On Oct. 7, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College will welcome the acclaimed period music trio Ensemble Chaconne, joined by mezzo-soprano Pamela Dellal, who will present a concert of music associated with Shakespeare's works. The performance, titled “Measure for Measure: The Music of Shakespeare's Plays,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Little Theatre, located in Guerin Hall at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC). The concert is free and open to the public.

Though no scores are included in his published works, William Shakespeare frequently employed music in his plays, writing poems for new songs and adopting existing ballads. Numerous characters allude to then-popular tunes while composers such as Thomas Morley and Robert Johnson also contributed original compositions.

During “Measure for Measure: The Music of Shakespeare's Plays,” Ensemble Chaconne -- which consists of Peter H. Bloom, Renaissance flute; Carol Lewis, viola da gamba; and Olav Chris Henriksen, Renaissance lute — and mezzo-soprano Pamela Dellal offer a rare and compelling view of the music Shakespeare's audiences would have heard, written by the leading composers of his day. Dellal displays versatility and dramatic flair in love songs, comic antics, madness and tragedy. Selections are tied directly to the plays and include music from “As You Like It,” “Twelfth Night,” “Henry V,” “The Winter’s Tale,” “The Tempest, Hamlet,” “Othello,” “Macbeth” and other plays.

“Measure for Measure: The Music of Shakespeare's Plays” was hailed as “the perfect Elizabethan evening” by The Portland Press Herald, called “impressive” by Early Music Magazine, and praised as “a rich musical experience” by The Concord Monitor.  The concert was presented in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 2006 residency project at Davidson College and was chosen as featured concert at the 2002 National Meeting of the American Musicological Society.

Praised for “vitality and character…style and verve” (MusicWeb International), and now celebrating its 23rd season, Ensemble Chaconne has garnered consistent critical acclaim for its vivid concerts of Renaissance and Baroque music on period instruments. Renowned institutions including Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and the Peabody Essex Museum have commissioned the group to perform themed programs for major exhibitions, and the ensemble has appeared in concert halls across the country. Guest artist Pamela Dellal has toured the United States, Europe, Australia and Japan and has recorded for Arabesque Records, Artona, BMG, Dorian, Meridian, and KOCH International.  Critics have called her singing “outstanding” (The New York Times) and “lushly fluid” (The Washington Post).

For more information about the “Measure for Measure: The Music of Shakespeare's Plays” concert at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, call the SMWC Music and Theatre Information Line at 812-535-6211. More information about Ensemble Chaconne is available online at www.americasmusicworks.com.