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“
...some of the most ravishing lute playing to be heard anywhere.
”
The Washington Times

Upcoming Concerts

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September 29, 2020

***POSTPONED***The Baltimore Consort at University of Idaho

University of Idaho

Moscow, ID

October 1, 2020

***POSTPONED***The Baltimore Consort at Chemeketa Community College

Chemeketa Community College

Salem, OR

October 11, 2020

***POSTPONED***Ayreheart at National Music Festival Resonance Series

St. Paul's, Kent

Chestertown, MD

November 7, 2020

***POSTPONED***Ronn McFarlane at Harvest of Love 2020

Washington DC Center of Self Realization Fellowship

College Park, MD

November 13, 2020

***POSTPONED***The Baltimore Consort at Early Music at St. James

St. James Episcopal Church

Lancaster, PA

The Celtic Lute

Ronn's original arrangements of traditional Irish & Scottish folk tunes for the lute

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Beyond the Basics

The Art & Science of Playing the Lute, from the Lute Society of America Quarterly

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History
of the Lute

Explore the ancient past of this instrument of Kings and Queens

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Musical
Performances

Watch videos of Ronn, recorded in the studio and at live shows

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Original
Music

Discover music in the tradition of the lutenist-composer

Listen

Selected Albums

Browse the full Discography

The Celtic Lute

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Barley Moon

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Nine Notes that Shook the World

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Two Lutes

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The Art of Vivaldi's Lute

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Blame Not My Lute

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One Morning

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Adio España

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Bright Day Star

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Live in Concert

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Gut, Wind, and Wire

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Indigo Road

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Adew Dundee

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“It appears to me that those who rely simply on the weight of authority to prove any assertion, without searching out the arguments to support it, act absurdly. I wish to question freely and to answer freely without any sort of adulation. That well becomes any who are sincere in the search for truth.” ~Vincenzo Galilei (1520 - 1591)  You know Vincenzo Galilei as an Italian lutenist, composer, music theorist and acoustics researcher. He adopted experimentation to prove aspects of acoustics rather than accepting conventional explanations. It is probable that he influenced his son, Galileo, away from purely abstract mathematics, towards making experiments and investigations. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #lute #earlymusic #renaissancemusic #baroquemusic #folkmusic #classicalmusic #musician #classicalguitar #classicalguitarist #music #lutenists #lutenist #guitar #guitarist #guitarra #guitarista #laguitarra #accoustic #accousticmusic #accousticguitar #oud #musicappreciation
Watch Ronn and Carolyn Surrick in a virtual performance in the Tuesday Concert Series, presented by The Church of the Epiphany in Washington DC. About the performance: Lute and Viola Da Gamba Duo: Renaissance and Baroque, Traditional Celtic and Swedish Folk, and Original Compositions. The Tuesday Concert Series, 12:10-1pm. This concert will be pre-recorded on Monday, September 21, to be be posted to the concert series Youtube channel on Tuesday, September 22 at 12:10pm. To view the concert, go to the concert series Youtube channel. http://bit.ly/RMTC0920 This concert is free, but information on making a donation (if you wish to do so) will be in the Youtube description. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #concert #concerts #musicalperformance #violadagamba #lute #earlymusic #renaissancemusic #baroquemusic #folkmusic #classicalmusic #musician #classicalguitar #classicalguitarist #music #lutenists #lutenist #guitar #guitarist #guitarra #guitarista #laguitarra #accoustic #accousticmusic #accousticguitar #oud #musicappreciation
Color Coding (This is an overview of an installment of my Beyond the Basics series that was published in the @lutesocietyofamerica Quarterly. You can read the full article on my website.) One musical use of tone control is the concept of color coding the voices of a composition. A lutenist can assign contrasting tone colors to different voices, giving them greater clarity and independence. With effective color coding, a lutenist can transform even a muddled thicket of voices into compelling music with clear voice leading. Here are some of the uses of color coding: 1. Highlighting a Melody 2. Connecting Voices 3. Clearer Counterpoint 4. Characterizing individual voices 
 5. Maintaining a Good Sense of Balance Between Voices ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #lute #earlymusic #renaissancemusic #baroquemusic #folkmusic #classicalmusic #musician #classicalguitar #classicalguitarist #music #lutenists #lutenist #guitar #guitarist #guitarra #guitarista #laguitarra #accoustic #accousticmusic #accousticguitar #oud #musicappreciation ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Photo by @jamesfcarr
True it is, I have lien long obscured from your sight, because I received a Kingly entertainment in a forraine climate… yet I must tell you, as I have been a stranger; so I have again found strange entertainment since my return; especially by the opposition of two sorts of people that shroude themselves under the title of Musitians. The first are some simple Cantors, or vocall singers, who thought they seem excellent in their blind Division-making, are meerely ignorant, even in the first elements of Musicke, and also in the true order of the mutation of the Hexachord in the Systeme, (which hath ben approved by all the learned and skilfull men of Christendome, this 800 yeeres,) yet doe these felowes give their verdict of me behinde my backe, and say, what I doe is after the old manner: but I will speake openly to them, and would have them know that the proudest Cantor of them, dares not oppose himselfe face to face against me. The second are young-men, professors of the Lute, who vaunt themselves, to the disparagement of such as have beene before their time, (wherein I my selfe am a party) that there never was the like of them. John Dowland ~ A Pilgrim’s Solace (1612) Art: “The Concert” by Jan Hermansz van Bijlert (Dutch painter, c 1597–1671), 1630s ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ #lute #earlymusic #renaissancemusic #baroquemusic #folkmusic #classicalmusic #musician #classicalguitar #classicalguitarist #music #lutenists #lutenist #guitar #guitarist #guitarra #guitarista #laguitarra #accoustic #accousticmusic #accousticguitar #oud #musicappreciation