Trobár's 2025-26 Season
Welcome to Trobár's 8th season! After having a sold-out show last year, we're excited to bring back Make We Joy, the perfect coda to your holiday season. In March, we will dive deep into an exceptional artifact - the richly decorated and expansive Songbook for a King. Our season closes with an exploration of The Lady of Medieval Song: who was she, and what did she have to say for herself?
​​New this season: Subscriptions! We hope that you will consider reserving your tickets for all three shows. It really helps us to know you'll be coming to our shows, and as a bonus we'll send you a copy of our recent album, Il Dit / Elle Dit, with every subscription. Keep it for your collection or pass it on to a friend to introduce them to Trobár!
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Subscriptions are $100, but you can still reserve individual tickets with pay-what-you-can pricing.
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Experience a medieval English Yuletide, complete with chant and carols, pub songs and dancing, games, readings, and of course wassail! Allison (strings, voice) and Elena (voice, harp) welcome their musical friends Debra Nagy (winds, voice), Sian Ricketts (winds, voice), and Allen Otte (percussion).​
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This time, we invite you to perform with us in the show! See the MuckAbouts page to learn how to get involved.
March 19, 2026 at 7pm
West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church
Trobár presents the story of a lavish thirteenth-century anthology of French music, known today as the “Manuscrit du Roi.” The diversity of its content makes it unique for its time, containing sacred and secular songs, vocal and instrumental pieces, works in three languages, and sixty-two miniature artworks. While much of its history remains murky, the manuscript itself gives clues as to why it was created and what it was originally intended to be, as well as what happened to it later.
Artistic Director Allison Monroe (vielle, rebec, psaltery, voice; Five College Early Music Program Director) is joined by founding member Karin Weston (voice, flute; Contre le Temps, Memor), as well as frequent guest artists Sian Ricketts (recorders, reeds, bagpipes, voice; Piffaro, Alkemie) and Nathan Dougherty (voice; University of Oklahoma). Enjoy the music and images from, and learn the history of, a songbook fit for a king!
May 22, 2026 at 7pm
West Shore Unitarian Universalist Church
Medieval Europe rang with the words “my lady,” “our lady,” “fair lady,” “beautiful lady” and so on, or so the songs would have us believe. But who was this lady, these ladies? In this program, songs in praise of the Virgin Mary, the archetype of a “woman” in the medieval period, are juxtaposed with songs of—and by—more earthly women. Though only one secular song from the entire period is directly attributed to a woman, a surprising diversity of women’s voices and experiences echo through the often-anonymous poetry and music in this rarely-performed repertoire.
Naomi McMahon (voice), Allen Otte (percussion), and acclaimed guest artist Scott Metcalfe (vielle, harp; Blue Heron) join Artistic Director Allison Monroe (voice, bowed strings, psaltery) for an exploration of medieval songs about the lady, to the lady, and by the lady.
