Drawing on 5th-form Latin, the name Concentus Musicus, was chosen for a vocal ensemble founded in 1966 . . . in ignorance of the existence of any similarly named organization.  The first concert of Concentus Musicus (Minnesota) in 1966 consisted of vocal works by Stravinsky, Hindemith, Vaughan Williams and the co-director, Arthur Maud.  Quite early on, under the influence of co-director William Pohl, a decision was made to concentrate on vocal ensemble works from the 15th and 16th centuries, of which there is virtually an inexhaustible supply.  The several hundred musical examples planned for this website barely scratch the surface of this vast resource.

Immediately apparent in the examples presented here is the presence of instruments of the period–shawm, sackbut, recorders, viols, lutes, etc.  This expansion from a single vocal ensemble of 7 or 8 singers to– 1) the Vocal and Instrumental Ensemble, 2) Concentus Cantorum, 3) the Renaissance Dance Ensemble, 4) the Dance Instrumental Ensemble, 5) the Chamber Consort, and several other entities–was accomplished in about six years with the help and guidance of proliferator-in-chief, Ann Chinn Maud, dance director, administrator and spouse.

A regular subscription Season of six concerts was begun in 1973 and maintained till the early ’90s.  Touring and guest appearances throughout the Upper Midwest were an important part of Concentus Musicus’ mission.  The last of these concerts, ‘Music from Papal Avignon’ for the Medieval Society of America, was in 2005.  The music heard on this website is selected from the concerts and recording sessions held during a span of nearly 40 years. 

Among the influences in the early years of the organization were Howard Brown, John White and members of the New York Pro Musica.  Later meetings with Leeman Perkins, Margaret Bent, Richard Rastall and others were most useful.  All arrangements and instrumentation are by Arthur Maud, director.  It is hoped the occasional anachronism, e.g. sackbut instead of slide-trumpet in pre-16th century works, will not be too distracting.

The Vocal and Instrumental Ensemble generally consists of eight singers and six instrumentalists, and with a few exceptions the Ensemble has had quite a varied membership.  Pictured above are singers: Brian Manlove – bass, Gregory Tambornino – countertenor, Mary Earl – soprano, James Middleton – baritone, Joseph Tambornino – tenor.  Instrumentalists are:  Roland Stearns – lute, Frank Smith – viol, Nancy Froseth – mistress of strings and winds alike, Darryl Peterson – recorders and shawms, David Edminster – recorders, shawms, rackett, Brian van Staveren – sackbutt, and Arthur Maud – director. 

​A virtually complete list of performers in this group over the years includes:

​Soprano – Ann Buland, Nancy Cox, Mary Earl, Jessica Gould, Maria Jette, Shelley Johnson, Susan Kahn, Deborah Lien, Mary Terese Martinez, Solveig Nelson, Karen North, Mary Rauscher, Sally Reynolds, Martha Schmidt, Jennifer Trueman

​Alto – Geoffrey Boers, Lisa Drew, Jane Frazee, Diane Hamre, Jerry Hincks, Deborah Kahn, Alice Kosloski, Alayne Leslie, Paul Lohman, Laurianne McGowan, Ann Chinn Maud, Gregory Olson, William Pohl, Charles Tambornino, Gregory Tambornino, Joseph Tambornino, Paula Beth Tomlinson,

​Tenor – Jeffrey Barnett,  Kevin Baum, Paul Bergquist, Michael Dirks, Kent Froseth, David Henderson, Larry Hill, Brad Kolstad, Douglas Lewis, David Melrye, Robert Moir, David Nye, Paul Orr, Scott Reynolds

​Bass/baritone – Steven Batalden, Michael Byron, Michael Dailey, Siegfried Daves, James Erlandson, Bradley Greenwald, Keith Hazelton, Larry Hensel, Mark Kilstofte, Arthur Maud, Merritt Nequette, Michael Rosewall, Douglas Shambo, Fred Schenk, Johannes Sprangers, James Stocking

Instrumentalist:

