Our oldest son has been nursing a miserable cold. Isn't it typical that at this transitive time of year from winter into spring, people get really deep-seated colds and spend a week, even two in misery? He says he's feeling much better, finally. But his voice still sounds a bit hoarse and raspy. Of course that wouldn't matter so much, since he's primarily an instrumentalist not a vocalist with his musical ensemble for Medieval music, Sine Nomine. But for their upcoming performance he will also be singing. Sine Nomine is a Medieval music ensemble, which he, his wife Andrea Budgey and three others began in 1991. They've made several recordings (Gaudeamus omnes: Medieval Music of the Saints (independent cassette, 1994), and A Golden Treasury of Mediaeval Music (Saydisc/AmonRa Records, UK, 1996), one in Britain, and travelled widely throughout Canada and the United States and Great Britain, giving performances on request.


And on Monday they're scheduled to fly to New Haven, Connecticut by invitation from Yale University's Institute of Sacred Music, since that is precisely the kind of music that they specialize in and continue to perform.

Years ago the whole ensemble stayed over with us for a day and a night, en route to Montreal to produce their first recording. Before they left, they presented us with a special gift. That gift was our own personal performance. The ensemble members set up in our family room and we sat transfixed, watching and listening to them as the ineffable musical notes and voices transformed our home to a concert hall.

Since that time there have been a few departures and a few arrivals, while the basic structure remains the same, and occasionally some other talented musician will join them for a performance. They scrupulously search for musical manuscripts, study them, know their subject intimately and passionately. They have also written scholarly treatises on the music of the Medieval era for publication in scholarly journals. Their performances are particularly enjoyed when during the Christmas season they invite the public to special musical performances at St. Thomas's Anglican Church in Toronto.

SINE NOMINE is ensemble-in-residence at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, University of Toronto.
Janice Kerkkamp, voice
Bryan Martin, voice and lute
Randall Rosenfeld, gittern, flute, harp and voice
Andrea Budgey, voice, rebec, flute and harp

Janice Kerkkamp, voice
Bryan Martin, voice and lute
Randall Rosenfeld, gittern and voice
Andrea Budgey, voice, rebec, and harp
- See more at: http://ism.yale.edu/event/guest-artist-sine-nomine#sthash.7HYaHq7f.dpuf

Janice Kerkkamp, voice
Bryan Martin, voice and lute
Randall Rosenfeld, gittern and voice
Andrea Budgey, voice, rebec, and harp
- See more at: http://ism.yale.edu/event/guest-artist-sine-nomine#sthash.7HYaHq7f.dpuf