Berkeley Fringe: EMYA presents Daphne Replies: Reimagining Shakespearean Song

Berkeley City Club, Members' Lounge, 2315 Durant Avenue, Berkeley CA 94704

Appearing on the Fringe at the Berkeley Festival of Early Music, SHAK's Early Music Youth Academy presents a program of authentic Elizabethan music with a present-day twist. Our skilled students aged 13-16 play period instruments including viola da gamba, violins, and harp. Led by director Shulamit Kleinerman on Renaissance violin, with guest vocal soloists, the group performs exhilarating dance tunes, ethereal instrumental consorts, and some of the prettiest song melodies ever written, direct from Shakespeare’s stage.

But we bring a modern eye to the original lyrics of romance and myth. Men and gods pursuing fair maidens? Well, we’ve added original verses of our own. After four centuries of being sung about and sung to, praised and entreated and condemned, each of these heroines finally gets a chance to speak for herself.

This one-hour program is open to all ages. Admission is by free-will donation (suggested: $15-25 adults, $5-15 youth). The Early Music Youth Academy is part of Seattle Historical Arts for Kids, which is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike.