MADIGRAL FEST & FEAST SERVES UP MEDIEVAL GOOD TIME

This roving band of minstrels is from the left, Mark Sickles, Krista Nickelson and Joseph Myers.

Ing Bradley Berry and Queen Amanda Webb enjoyed their time at the Madrigal Fest and Feast.

If you missed "Ye Olde Madrigal Fest & Feast," put on by the Jackson High School Choral Department at the Bavarian Halle in Fruitland, you missed a medieval good time.

About 630 people gathered on Nov. 14 and 15 to witness 105 choral students put on the third annual Madrigal feast. The show lasted about three hours.

High school choral teacher Jean Schweain said the feast began at first as a dinner theater designed to raise money to clean choral gowns. Three years ago it took on the medieval theme and the Madrigal feast was born.

Those who participated got the chance to be served and entertained by choral students dressed in Renaissance-era costumes.

The festival was a journey back in time to the England of William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.

The feast is called Madrigal because that is the type of music that was being performed through the two-evening event.

Madrigal singing came to England from Italy in the 16th century and at first it was an informal type of private entertainment at the castle and country homes of the English gentry.

The songs are written for small groups in which several voice parts are combined in a way that each part is independent and interesting. They are also often sung without musical accompaniment. Later, these spontaneous songs were written down. The art form continued to flourish into the 17th century.

The feast and fest at the Bavarian Halle was filled with music and songs from the period. A royal processional was followed by a toast and then introductions were done of the royal court.

The money raised from last year's feast helped purchase a computerized keyboard. Schweain hopes the funds raised this year will allow her to purchase tuxedo coats for the boys in the choir.

Planning for the event began this summer and three to four weeks prior to the feast students worked on the festival daily in class and some before school and after school as well. The students had one dress rehearsal at the Bavarian Halle on Nov. 13.

The costumes were either purchased from flea markets and stores or made by people in the community.

"A great deal of the costumes were made by parents," Schweain said.

Next year the Madrigal Feast will have a Christmas theme, Schweain said.

The next choral performance will feature the JHS Chamber Choir, Girls Choir and Handbell Choirs performing Sunday, Dec. 14 at 3 p.m. at St. Paul Lutheran Church.