Owain Phyfe
Encyclopedia
Renaissance music
Renaissance music is European music written during the Renaissance. Defining the beginning of the musical era is difficult, given that its defining characteristics were adopted only gradually; musicologists have placed its beginnings from as early as 1300 to as late as the 1470s.Literally meaning...
and Medieval music
Medieval music
Medieval music is Western music written during the Middle Ages. This era begins with the fall of the Roman Empire and ends sometime in the early fifteenth century...
.
Early years
Phyfe grew up in a bilingual family with WelshWelsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
as a second language. Nourished by his grandparent's appreciation for song, Phyfe's study of languages in college and his travels abroad to England, France, and Spain as well as his experience later as a musician in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
led to finding his own Renaissance spirit.
Beginnings
In the mid-1980s, Phyfe and his wife Paula became festival performers at the Michigan Renaissance FestivalMichigan Renaissance Festival
The Michigan Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair, an interactive outdoor event that focuses on recreating the look and feel of a fictional English village called Hollygrove during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the latter half of the 16th Century...
. Spellbound by early music, Phyfe decided to develop a "singer of songs" persona. While researching late medieval and renaissance music, he found himself favoring faire life over the automotive engineering company he had started in 1983. "It became my dream to present the beauty of Renaissance music," Phyfe explained, "not as a documentary, but as a living expression."
Career
He teamed up with the magical Renaissance FairRenaissance Fair
A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire, or Renaissance festival is an outdoor weekend gathering, usually held in the United States, open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which emulates a historic period for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent theme parks, others are...
jam band CANTIGA in 1990 to form The New World Renaissance Band, specializing in the performance of ancient music in English, Spanish, Italian, Welsh, German, French, Provençal and Latin. He plays many traditional instruments including recorders, viola, cello, fiddle, and harp. He has performed across the U.S., and his music has aired worldwide and on over 250 radio stations across North America. He has performed and offered workshops at many medieval recreationist, musical and Neo-Pagan events including the S.C.A.
Society for Creative Anachronism
The Society for Creative Anachronism is an international living history group with the aim of studying and recreating mainly Medieval European cultures and their histories before the 17th century...
's Pennsic War
Pennsic War
The Pennsic War is an annual American medieval camping event held by the Society for Creative Anachronism—a "war" between two large regional SCA groups: the and the...
, the Michigan Renaissance Festival
Michigan Renaissance Festival
The Michigan Renaissance Festival is a Renaissance fair, an interactive outdoor event that focuses on recreating the look and feel of a fictional English village called Hollygrove during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I in the latter half of the 16th Century...
, Sirius Rising, Pagan Spirit Gathering
Pagan Spirit Gathering
The Pagan Spirit Gathering is one of the United States's oldest and largest nature spirituality festivals, organized by Circle Sanctuary...
and the Starwood Festival
Starwood Festival
The Starwood Festival is a seven-day Neo-Pagan, New Age, multi-cultural and world music festival presented in mid- to late July. Approximately 1,500 people attend including staff, speakers and entertainers. The Starwood Festival is a camping event which holds workshops on a variety of subjects...
, both as a soloist and with the New World Renaissance Band.
Owain Phyfe
- 1995 - Sweet Was the Song (with L'Ensemble Josquin) (Nightwatch Recording)
- 1999 - Poets, Bards, & Singers of Songs (Nightwatch Recording)
- 2006 - Lágrimas de Sangría (The Jester's Court) (Nightwatch Recording)
New World Renaissance Band
- 1992 - Live the Legend (Nightwatch Recording)
- 1995 - Where Beauty Moves and Wit Delights (Nightwatch Recording)
- 1996 - Odyssey (Nightwatch Recording)
- 2002 - Tales From the Vineyard (Nightwatch Recording)
Owain Phyfe
- Revue Magazine June 1995
- Detroit Monthly March 1996
- WKBD-TV News Spotlight May 26, 1996
Albums
- Renaissance MagazineRenaissance MagazineRenaissance Magazine is a glossy American magazine published every other month. Each issue comprises approximately 90 pages, and includes articles about the contemporary renaissance faire experience, medieval and renaissance history, castles, heraldry, cooking, and interviews with key individuals...
Vol. 3 #2 Issue #10 - New Age JournalNew Age JournalNew Age Journal, or New Age: The Journal for Holistic Living was an American periodical prominent in the late 20th century, and defining itself as covering topics related to the period's "New Age"; it has been succeeded, in turn, by Body & Soul, and under new ownership by Body + Soul.It was founded...
Mar/Ap 1994 - Sunday Oakland Press March 3rd, 1996
- Shakespeare Oxford Newsletter Sept. 1997
- Magical Blend 1998 Issue #62
- Detroit Free Press Sept. 19th, 1999
- The Mists of Avalon - WDVR-FM
Awards
- 1997 Cessés Mortels de Soupirer (Sigh no More, Mortals) - Best Music Video: Ohio's National Telly Awards
- 1997 Cessés Mortels de Soupirer (Sigh no More, Mortals) - Best Music Video: International Communicator Awards
- 2003 Texas Renaissance Festival: The Phillip Hafer (King Henry) Memorial MVP Award
External links
- http://www.myspace.com/owainphyfe
- http://www.nightwatchrecording.com
- http://www.owainphyfe.com