Stary Olsa - A Remarkable Musical Group from Belarus

Yesterday, on the way to and from Renaissance Festival, we popped in a CD to listen to instead of my usual Sirius XM satellite radio. DH chose a CD that he had purchased at the Fest over Labor Day by an unusual and very talented group of young musicians from Belarus who go by the name of Stary Olsa (here's a link to their website). They perform on authentically reproduced medieval instruments, have been performing and touring for many years, and had some extraordinary music. We were lucky enough to catch them in performance over the Labor Day weekend at the Fest and they were wonderful.

Although they do modern covers, I really prefer their Medieval music. Their
instrumentation is authentic, their energy is excellent and their talent
is exceptional. They came to the US because of a very successful
Kickstarter campaign. 

So we plugged in the CD, their 2009 issue called "Drygula" featuring music from the 14th-17th centuries, and enjoyed the music to and from Fest. Being curious, I looked up their website when I returned home and on one of their pages it announced that they had been asked to return to Minnesota Renaissance Festival for our final weekend, October 1 and 2. Huzzah!

I'm hoping they have this CD available for sale. "The Best" was
the album they issued for their 10th anniversary and it looks
like a very good compilation of Medieval music. 

The group said that they had to cancel a couple of concerts scheduled for the SE (so sorry, Portsmouth, Virginia; Knoxville, Tennessee; and Cullman, Alabama), but they couldn't turn down an opportunity like this. So we'll have the chance to see them again when we're there on closing day of the Fest, this coming Sunday. I can hardly wait! I'll raid my cash jar - I want more of their CD's and I'll probably sit in on more than one of their performances. After Fest they'll only have two dates in the US left - Austin, Texas, and the Texas Renaissance Festival. Then it's back to Belarus.

Santa Maria is comprised of Baroque music from the 1200's through the
early 1600's, focusing on lute pieces. Many of these pieces were meant
to be played at monasteries and other religious venues, and some were
composed by the best lutenists of their time. (I've written about Maglor
being a lutenist in the past at Henry VIII's court. Maybe, when in other
incarnations of his immortal life, he composed some of these pieces?) 

In other news - DH and my football teams both won their games yesterday, so each of our teams are currently 3-0. Hurrah! I'm sure that won't last, but it's nice. Also, Chickie is on the plane returning to the USA. She'll be back tonight so today is my final day of cat care. I couldn't be happier. Wearing a mask has been helpful, so thanks to those of you who suggested it. I'll be delighted to not have any more kitty care this year! Happy Monday to all, I'm off to the pool and my Chiropractor appointment.