The Arbor Consort will perform, in period costumes, a colorful array of pop hits of the 16th century in their original a cappella form, songs from Italy, Spain, France, and Germany, and the golden age of Elizabethan England. The songs will be about passion and praise, revelations and remorse, chickens and cuckoos, nightingales and poplar trees, ham and wine, love and capriciousness. Each song will be introduced with a short narrative describing the historical context, and what makes the song interesting and notable. At the end of the presentation, Consort members will answer questions about life during the renaissance, and describe their clothing: ruffs, partlets, doublets, farthingales, bum rolls, cauls, coifs, and all.  Please join us for a fun, musical afternoon of living history.

The Arbor Consort, established in 1982, is a semi-professional, nonprofit organization dedicated to recreating small ensemble performances of a cappella Renaissance and Victorian-era music as they were originally performed. The Arbor Consort is the official madrigal group of the Michigan Renaissance Festival.