The Newberry Consort brings back new version of ‘A Mexican Christmas’ Dec. 4-6
This Christmas, The Newberry Consort will be presenting a new program of festive holiday music from Mexico, titled, “A Mexican Christmas,” on Dec. 4-6 at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Uptown, Northwestern University in Evanston, and at the Driehaus Museum in Gold Coast.
The concerts continue The Newberry Consort’s annual tradition of holiday music from Spanish-speaking regions across the world. “A Mexican Christmas” honors the start of this tradition in 2018, but with new music from the Mexican Baroque period, curated by Newberry Consort Artistic Director Liza Malamut in collaboration with musicologists Paul Feller-Simmons and Ireri Chavez-Bárcenas.
When the program was first presented in 2018, it featured music that was originally performed by convent choirs in Mexico between the 16th and 17th centuries, juxtaposed with joyous villancicos.
This year, the music will hail specifically from Puebla, Mexico, featuring lush sacred polyphonic music from the convent as well as the cathedral. A six-voice nun’s choir will sing the ethereal nativity music from the Puebla convent, and lower voices and instruments will join for the large-scale cathedral music. Instrumental music for chirimía (early oboe), recorder, bajón (early bassoon), sacabuches (sackbuts, or early trombones), vihuela, guitar, organ, and percussion will add to the festive atmosphere.
“For our 40th anniversary season, it seemed only appropriate to honor The Newberry Consort’s past. This year’s ‘Mexican Christmas’ show features music that will be both familiar and new to our audiences, celebrating what has become a favorite holiday tradition in Chicago,” Malamut said. “The concert will feature music with a tremendous variety of sounds, colors, and rhythms for voices and instruments by Gaspar Fernández, Juan de Baeza, Juan García de Céspedes, and many others.”
“I am delighted to be working with musicologists Paul Feller-Simmons and Ireri Chavez-Bárcenas, whose expertise in this repertoire helped shape our program,” Malamut said.
Vocalists Estelí Gomez, Salomé Sandovál, Lucía Mier y Teran Romero, Gabrielle Timofeeva López, and Victoria Marshall will sing the beautiful polyphony of the Puebla convent, joined by Newberry Consort fan favorites Matthew Dean and Eric Miranda for the large-scale cathedral music.
The singers will be joined by a Baroque band featuring Dušan Balarin and William Simms (guitars, vihuela, theorbo), Rachel Begley (bajón, recorders), Andrés Guzman and Liza Malamut (sackbuts), Anna Steinhoff (viola da gamba), Javier Saume Mazzei (percussion), Aki Nishiguchi (early winds), and Jacob Reed (chamber organ).
The concert also features a beautiful backdrop of historical imagery and bilingual translations by Newberry Consort projection artist and historian Shawn Keener. A pre-concert discussion panel will be led by Malamut, Feller-Simmons, and Chavez-Bárcenas.
“We know this music will delight audiences of all ages and offer them a beautiful way of celebrating the holiday season!,” Malamut said.
Performances will be held at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, 4220 N. Sheridan Ave. in Chicago; 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, at Galvin Hall at Northwestern University, 70 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston; and 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, at the Richard H. Driehaus Museum Murphy Auditorium, 50 E. Erie St., Chicago. There will be pre-concert talks at 6:45 p.m. Dec. 4, and 3:15 p.m. Dec. 5-6.
Tickets range from $70 for preferred seating, $45 for general admission, $25 for affordable access tickets, $10 for students with a valid student ID, and free for age 16 or younger.
To purchase tickets, visit newberryconsort.org.
The Newberry Consort brings together singers and instrumentalists of the highest caliber to create historically informed performances of music from the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Baroque, and beyond. By integrating historical performance and research with contemporary themes and multimedia, we inspire audiences, musicians, and scholars by providing a window into earlier times and diverse cultures. The Consort continues to uplift Chicago’s early music community through mentorships, teaching, and engagement of local artists.