Brass – Mark Adler, Hans Arlton, Al Biales, Todd Caine, Peter Enblom, John England, John Froelich, Carol Jensen, Donald Kahn, Steven Lund, Steven Lundahl, William Pohl, James Pizzuto, Brian van Staveren, David Stevens,  James TenBensel, David Weller, James Wheat,

​Keyboard – Dean Billmayer, Beverly Gustavson, Jane Lanctot, Gayle Mosand, William Pohl, Barbara Weiss,

​Lute/Vihuela – Paul Berget, David Elrod, Daniel Estrom, Richard Husie, Rockford Mjos, Phil Rukavina, Charles Pederson, Rachel Sparrow, Roland Stearns , Robert Wander

​Percussion – Kent Froseth, Floyd Thompson, Gregory McFarland, Joseph Tambornino

​Viol – Julie Elhard, Faith Farr, Nancy Froseth, Mark Kausch, David Saphra, Frank Smith,

​Violin – Theresa Elliott, Mary Sorlie,

Winds – Amy Bloom,  David Edminster, Ruth Erick, Nancy Froseth,  Beverly Gustavson, Fred Inman, Brian Krysinski, Steven Lundahl, John Mosand, Darryl Peterson, Faye Peterson, James Pizzuto, Edmund Raas, David Weller

Concentus Cantorum began life as a training ground for the Vocal Ensemble, but soon became a significant independent ensemble providing a more realistic vehicle to perform the music written for the larger 16th century  chapels of monarchs, popes and cathedrals ( despite the motley garb displayed in the picture above!)  Indeed, this ensemble occasionally achieved a higher level of performance than the parent group . . . their recording of Fayrfax ‘Magnificat, O bone Jesu’ and Taverner ‘M. Sancti Wilhelmi devocio’ comes to mind.   SATB four-to-a-part was an average complement.

​A representative roster over a period of twenty years is as follows:

​Soprano – Sudie Blatz, Ann Buland, Susan Collins, Susan Farr, Linda Fisher, Heather Hunt, Diane Hinderlie, Shelley Johnson, Denise Kuitunen, Lavern Leeb, Molly Munnikhuysen, Carol Nyquist, Shawn Olsen, Linda Rawitsch, Sally Reynolds, Martha Schmidt, Laurie Stebbins, Beverly Townsend

​Alto – Sara Bloedel, Michael Compton, Richard Childress, Bonnie Dean, Lisa Drew, Judith Engstrom, Jayne Gardner, Bonnie Jernberg, Linda Kachelmeier, Alice Kosloski, Deborah Kahn, Susan Kahn, Linda Kjerland, Karen Larrivee, Alayne Leslie, Anne Lowe, Laurie Anne McGowan, Ann Maud, Mary Moen, Rachel Portnoy, John Sorlien, Charles Tambornino, Gregory Tambornino, Paula Beth Tomlinson, Lynn Wagenhals

​Tenor – Jim Anderson, Robert Anderson, Thomas Anderson, David Barnard, David Bevan, Steven Clarke, Tom Dannecker, Michael Dirks, David Echelard, Chris Farnham, Steve Knight, Bradley Kolstad, David Lesniaski, Douglas Lewis, Keith Liuzzi, Robert Moir, Michael Moore, Paul Orr, Iain Phillips, Dennis Raverty, James Reilly, William Shaffer, Mark Stahura, Lyle Swenson, Robert Zehrer, Michael Zieghan

​Bass – Joseph Blackshear, Tim Costello, David Dahl, Jay Disney, Paul Dykes, Mark Ellenberger, Jayson Enquist, James Erlandson, Byron Evans, Robin Fox, John Graham, Keith Hazelton, David Husby, David Jackson, Paul Kaatrud, Paul Levoir, Mark Lunseth, Brian Manlove, Dale Mateffy, James Middleton, Merritt Nequette, Greg Olsen, Darryl Sachse, Hans Sprangers, Geoffrey Swart, Jon Thares

​The same name occasionally appears in both ensembles . . . as intended.