Last updated: 6 hours ago
CANTIGA's unique and magical music has delighted visitors to Renaissance Festivals across North America for almost forty years. Cantiga plays timeless Celtic, medieval and world music with harp, flute, fiddle, viola da gamba, cello and lute.
The word CANTIGA means 'song' in the language of Alfonso the Wise, the 13th century Spanish "King of the Three Religions" whose royal court was a haven for Christian, Muslim, and Jewish musicians. Following in their tradition, the members of Cantiga have been dedicated to the inclusive spirit of musical improvisation which has flourished among musicians in cultural crossroads throughout history.
Harpist Martha Gay, fiddler Malcolm Smith and flute and recorder specialist Bob Bielefeld joined forces at the 1979 Texas Renaissance Festival to form Cantiga. Living and performing year round in the Renfaire circuit they became an extremely versatile celtic and renaissance band.
Houston-based cellist Max Dyer has played with Cantiga since 1991 and has been instrumental in the production of all the Cantiga recordings. Following Malcolm’s untimely death in 1996, Cantiga has been joined by a succession of fine musicians, each bringing their own special qualities to the band: fiddlers Thomas Nuendel, Mark Caudill, Michelle Levy and Ian Stewart, as well as Chilean multi-instrumentalist Charry Garcia, Alex Korolov (viola da gamba and lute) and New Orleans fiddler Dr Sick.
The word CANTIGA means 'song' in the language of Alfonso the Wise, the 13th century Spanish "King of the Three Religions" whose royal court was a haven for Christian, Muslim, and Jewish musicians. Following in their tradition, the members of Cantiga have been dedicated to the inclusive spirit of musical improvisation which has flourished among musicians in cultural crossroads throughout history.
Harpist Martha Gay, fiddler Malcolm Smith and flute and recorder specialist Bob Bielefeld joined forces at the 1979 Texas Renaissance Festival to form Cantiga. Living and performing year round in the Renfaire circuit they became an extremely versatile celtic and renaissance band.
Houston-based cellist Max Dyer has played with Cantiga since 1991 and has been instrumental in the production of all the Cantiga recordings. Following Malcolm’s untimely death in 1996, Cantiga has been joined by a succession of fine musicians, each bringing their own special qualities to the band: fiddlers Thomas Nuendel, Mark Caudill, Michelle Levy and Ian Stewart, as well as Chilean multi-instrumentalist Charry Garcia, Alex Korolov (viola da gamba and lute) and New Orleans fiddler Dr Sick.
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