A workshop exploring the intersection of Renaissance sacred music and early modern liturgy. We will address such questions as: How does our modern experience of Renaissance sacred music differ from its original context? How can liturgy inform our understanding and appreciation of music originally intended for ritual performance? What purpose does ritual re-creation ultimately serve, and is it worth the risks?

M. Jennifer Bloxam is Herbert H. Lehman Professor of Music at Williams College, where she has taught since 1986. She earned her bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Illinois (1979) and her PhD from Yale University (1987). Her scholarship focuses on plainsong and polyphony in the decades around 1500, with particular on its ritual and cultural framework. In addition to her publications, she maintains an ongoing collaboration with the Dutch vocal ensemble Cappella Pratensis to create film, recording, website, and concert projects devoted to the contextualization of this music. Recent fellowship awards include the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music Fellowship in Sacred Music, Worship, and the Arts. 

Sponsored by the departments of English, Comparative Literature, French and Italian, Music, and Religious Studies, the Graduate Group in the Study of Religion, and the Humanities Program.