Ciaramella Index

Ciaramella takes its name from the Italian word for “shawm” and from a girl of fifteenth-century song. Like the instrument, her clothes are full of holes, and when she opens her mouth, she knocks men flat. The ensemble brings late medieval and early Renaissance music from historical events and manuscripts to life, performing intricate fifteenth century counterpoint “with the ease of jazz musicians improvising on a theme (The Plain Dealer). Ciaramella began in the ruins of a crusader castle in Israel with a staged commedia dell’ arte production, and has participated in a reconstruction of the baptism of Emperor Charles V with Capilla Flamenca in Ghent’s St. Bravo Cathedral (2000). In December 2003 the group traveled to Spoleto, Italy, and collaborated with musicologist Gioia Filocamo to perform music from the manuscript Panciatichi 27, much of which has not been heard for centuries. In March 2004, the group performed in a staged production of the first Hebrew play A Comedy of Betrothal by Leone de’Sommi (c.1550) at the Cleveland Museum of Art, under the direction of Anna Levenstein. Ciaramella appeared at the Bloomington Early Music Festival, Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute, the Lute Society of America Convention in Cleveland, and at the American Musicological Society Meeting in Seattle. Ciaramella was a finalist in the 2003 Flanders Festival International Young Artist’s Presentation and in the 2004 Medieval/Renaissance Early Music America competition in New York. As first runner-up in the 2003 Early Music America competition, Ciaramella recorded its début CD “Wär ich ein Falk” on the Naxos label in June 2004. Ciaramella’s members combine performing careers with historical research as doctoral students and professional musicologists.

Ciaramella takes its name from the Italian word for “shawm” and from a girl of fifteenth-century song. Like the instrument, her clothes are full of holes, and when she opens her mouth, she knocks men flat. The ensemble brings late medieval and early Renaissance music from historical events and manuscripts to life, performing intricate fifteenth century counterpoint “with the ease of jazz musicians improvising on a theme (The Plain Dealer). Ciaramella began in the ruins of a crusader castle in Israel with a staged commedia dell’ arte production, and has participated in a reconstruction of the baptism of Emperor Charles V with Capilla Flamenca in Ghent’s St. Bravo Cathedral (2000). In December 2003 the group traveled to Spoleto, Italy, and collaborated with musicologist Gioia Filocamo to perform music from the manuscript Panciatichi 27, much of which has not been heard for centuries. In March 2004, the group performed in a staged production of the first Hebrew play A Comedy of Betrothal by Leone de’Sommi (c.1550) at the Cleveland Museum of Art, under the direction of Anna Levenstein. Ciaramella appeared at the Bloomington Early Music Festival, Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute, the Lute Society of America Convention in Cleveland, and at the American Musicological Society Meeting in Seattle. Ciaramella was a finalist in the 2003 Flanders Festival International Young Artist’s Presentation and in the 2004 Medieval/Renaissance Early Music America competition in New York. As first runner-up in the 2003 Early Music America competition, Ciaramella recorded its début CD “Wär ich ein Falk” on the Naxos label in June 2004. Ciaramella’s members combine performing careers with historical research as doctoral students and professional musicologists.
		L to R: Doug Milliken, Rotem Gilbert, Greg Ingles, Erik Schmalz, Adam Gilbert, Debra Nagy, Mahan Esfahani
		Critics Rave... “A keen blend of historical authority and sheer panache” "Everyone in this exceptional octet of early musicians exudes joy and purpose while weaving polyphonic lines with uncommon esprit de corps." (Donald Rosenberg, The Cleveland Plain Dealer , Nov 2, 2004) “Although late 15th-century counterpoint is exceptionally intricate, the Ciaramella players performed it with the ease of jazz musicians improvising on a theme”. (Wilma Salisbury, The Cleveland Plain Dealer , June 26, 2004)