregoning & Company
1300 West 78th Street in Cleveland, Ohio
in the Gordon Square Arts District
admission: $20 at the door


Internationally-renowned duo for voice and lute Mignarda returns to Cleveland for a special performance in tribute to the life's work of an important scholar.

Saturday, May 17th at 8pm, at the beautiful Tregoning & Co. Art Gallery, lute song duo Mignarda will present an evening of Elizabethan lute song and poetry in tribute to Edward Doughtie. The song texts are from the pens of important poets who lived in the age of Shakespeare; evocative poetry with a surprising emotional content set to music that ranges from compelling counterpoint to clever, sparkling and downright danceable.

The program will feature music from Mignarda's 2013 CD recording of John Dowland's last and best book of songs, published in 1612. To complement Dowland's highly sophisticated music, the program will also include settings of lute songs by his contemporaries Thomas Campion, John Danyel, and Robert Jones.

The concert is a tribute to Edward Doughtie (1935-2014), whose work in the field of the literary sources of English lute songs became a standard reference, and was the inspiration for many of Mignarda's poetically-themed programs. There will be a special introduction by Doughtie's colleague, Cleveland's own Dr. David Richardson, and the program will conclude with some new compositions for voice and lute including a modern lute song composed by Edward Doughtie.

Quotes from Audiences, Colleagues & Critics

"Congratulations on a really exquisite rendering of your selection from 'Pilgrimes Solace'! The lovely open quality of Donna's voice I find really endearing, and so suitable for giving us the 'inner passion' of these marvelous texts. And such intelligence shines behind every word."    - Anthony Rooley, Consort of Musicke

"I believe that you and Donna form the pre-eminent lute song duo of our time."

"I was transfixed by the clarity and musicality of the lute...and of course Donna's voice was absolutely beautiful. I can see why your CDs are being met with critical acclaim. I was enraptured."

"My other band crush this year is Mignarda. What can I say? Ron Andrico and Donna Stewart have captured my heart. The depth and emotion in their playing is nearly overwhelming. You need to hear this. It will change you... "

"Your concert was revelatory in several ways, especially as it challenged our ears and hearts to enter a realm difficult to access these days, where subtlety and elegance trump flash and flamboyance, and content, rather than effect, is primary."

"Your music was very moving as were the two of you interacting musically & otherwise. Entirely appropriate to the gentle nature of the music itself, but also a tribute to the wonderful sensitivity which you bring to it."

About Mignarda

Cleveland natives Donna Stewart & Ron Andrico, better known as Mignarda, are well-known to Cleveland audiences and one of the few professional lute song duos in the US. Dedicated to music of the 16th century, Mignarda's engaging approach has set a new standard for interpretation, authenticity and musicianship. Based in rural upstate NY, Mignarda performs throughout the US with an international audience for their ten critically-acclaimed recordings and a growing series of editions of historical music for voice and lute. Mignarda's CD, Divine Amarillis, received the 2009 JPF Best Classical Vocal Album Award, and the duo maintain an active schedule in touring, recording and teaching. In additon to live performances, their music has gained international exposure through radio and television broadcasts across the US.

Mignarda specialize in performing music that resides in the grey zone between folk and art music, with interpretations that follow the renaissance ideal of 'moving the passions' of the listener. They recently celebrated their 10-year anniversary with release of their 9th CD, music from John Dowland's A Pilgrimes Solace.

full bios
100-word bio, links, & high resolution photos

About Dr. David Richardson

Professor Richardson devoted much of his academic career to British Renaissance literature, with special attention to Edmund Spenser, biography, and rhetoric. He initiated and was Managing Editor of The Spenser Encyclopedia (1990) and edited four volumes of 16th-century British Nondramatic Literature (1993-96) for the Dictionary of Literary Biography.

From 1973 through 2002, Richardson served in the English Department at Cleveland State University, where he subscribed to the Irish proverb “Mol an óige agus tiocfaidh sí”, translated “Praise youthfulness and it will respond to you” or “Encourage young people and they will get there.”

After retiring from CSU, he helped develop academic programs for baccalaureate and graduate degrees from eight Ohio colleges and universities for site-bound students near Cleveland on the campus of Lorain County Community College (LCCC). He initiated Meeting Great Minds, a lecture series to bring stimulating minds to campus for close interaction with high-school and college students. From one such encounter, he initiated LCCC’s Fab Lab and the Fab Lab Network.

Richardson has now officially retired twice but continues consulting about Fab Labs. He also enjoys hosting play readings, listening to chamber music, reading historical anthropology, hunting, jogging, and following Voltaire’s advice about cultivating miniature tomatoes. Once, while his wife looked on with wild surmise, he swam with Hector’s dolphins in New Zealand.