Do you like to sing? Do you also like Renaissance a cappella music? Then have we got the group for you!
WHERE – Dixboro United Methodist Church, 5221 Church Rd, Ann Arbor, MI
WHEN – Wednesday evenings from 7:30-9:30pm, March through mid-December
Potential members may attend up to two rehearsals before auditioning with our musical director, Sarah Jane Rau. You do not need to prepare a piece for the audition.
Performing
We perform in groups of four to eight members, typically with one person per voice part. Our members come from a large variety of musical backgrounds – some have never sung in a group before, while others have degrees in vocal performance. Don’t worry, we won’t rush anyone! New singers will always be doubled by a veteran member for their first performances, singing by themselves at the judgement of our musical director and their own comfort level. All voice parts are welcome!
While we sing at all kinds of events, we are perhaps best known for singing at the Michigan Renaissance Festival, where we perform all seven weekends as the fair’s official Madrigal group. Other venues you might find us at include libraries, schools, and local music events.
For our Victorian Caroling season, we perform at all sorts of events and venues! Some places you may have have seen us perform are downtown Ann Arbor and Detroit, Canterbury Village in Lake Orion, and with the Detroit Pistons at Little Cesar’s Arena, for whom we have also sung the National Anthem.
As we are a group of many singers, but small performances, not all members are required to be at any one gig. This is great if you have a busy work or social life, but are still looking for a fun creative outlet! Members are chosen for performances based on availability.
Music
Our Renaissance music is pre-1620, and our holiday repertoire is pre-20th century. We sing in English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, Latin, and Hebrew, but most songs are in English. Most songs are SATB, SSATB/SAATB, and the music is provided. Our repertoire for each season contains about 40 songs. New members are directed to a subset of 25 songs in that list, so they are not overwhelmed by this. When we perform, we are usually one-to-a-part.
Costumes
As you may have noticed from our pictures, we perform in historical clothing. For our Renaissance season, this means period clothing styles from western Europe. For our Victorian season, we dress in American and European styles from the 1840s-1860s. While we do ask members to provide their own costumes, we have an experienced costuming committee and a stock of costumes for new members to wear until they are able to costume themselves.
More information
You must be at least 18 years old to join The Arbor Consort.
We are an inclusive group, and are currently working on setting DEI guidelines for our organization, and already have specific measures in our by laws.
For questions about the organization, please contact president@thearborconsort.org
For questions about the music, rehearsals, or audition process, please contact director@thearborconsort.org
You can also fill out our New Member Form if you are interested in joining us!