Angels with Bagpipe & Organetto, Notre Dame Walcourt Belgium

Angel with Hurdy Gurdy, 16th c. Troyes, France

Rooftop Grotesquerie near Chalons, L'Epine, France

Keyed Fiddle, 13th c. N. Doorway, Cathedral Notre Dame Paris

Bagpiper Bunny Parchment 14th c. St-Brieuc, Cotes d'Amour, France

CONTENTS 1. January 2008: Onondaga Hill Free Library Program Specifics 2. Press Information & Details, Onondaga Hill Library 3. THE PHOTO EXHIBIT: 35+ Historic Art Images to Explore 4. Exhibit Catalog 5. Future Exhibits 1. Onondaga Hill Free Library Program: January 2008 Part I. Early Instrument Photo Exposition "From Art to Wood to Music: Sculpted Sound" Ongoing now through January 2008 at Onondaga Hill Free Library, 4840 West Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse NY. 492-1727 or www.oflibrary.org for Library hours, directions, etc. Part II. Concert-Discussion-Guided Tour “The Re-creation of Instruments Lost to Time” set for Sunday January 20, 1:00-4:00 also at Onondaga Hill Free Library Hurdy Gurdies, Fiddles, Rommelpots, Lutes, Harps, and more at Onondaga Hill Free Library, Syracuse with local musicians, historians, and instrument builders John Bromka and Sondra Bromka, Bells & Motley Consort. Back to top 2. Press Information for Central New York: January 2008 Throughout the month of January, the Community Room of the Onondaga Hill Free Library in Syracuse NY is hosting a unique photo-documentary presentation. A major milestone in the work of area musicians and storytellers John and Sondra Bromka, aka Bells & Motley Consort, this exhibit explores a more visual side of their artistry, as well as their activities and research trail in the recreation of historic instruments and music. The exposition is currently a work in progress, in preparation for a major musuem, and the artists are eager for your feedback. To highlight the exposition, on Sunday January 20, from 1:00-4:00, Bells & Motley will bring their photographic images and instruments to life in an interactive Concert- Discussion, illuminating the art and science behind their work. The exhibit, concert, and discussion are free, and open to the public of all ages. When you see an angel with a harp carved in the doorway of a Romanesque cathedral, do you wonder what kind of music the angel might be playing, and what kind of sounds that harp might make? Would it be the same music the mother sow plays way up on the cathedral's rooftop, as she entertains the other grotesqueries and gargoyles with her stone harp? You’ll also see Medieval donkeys, bunnies, humans, and other fanciful creatures from diverse parts of Europe, blowing on all manner of bagpipes. What did this cacophony mean to artists, then and now, and to those who view the work? Over the course of many years, the Bromkas have made annual research pilgrimages to Europe (and forays into Eastern lands of Turkey) in search of Medieval and Renaissance frescoes, sculptures, and other works of art that illuminate music, dance, and other cultural expressions of our past. Take some time this month to explore the details of the artists' exquisite' photographic collection of frescoes, sculptures, tapestries, paintings, and parchments which they use to inform their reconstructions and performances of early music, and curious stories and mysteries behind them. Then on the afternoon of January 20, the exhibit will expand to include instruments under construction (and de-construction), prototypes, and many fine examples of finished instruments, and also the drawings and sketches, materials and tools that lead to their recreation. An interactive concert will bring the images and instruments to life, illuminating the art and science behind their work in a vibrant interactive concert. Bells & Motley's wildly diverse and unique collection of historic instruments is reputed to be the largest collection of its kind in the northeast. The concept and first manifestation of a coordinated early instrument exhibit-concert-discussion was initially proposed by Professor John Black of Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA, where it was featured in their multi-state Medieval Colloquium for college students in 2007. The idea rapidly took wing, developing to meet with a very receptive audience. We were eager to move to the next level. As an important force behind the further development of this exhibit, the artists would like to recognize Kathy Chave & Onondaga Free Library for their many years of support by offering us a local community venue for annual concerts, and now a venue for our January 2008 presentation. Without the Library's continued interest in our work this expanded exhibit would not have come into being, so it is our greatest pleasure to have this first area showing of our ambitious endeavor in their community space. Thank you! Back to top 3. The Photo Exhibit: 35+ Historic Art Images to Explore! Entering the photo exhibit, you will see a wall devoted to "Instruments with Skins & Gut" featuring images of bagpipes, drums, rommelpots, early fiddles and viols, guitterns, and more. Also, note the artists successful experiments in creating parchments, destined for instrument making. Another wall depicts all manner of historic harps, psalteries, dulcimers, and related instruments, and answers some of the most frequently asked questions concerning these instruments, while posing new mysteries to ponder. Two more walls highlight John's luthiery specialty in the research and reconstruction of various citterns, guitterns, lutes, and hurdy gurdies as they appeared across medieval Europe. Back to top 4. Exhibit Catalog Coming in great detail Back to top 5. Stay tuned for Future Exhibits! Two more locations for this program are presently in the works. Details soon to be announced. If you are a venue that is interested in mounting such an exhibit and concert, funding possibilities are available, so please contact the artists John and Sondra Bromka (email link) For more information: Bells & Motley Consort of Olden Music Sondra and John Bromka 2 North Street Marcellus NY 13108 315-673-2995 Two of our instruments: A Lute, and Lute-backed hurdy gurdy [Home Page] [About the Artists] [Our Calendar] [CDs, Books] [Instrumentarium Photos] [E-Mail Us] This www.bellsandmotley.com web site and its content is the exclusive property of Sondra Bromka and John Bromka. ©2008 Sondra Bromka. All rights reserved in all media.