Ensemble Tramontana

‘Tramontana’ is the name of a northern wind that sweeps across the mountains of France, Italy, and Spain before reaching the Mediterranean Sea. Legends say this howling wind has the power to induce madness. Our music, too, has travelled across Europe, stirring many emotions.

Medieval and Renaissance times may have been very different from each other in artistic styles and worldview, but the periods as a whole were an extended time of revival, discovery, and growth. We evoke this spirit with voices, viols, recorders, harps, percussion, vielles/medieval fiddles, and other early European instruments. 

Our focus on travelling and finding cross-border connections pre-dates yet links to recent turmoil over immigration and other struggles of separateness and belonging. Most of our composers, some of the characters in our songs, and all of our performers have travelled. Like the tramontana wind, our music settles nowhere, but continually flows across mountains, borders, and other obstacles.