VINTAGE Ruby: Elizabeth I Words and Music

About This Event

VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music invites audiences into the charged world of Elizabethan England, where music was power, art was politics, and a woman ruled with brilliance and steel. In this immersive program, Ars Nova Singers shares the stage with acclaimed actor Tamara Meneghini to bring Queen Elizabeth I vividly to life through a seamless fusion of spoken word and choral music. Drawing from Meneghini’s celebrated one-woman play Elizabeth I: In Her Own Words, the performance gives voice to the queen’s private reflections—her ambition, vulnerability, wit, and resolve. These words are placed in dialogue with the music Elizabeth herself heard, supported, and cherished: works by English composers who were not only masters of polyphony, but also skillful diplomats navigating a treacherous political landscape. The program features towering Renaissance masterpieces, including Thomas Tallis’s Spem in alium, a monumental motet for forty independent voices unfolding in waves of luminous sound; William Byrd’s O Lord, Make Elizabeth Our Queen, a gentle prayer offered on the monarch’s behalf; and madrigals from The Triumphs of Oriana, celebrating the queen’s mythic aura and cultural legacy. Through the interplay of soaring polyphony and regal words, VINTAGERuby – Elizabeth I: Words and Music creates a moving portrait of a ruler both feared and deeply loved—an evening that is at once theatrical and musical, intimate and grand. Tickets: $13–$40 Performances: Friday, February 20, 2026 – 7:30 PM | Mountain View Church, Boulder Saturday, February 21, 2026 – 7:30 PM | St. Paul Lutheran, Denver Sunday, February 22, 2026 – 3:00 PM | Adventist Church, Boulder Livestream available