This chamber ensemble uses music, images, and movement to bring the Middle Ages to life, inviting audiences to look at timeless human issues from a different angle.

These early music specialists arrange songs for combinations of voices, harp, hurdy-gurdy, winds, vielle, bagpipes, and percussion. They have created over a dozen concert programs, many of which feature narrative structure and are semi-staged.

Meravelha’s performances include newly-composed and improvisational elements, spoken program notes, and projections of translations and medieval art, providing their audience with a multimedia experience.

Their songs feature topics ranging from corruption in politics to talking sheep to demon-possessed zombies and, of course, the trials and tribulations of courtly love.

Teri is the founder of this group and has served as artistic director since 2012. For more information, visit www.meravelha.com (http://www NULL.meravelha NULL.com)

“Night Song” has its roots in the ancient monastic service of Compline, or Evening Prayer.  The music is a fusion of ancient and modern chant, choral pieces, and contemplative modal improvisations, punctuated with periods of silence.  The primary atmosphere of the service is one of respite, stillness, and introspection—thus Night Song holds appeal for people of a variety of faiths and spiritual traditions.

Teri led the Night Song treble ensemble from October 2022 to February 2025. The group performed on the first Sunday of the month.

Jen Lester (the former director of the Seraphim Singers (http://seraphimsingers NULL.org/)) and I had long tossed around the idea of a partnership, and we decided to put together a concert program on the subject of social justice, titled, “In/justice.”

I looked into medieval sources for ideas, knowing there were treasures to be found. I chose for our program two glorious satires, two laments about the state of the world, and a spirited push-back against misogyny from one lady who’d had quite enough.

I was able to locate musical sources for three of the pieces, but for the last two, whatever melodies that once existed for them were lost to time. Not willing to let a little thing like that stop us, I wrote a setting for four-part a cappella choir for one of the songs (“There was a Town” (https://www NULL.terikowiak NULL.com/compositions/#compositions)), and a troubadour-style melody for the other.

Jen for her part picked out some modern pieces for the performance, including James MacMillan’s Cantos Sagrados, which deal with political repression in Latin America, and Trevor Weston’s Visions of Glory, a setting of part the speech MLK Jr. delivered the night before he died.

“In/justice” had its premiere in November 2022, a performance that was at times defiant, spicy, chilling, poignant–and served with a generous helping of satire-style snark.

This unlikely combination of soprano saxophone, voice, lute, and viola da gamba was born out of a love of both modern and ancient popular music.  Heavily influenced by jazz, country rock, impressionistic poetry, and lute composer greats like John Dowland, Night’s Blackbird (https://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/nightsblackbird/) created a body of new works and imaginative covers.  Teri was the lead singer for this group, also lending lyrics and melodies to their original songs.