Thirty-two-year-old tradition still going strong at NDSU
Madrigal Dinners feature Renaissance food and holiday entertainment
For more than 30 years, the NDSU Madrigal Singers have hosted a night of Renaissance food and holiday entertainment.
The 32nd annual NDSU Madrigal Dinners will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, through Sunday, Dec. 3, in the Reineke Fine Arts Center Challey Atrium.
Edwin Fissinger, a composer and choir director at NDSU from 1967 to 1985, put on the first madrigal dinners.
Michael J. Weber, assistant director of Choral Activities, is directing this year’s event.
Although NDSU has hosted the dinners for the last 32 years, they are by no means the only place to present this unique form of Renaissance dinner theatre.
Madrigal dining has become an artform in itself, combining singing, acting and dining to immerse the audience in the Renaissance culture.
The event features a performance by the Madrigal Singers, a group of 20 vocalists singing 16th Century music.
The word “madrigal” refers to the style of music used in the performance.
The music that is performed is a combination of both Renaissance music and modern Christmas carols.
The music choices will vary slightly from dinner to dinner, but two songs in particular have become traditional to Madrigal dining.
“ The Wassail Song” and “The Boar’s Head Carol” are almost always performed during the presentation of the meals.
“ The Wassail Song” is not really a Christmas carol, but is in fact a New Year’s song.
“ The Boar’s Head Carol” is a hymn that celebrates eating the boar, or pig, after it’s been hunted.
As with the music selection, the food choices at the Madrigal Dinners will vary from dinner to dinner.
At the NDSU Madrigal Dinner, there won’t be a boar as the main course, but there will be bourbon marinated pork chops as the primary meat entrée.
Other entrée choices on the menu include grilled chicken with béarnaise sauce, vegetable kabobs and pork chops.
Other dishes that will be served include wild rice, rosemary roasted potatoes, green beans, whole grain breads, fruit and cheese.
The dessert this year will be wild raspberry cake.
“ I approve the menu every year,” Weber said of his involvement with the meal choices. “I meet with the food service here on campus and we design the meal choices. We try to vary the food from year to year, unless something is very popular.”
The third component of Madrigal dining is theater.
Between the singing and the meal is usually a short, humorous play called a “masque,” which is the focus of the entertainment, and includes wearing authentic Renaissance costumes.
Weber believes the Madrigal Dinner is an important event here at NDSU, both for the school and for the music department.
“ (It’s) an opportunity to learn more about the diverse nature of the music department and all that it has to offer,” he said.
This is the fifth year Weber has directed the NDSU Madrigal Dinner.
Weber also directed the Madrigal Dinner at the University of Arizona when he attended graduate school.
He has participated in numerous dinners throughout his undergraduate education.
Tickets for the 32nd Annual NDSU Madrigal Dinner are $35 and are available through the NDSU Division of Fine Arts Box Office at 701-231-9442.