Micrologus

Among the numerous early music groups in Italy, the Micrologus ensemble is the longest standing in the revival of medieval music. Today, having reached 40 years of activity, it continues to find new paths and new modes of interpretation, attracting a growing number of listeners and enthusiasts with concerts in Italy and around the world.

Founded in 1984 by Umbrian musicians Patrizia Bovi, Goffredo Degli Esposti and Gabriele Russo, together with Adolfo Broegg (1961–2006), it has created over 60 different shows (some in theatrical forms with sets and costumes), and recorded 28 CDs, including two awarded the Diapason d’Or de l’Année, another with The Best of 2000 Award from Goldberg magazine and a “Biggest Surprise” title from the Boston Globe in 2009, in the Top Classical Albums of the year list. 

The ensemble has been regularly invited to many of the most important festivals in Europe (Urbino, Montpellier, Vienna Konzerthaus, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Southbank Centre in London, York Early Music Festival, Festival des Flandres, Kraków and Jarosław in Poland), as well as to numerous international concert activities (Japan, Mexico, Canada, United States). 

Micrologus’s work, based on careful historical and musicological research and strongly influenced by the study of musical traditions, earns it well-deserved recognition as among the most important performers of the medieval repertoire. A key to its success with audiences is its exceptionally lively and accessible musical style, made possible by its ability to blend various instrumental colours with vocal polyphony. It collaborates with theatre and cinema. In addition to creating several soundtracks, the ensemble’s musicians arranged and performed the soundtrack for Gabriele Salvatores’s film Mediterraneo which won the 1991 Oscar. In the years 2007–2010, it took part in the contemporary dance show Myth, created by Belgian choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, performing on a long world tour. 

The ability to relate to various forms of performance has allowed Micrologus to collaborate with musicians from other cultural backgrounds, producing recordings and concerts with such musicians as Daniele Sepe, Ramberto Ciammarughi, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, Giovanna Marini, and Vinicio Capossela.