Ménestrel: The Nine Maidens

Enchanté Baroque is a mini-series within the Concerts Enchanté 2026-2027 concert season, curated by Suren Barry. Opening Enchanté Baroque and performing at Concerts Enchantés for the first time, Ménestrel is a Canadian early music ensemble co-founded by Janelle Lucyk and Kerry Bursey, mixing ancient repertoire with Canadian oral folk traditions. Janelle Lucyk is a singer and producer among an emerging generation of Canadian artists specializing in old music and historically informed performance, taking ideas from conception to the stage. Kerry Bursey is a tenor and plucked string instrumentalist whose voice is appreciated for its luminous quality and as a sought-after lutenist, is also invested in the rare practice of self-accompaniment, in early and folk music of northwestern traditions.  In this performance, Ménestrel will enchant you with songs of travel and adventure, English folk songs woven together with other lively early music, telling of heroines and heroes who cleverly escape danger and flee to the comfort of love. Through voices, a myriad of plucked strings, and some violin, Ménestrel performs old music in an intimate manner, with ayres and ballads recounting the transience of good fortune in the life of a voyager.

Music:

To be announced from stage. Songs by Purcell, Dowland, Gilles Binchois, Guillaume de Machaut