Though Musica Universalis is certainly no stranger to formal concerts, we very much enjoy collaborating with artists from other disciplines to create performances with dimensions beyond the usual setting of a band on stage in front of a seated audience. These are some of our favorite recent collaborations. You’ll also find information here about new projects as we develop them.

Upcoming Projects

Veronica, In Bed

Written by Briana Ratterman Trevithick
Directed by Štěpán Šimek

Thursday, December 5th

Friday, December 6th

Saturday, December 7th

Shaking the Tree Theatre, 823 SE Grant St.

Veronica, In Bed is a multimedia performance that blends live music, poetry, puppetry, and old-world spectacle. It delves into the life of Veronica Franco, a 16th-century courtesan and poet, exploring the complex relationship between sex, power, creativity, and survival.

A Winter Celebration

Friday, December 20

Saturday, December 21

Sunday, December 22

“The2509,” 2509 NE Clackamas St., Portland

Musica Universalis remounts our very popular Winter concert for another round of mystical and magical carols for winter and advent.

Past Projects

In this concert featuring renowned recorder virtuoso Cléa Galhano, we showcased selections from the Cantigas de Santa Maria performed in Musica Universalis’ vibrant style. The Cantigas de Santa Maria are 420 poems with musical notation, written in the medieval Galician-Portuguese language during the reign of Alfonso X of Castile El Sabio (1221–1284). The performances took place in May of 2024.

Piercing the Veil is a musical and theatrical exploration of the Celtic origins of Halloween. Featuring the music of Musica Universalis, puppetry by Birdie Amico and Keziah Peterson of Kettlehead Studios, and performance by Briana Ratterman, the show, directed by Štěpán Šimek, weaves together a tapestry of stories from the vast body Irish mythology reenacted by original puppets with music, songs, and poetry.

Piercing the Veil ran for two sold-out weeks in October 2023.

Written by director Štěpán Šimek and actor Jean-Luc Boucherot, Danse Macabre is based on the work of François Villon, the 15th-century French poet, rabble-rouser, and thief. In this one-actor play, Boucherot performs poetry in both French and English from Le Testament, Villon’s monumental, autobiographical work written in 1461. The play also features dancer Briana Ratterman, who inhabits a life-sized figure of Death that both shadows and inspires the poet. Musica Universalis’s live score includes music of Villon’s time, along with settings of his poetry by modern composers including Kurt Weill and Georges Brassens.

Danse Macabre was created in 2019 and 2020, only to be shut down by the COVID-19 pandemic on the afternoon of opening night. The show was resurrected for a very successful run in the fall of 2021.

Click or touch for a gallery of photos from the show.

Krampus Unplugged: The Gritty Tales of St. Nicholas