A CordaSonora Production
Cantigas da Convivência
Songs of Living-togetherness
Iberian Medieval Music
The Wandering Bard
CordaSonoraCordaSonoraA CordaSonora Production
Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira — artistic direction, vielle, voice, percussion, medieval psaltery, medieval harp
Ricardo Alves Pereira — artistic direction, spoken commentary, lute, voice, medieval psaltery, percussion
Jorge Luís Castro — voice, percussion
Rosário Tormenta — voice, percussion
Orlando Trindade — Moorish guitar, citole, medieval string drum, medieval psaltery, trancanholas, percussion, voice
Baltazar Molina — percussion, voice
Excerpt from the performance held at Quinta da Regaleira on 26 July 2025.
At times Gaelic,
at times Sephardic, sometimes Andalusian, or simply Iberian.
Cantigas da Convivência – Songs of Living-togetherness is a semi-staged concert with spoken commentary by the early music ensemble The Wandering Bard, dedicated to the music and poetry of the medieval Iberia, featuring repertoire preserved in historical manuscripts. Performed through song and declamation in the original medieval languages, Galician-Portuguese and Latin, and using period instruments and techniques, the concert offers an inviting encounter with music approximately 800 years old.
Moments from a Concert
Leiria Castle, December 2025
We thank the Municipality of Leiria, Leiria Castle and the Head of Culture, Catarina Carvalho, for making this unforgettable performance possible.
Photography: João Fitas
In contrast, contemporary historians use the term “Convivência” (Living-togetherness), describing relationships of contact, cultural exchange, negotiation, peace and conflict among the different kingdoms, peoples and traditions that coexisted on the same peninsula.
The musical selection for this concert draws upon this understanding of the age of Convivência, exploring melodies that sound at times Gaelic, at times Sephardic, sometimes Andalusian, or simply Iberian.
“Perhaps research on medieval Iberia would be best served by allowing the evidence to speak for itself, without imposing established terminology such as ‘Christian’, ‘Jewish’ or ‘Arab’, so that the true richness of contact across cultural boundaries may be seen on its own terms.”
— Dwight F. Reynolds
Códice de los músicos: RBME. Patrimonio Nacional
The concert is the result of extensive musicological and philological research conducted by the two medievalists and directors of The Wandering Bard, Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira and Ricardo Alves Pereira, drawing directly upon historical songbooks and medieval musical manuscripts.
A brief introduction is presented between each musical work, creating a bridge between modern audiences and the medieval cantigas, as well as the world in which they were created.
The repertoire includes cantigas by D. Dinis, the Troubadour King, preserved in the Sharrer Parchment; the Cantigas de Santa Maria of Alfonso X, the Wise; the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat; among other works from the Iberian troubadour tradition.
During the concert, brief contextual commentary between the works guides the audience through the poetry, manuscripts and interpretative choices, welcoming both specialists and curious new listeners into the world of medieval Iberian song.
Visual materials and texts translated into modern languages, provided by The Wandering Bard through projections or printed concert programmes, make the performance accessible to international audiences.
Meet & Greet: An informal gathering with the artists takes place after the concert, allowing audience members to speak with the musicians, ask questions and deepen the connection created during the performance.
To strengthen the audience’s connection with the performance, two pre-concert presentations may be offered: the first explores the historical, geographical and cultural context of the repertoire and the people who created it; the second introduces the medieval instruments used during the concert and help audience explore their sound, function and historical context.
For The Wandering Bard, bringing audiences closer to the instruments, manuscripts and people behind this music is also a way of sharing their enthusiasm for this world. Learning thus becomes a connection between past and present, and a joy shared together.
Founded and directed by Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira and Ricardo Alves Pereira, who are also responsible for the Portuguese medieval-music festivals CMML and DMMB, The Wandering Bard is an ensemble dedicated to historically informed performance grounded in manuscript sources.
Recognised for their precise, engaging and semi-staged performances, the ensemble combines distinctive arrangements born from historical research with strong musical creativity. Contextual narration and spoken commentary make rarely heard medieval music relevant to contemporary audiences.
While their albums reach thousands of listeners around the world, the ensemble regularly invites renowned specialists and artists such as Eduardo Paniagua and Fernando Ribeiro of MOONSPELL to join its stage formations.
Through the musical research and reconstruction undertaken by Esin and Ricardo, The Wandering Bard has presented audiences with more than one hundred Cantigas de Santa Maria by Alfonso X, the Wise; works from the Llibre Vermell de Montserrat; the complete Cantigas de Amigo of Martin Codax from the Vindel Parchment; and secular cantigas by dozens of troubadours and minstrels from the Iberian Peninsula.
On 7 January 2025, marking seven hundred years since the death of D. Dinis, the Troubadour-King, the ensemble premiered Esin and Ricardo’s musical research into the seven Cantigas de Amor attributed to the Poet-King and recovered from the Sharrer Parchment.
Cantigas da Convivência – Songs of Living-togetherness is available for booking.
The Wandering Bard ensemble has an adjustable line-up of two to eight musicians, while preserving the full artistic integrity of the programme.
Cantigas da Convivência – Songs of Living-togetherness is a scalable project that can be adapted in accordance with the host organisation.
Marta Almeida: booking@cordasonora.com
+351 965642540
