Claron & Friends

PLEASE TAKE NOTE: This concert will take place in de Uilenburgersjoel - Nieuwe Uilenburgerstraat 91

Claron McFadden invites three talented young women to travel back in time to the Court of Alfonso di Ferrara. 'Together' with Luzzasco Luzzaschi (1545-1610) they pay homage to a special group of women, the Concerto delle Donne.

The Concerto delle Donne (lit. 'consort of Women) was a group of professional female singers in the late Italian Renaissance, primarily in the court of Ferrara, Italy. The ensemble was founded by Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, in 1580 and was active until the court was dissolved in 1597.

The origins of the ensemble lay in an amateur group of high-placed courtiers who performed for each other within the context of the Duke's informal musica secreta (lit. 'secret music'), a regular series of private chamber musicconcerts in the 1570s.

This amateur ensemble evolved into an all-female group of professional musicians, whose musical duties also included performing with the balletto delle donne, a group of female dancers who frequently crossdressed.
Their signature style of florid, highly ornamented singing inspired composers of the time, including Luzzasco Luzzaschi, who wrote an entire book of madrigals for them.

The Concerto delle Donne ( sometimes referred to as the Three Ladies of Ferrara) revolutionized the role of women in professional music.
Women were openly brought to court to train as professional musicians, and by 1600, a woman could have a viable career as a musician, independent of her husband or father.
New women's ensembles inspired by the concerto delle donne resulted in more positions for women as professional singers and more music for them to perform.

Luzzasco Luzzaschi (1545-1610)
Book of Madrigals for One, Two and Three Sopranos (1601), dedicated to the Concerto delle Donne

Claron McFadden - Soprano
Gaia Szames - Soprano
Liga Zirina - Soprano
Isabel Negrin Lopez - Virginal

Member concert
Splendor can only be the independent and free hub that it is, thanks to the members who support us. We pay them back with our specialty: music. Every year, all Splendor musicians play one concert that's free for this crucial group to whom Splendor owes its everyday existence. Combined with many other events, this means that our members have free entrance to about 80 concerts a year for €9,99 p/m (and €4,99 p/m for minima and students!) – and receive a discount for all other concerts. Pretty good deal, right?

The members enable Splendor to remain independent, which is the only way to secure real freedom in programming, experimentation, risk-taking and the promotion of young, upcoming artists. If you can think of another place without a central programming, where last-minute concerts can be planned any moment, where there is no backstage and artists and audience are constantly mingling and hanging out at the bar, where mysterious creative outbursts can be presented that are often labeled 'too risky' elsewhere, and that still guarantees high quality by unleashing the best of The Netherlands' music scene in this creative playground – you get a free membership!

Would you rather just visit this concert without becoming a member? Feel free to buy a ticket below, you're more than welcome!

PLEASE TAKE NOTE: This concert will take place in de Uilenburgersjoel - Nieuwe Uilenburgerstraat 91