The Hawaii Concert Society’s next presentation features music written three to five centuries ago, performed by a trio whose unusual name evokes the elements that bring to life the ancient instruments that they play.
Gut, Wind, and Wire — so named for those elements: gut strings, human breath (wind) and wire strings — will perform a concert of European Renaissance music, on Tuesday, Jan. 28.
The concert will begin at 7 p.m. at the UH-Hilo Performing Arts Center.
The trio consists of Mark Cudek (who will play the bass viol, cittern and percussion), Mindy Rosenfeld (flutes, fifes and bagpipes), and Ronn McFarlane (lute).
All are longtime members of the famed Baltimore Consort early music ensemble. Their Hilo concert, entitled “Ancient Airs and Dances” will include rousing and lyrical Italian, French, German, English and Celtic pieces from the 16th to 18th centuries, as well as some original compositions.
Critics have consistently praised them for their “artful arrangements, and an expert, entertaining playing style that has pleased audiences for more than a quarter-century.”
Two of the musicians had somewhat rocky beginnings on the way to becoming experts on their instruments.
Lutenist and Grammy nominee McFarlane said, “I was surprised to discover how awkward the lute was to hold and how disappointing and difficult it was to try to play. It was very frustrating. But I found a way to buy one and worked with it, and gradually it became comfortable, to the point where it became like an extension of my body.”
As for Rosenfeld — “after getting absolutely no sound out of a flute for two weeks and throwing it under a chair in disgust and despair” — she persevered, and eventually graduated as Valedictorian of her class at the Peabody Conservatory of Music.
Composers from the 16th and 17th centuries featured in the Hilo concert include John Playford and John Dowland (England), Jean Baptiste Besard (France), Simone Molinaro (Italy) and Michael Praetorius (Germany).
Tickets for the Jan. 28 concert ($25 general/$20 seniors/$10 students) are available at the Most Irresistible Shop, Basically Books and the theater’s box office. Remaining tickets will be sold at the door from 6:15 p.m.