Now Booking for 2020 Nightmares and Nursery Rhymes 
The Shakespeare Band presents the spine-tingling stuff of the Bubonic plague in the 17th-century.  Shakespeare lived during the time of the Black Death and this had a profound effect on his plays and on the music of his time. We use authentic instruments, including the lute, hurdy gurdy, recorder and flute, and Renaissance guitar to play the music of 16th-century composers, including John Dowland, broadside ballads, and other tunes from the Renaissance. By combining our music with soliloquies delivered by our actress, you will be transported into an emotional portrait of Shakespeare’s time that is as potent now as it was then.  The ballad tunes in Shakespeare’s plays were well known to his audience and we are delighted to bring them to life once again. Join The Shakespeare Band as we explore both the lighter and the darker side of Renaissance music. ​

---

• Greensleeves: The Story of Anne Boleyne-through song and verse


• Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII and the mother of Elizabeth I. Henry's desire to divorce his first wife and marry Anne helped bring about the English Reformation. She was the first English queen to be publicly executed.
• Please Join us in the Chapel to hear intimate music and recitations of song, verse and letters directly related to Anne's life. 


• ​Jackie Stevens- soprano
• Suzanne Flemming Smith - actress
• Rodney Stucky - Lute and Renaissance guitar
• Tina Gutierrez - Lute and Renaissance guitar

---

Cincinnati Early Music

The Shakespeare Band - Music of the English Renaissance. Photo credit Brad Smith

Ladies of MacBeth- Plans and prophecies 

The Shakespeare Band explores the music of early Scotland through the context of the women's roles in Shakespeare's MacBeth.
This Hauntingly beautiful and and magical music combined with texts from the play, transport us to the inner-world of lady Macbeth and the witches . 
40- 60 minutes
Actor- Suzanne Fleming Smith 
Soprano -Jackie Stevens
lute and Renaissance Guitar- Rod Stucky
lute, Renaissance guitar and early flute- Tina Gutierrez
Hurdy Gurdy - Larry Brown   

---

---

• Sonnets and Love songs   - Elizabethian sonnets, love songs and lute music.

The shakespeare Band Trio performs Shakespeare music and Soliloquy Photo credit -Brad Smith

lute and Soliloquy - Tina Gutierrez and Suz Flemming Smith

​Their music and Soliloquy Program combines music that was likely used in Shakespeare's original productions with text from the corresponding scripts.  The program is an embodiment of early music research that identifies the songs Shakespeare alludes to in his plays; it is intended to be a small scale recreation of the multi-layered, sensual experience of Shakespeare’s original patrons. 
    When Shakespeare’s plays were realized on the Elizabethan stage, they were full of popular music of the day. Shakespeare used music to frame the emotion of a scene, to joke with the audience, and to imply meanings.  The original audiences at the Globe had an elevated experience: music, a powerfully evocative art form, was used in conjunction with Shakespeare’s sublime poetry.  A modern audience misses much in the omission of this musical dimension.
   Through lute and soliloquy, the audience is transported into an emotional portrait of Shakespeare’s time that is as potent now as it was then.  Music, a universal language, opens a doorway to a rediscovery of Shakespeare’s poetry.
​

​
The Shakespeare duo 

Specializes is The music of Shakespeare's time and takes the audience on a journey of lutes songs and Lute solos by John Dowland and original tunes referenced in Shakespearean plays as well as music popular during the English Renaissance.  The duo features voice and  lute,  a combo that was commonly employed in 16th and 17th century England. This is an authentic, delightful doorway into the sounds native to Shakespeare as he wrote his famous works. additional  Based in Cincinnati, we are happy to travel to your area. 

Current programs include:
 
English Renaissance Love Songs
​
Music of John Dowland and  his contemporaries. 

French Love songs of the Renaissance and early Baroque
French lo

---

Our Program Offerings may be adjusted in length and number of players depending on needs and budget. Please don't hesitate to contact us and see what works.

​Solo Lute- Tina Gutierrez performs music from the renaissance to early Baroque on Lute

---

Renaissance Music Programs