Celebrating the 400th death-anniversary of famous Spanish Renaissance composer Tom's Luis de Victoria, the Colby Collegium Chamber Players and Singers performed a late-Renaissance program for an audience with a distinct appreciation or understanding genre of music that requires some cultivation.

On Sunday April 24, the "Music at Colby" series presented, "Early Music Ensembles: Victoria and His Contemporaries" to a nearly full audience of local lute lovers and Colby students.

Lorimer Chapel echoed with the angelic harmonies of Victoria, and his contemporaries, guided by the sweeping gestures of Associate Professor of Music, Todd Borgerding.

While the concert was certainly designed for a specific taste, Borgerding's sparkling humor and genuine excitement for Renaissance convention.

As a testament to his genuine love of Renaissance music, Borgerdering teaches a class called, "Modal and Tonal Counterpoint" -- literally, an entire course on counterpoint) made for an not-quite-exciting but certainly enjoyable concert.

(After explaining the focus of the program, Borgerding joked, "If [Victoria] were alive today," he paused, pseudo-perplexed, "I supposed he'd be very tired and old.")

Although the performance commemorated Renaissance-guru Victoria, the program featured various composers of the 16th century, all of which utilized similar contrapuntal conventions.

The concert started with a quick, joyful choral motet, "Sing Joyfully" (William Byrd), opening the performance with the pretty, crisp sound of soprano voices over the standard counterpoint of early composition.

Next, a slightly longer piece by Victoria himself, "Lamed: Matribus suis dixerunt: Lamentations of Jeremiah no. 5," showcased the continuous flow of polyphonic melodies with the chorus' perfectly rehearsed breathing.

Afterward, the audience chuckled when Borgerding delightedly exclaimed, "That Victoria could put two notes together, certainly!"

Modern reproductions of 16th century instrumentation was showcased in Orfenica Lyra's "Fecit potentiam de Jusquin" and "Fecit Potentiam de Guerrero" (Miguel de Fuenllana).

Noah Teachey '13 demonstrated his Renaissance passion and finger dexterity in a lute solo, where he appeared to impressively play a few parts with closed eyes.

In Byrd's "Two Fantasies," William Norton '13 on recorder, and Allison Hess '13 on bass recorder, joined the lute player in a harmonious exchange, passing the Renaissance melody repeatedly between instruments.

In a short four-part series of Colby student-composed counterpoint melodies from his counterpoint class, Borgderding joined Norton '13 and Hess '13 as they played various-sized recorders in the similar sounding, one-minute duets composed by Celia Friedman '11, James Lasher '12, Alexandra Desaulniers '11, and Kendall Hatch '12.

The audience applauded the Colby counterpoint composers.

Afterward, the chorus featured Geri Morris '11 as soprano soloist in "Bonjour mon Coeur" (Orlande de Lassus), accompanied by the established chamber group, this time with Borgerding on the small-cello-like instrument, the viola de gamba.

Borgerding praised the "fantastic motet by Palestrina" in "Tue es Petrus," where the motif moved most excitingly through voices as Borgerding gesticulated waving hand circles paralleling the crescendos in the text.

After intermission, the audience actually laughed with the start of "Viva fiamma d'Amore Occhi dolci e soavi" (Luca Mernzio) because of the shocking kazoo-sounding 'quack' texture of the popular Renaissance instrument, the crumhorn.

The crumhorn duo, Norton and Hess, played with Borgerding's gamba, and the three accompanied the four male vocalists who heartily sung the madrigal.

Upon the first movement's ending, Borgerding asked, "Didn't expect that, did you?" to the titillated audience.

The men continued to sing, following Borgerding, who conducted while playing the gamba in front of them (at some points, Borgerding sang and played simultaneously!)

Borgerding ended the crumhorn section by joking to the audience about his friend who makes crumhorns for a living: "It's his goal to make a crumhorn that people don't laugh at when they hear it."

After the chorus performed another Victoria standard, "Salve regina," two modern violins (played by Caitlin Hewett '12 and Mariel Lambrukos '13) and a cello (Daniel Baskerville '11) were brought out in "Fantasy" (O. Gibbons) and "Galliard" (C. Gibbons).

Interestingly, the violins were strung with 16th century instrumentation's gut strings and paired with Baroque bows.

The imitative effect of the modern violins with Renaissance facets worked harmoniously as the musicians performed the High Renaissance sonata-esque piece.

The night ended with all instruments and voices coming together for "Matonna mia cara" (Lassus), as different soprano and alto soloists sang with the entire chorus and chamber group.

While Colby Collegium Chamber Players and Singers put on a solid night of crumhorns and cadential 6/4's, the program's death-day celebration of Victoria, and his contemporaries, certainly made the concert target a more musically sophisticated audience.