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Looking back at Pennsic 47

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So, even by my sluggish standards, this Pennsic post is really late. We got home three weeks ago. There are a few reasons (excuses) why I didn’t jump on it right away:

  1. Between my job and rehearsals for The Mystery of Edwin Drood (which opens next weekend), I have been very busy and squeezed a bit hard on re-entry the last few weeks.
  2. I did do a few shares on this blog related to Pennsic, including two posts from war, a new song which recapped some of my experiences with a broad brush, and posting my full concert on YouTube.
  3. Because the Sing for the East project added songbooks to our offerings just in time for Pennsic, and we still had some inventory left when we got home, I felt like I was attending to unfinished Pennsic business for much of my first week back. (We did sell out quickly enough on Bandcamp, and have sent this year’s donation to the EK Royal Travel Fund.)

Nevertheless, it’s important to take time to reflect on a two-week event we only experience once a year, and I have lots of people to acknowledge (even if I have mentioned some of them previously). Continue reading →

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Baronial Bardic championship at Bjorn’s Ceilidh

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Announcing: at Bjorn’s Ceilidh (Saturday November 11), their Excellencies JP and Lylie will be selecting the next Bardic champion for the Barony of Concordia of the Snows.

The competition will be held in three rounds, with the following format:

  • Round one: perform the piece with which you are most comfortable. Show us what you do best.
  • Round two: perform a piece you have never before shared in competition. Stretch and surprise us.
  • Round three: perform a piece that is documented as having origins in the medieval period. Documentation should at most be half a page or fill an index card. The piece can be wholly from period, a contrafact if a period work, or composed in a period form or style.

To compete, you must either be a resident of Concordia, or willing to give your fealty to the Barony on being chosen. Please inform the current baronial bard, Drake Oranwood, of your intention to compete either privately or at Ceilidh.

Competitors should only enter if they are prepared to serve as Baronial bard if selected by their Excellencies, and have no duties or obligations which would prevent them from serving appropriately.

The responsibilities include:

  • Attend the majority of Concordian events and participate in any Baronial Court held at those events.
  • Attend the Baron and Baroness at some out of Barony events, including Pennsic if possible.
  • Wear the regalia of your position.
  • Supervise (or delegate) the Bardic competition and War Point at the Wars of the Roses.
  • Organize next year’s Baronial Champion competition to choose your successor.

In service,

Lord Drake Oranwood

Baronial Bard

Wars of the Roses: Bardic Competition

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Announcing the Bardic competition for the Wars of the Roses!

The Wars of the Roses were a 30 year conflict fought over who had the legitimate claim to the throne of England.

In the Medieval period, no less than our present day, the people’s belief in the legitimacy of their ruler was crucial to maintaining peace and prosperity.

Your challenge is to bring to the competition a piece on the topic of legitimacy: how it is conveyed, earned, created, or projected (or not), and why that matters (or doesn’t) in the outcome of the story you are telling.

In service,
Drake Oranwood, Baronial Bard, Concordia of the Snows

Article: Create Your Masterpiece

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A member of the Bardic Arts group on Facebook shared this article called “Create Your Masterpiece”. I read this, and recognize the steps I went through in getting Hidden Gold done. It’s powerful stuff, and worth your time.

Pennsic Performances You Should Know About

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Pennsic 45 begins this weekend. Before I head out, I wanted to mention that there are some wonderful friends of mine being showcased this year in the Performing Arts tent who don’t (or haven’t) regularly performed there. You should definitely check these folks out, if you’re wondering how to be profoundly entertained at War:

  • Monday August 8, 8-9 pm: Mar Yaakov HaMizrachi, Tales from “The Book of Delight”
    Tah Sh’ma! Come and hear! Storyteller Mar Yaakov HaMizrachi in performance of his reconstruction of the period work “The Book of Delight” by Yosef ben Meir Ibn Zabara. Zabara wrote this classic work of folk tales in about the year 1200 in Toledo, Spain. Hear how a clever fox seeks to trick a foolish leopard to his doom! Only the leopard’s wise wife stands between our Well Meaning but Foolish Hero and his certain death! In this contest of wit between a loving wife and a cunning foe, whose cleverness shall prevail?
    I wanted to mention this performance first because it’s a late addition to the schedule, and thus may not end up listed in the printed book. Continue reading →