After a year of cancellations and postponements, Arizona Early Music Society is giving music fans a reason to celebrate this weekend when it hosts the Brooklyn early music group Alkemie in a streamed concert.
The event, though, is more of a celebration than a concert. In addition to Alkemie’s five musicians playing medieval instruments including a gothic harp, violin, recorder and percussion, the group is mixing in a little dancing for “Sweet Friendship: Courtly Songs & Dances,” a concert of 15th century French and Italian music.
The vocal and instrumental group, which was founded in 2013, will perform dance and vocal works from the 15th century French Loire Valley chansonniers, and new tunes by band member Niccolo Seligmann, who in addition to playing percussion and vieles is a composer and arranger.
The concert, which will begin streaming at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 21, on the AEMS site azearlymusic.org, will include choreography and vocals.
Alkemie was supposed to perform on Feb. 14. The rescheduled concert will be online through March 28.
Seligmann will share the stage with dancer and harpist/vocalist Tracy Cowart, dancer and lute player/vocalist Ben Matus, dancer and percussionist/vocalist Elena Mullins, vocalist and wind player Sian Ricketts, and dancer/vocalist Alyssa Weathersby.
Tickets are $15, $25 for a household at earlymusic.org.
Alkemie is the second concert for Arizona Early Music Society this year.
In January, it hosted a virtual concert with Tenet Vocal Artists of works composed by Italy’s first female composers. That concert, which is streaming on the AEMS website through April 20, is part of the 2021 Tucson Desert Song Festival.
