Photograph by Barbara Hill
Meravelha was formed in 2012 in Boston for the purpose of making medieval music accessible to a wider audience through live performances. Using music, poetry, and movement, the ensemble tells stories that reflect themes illustrated within the songs and cultures of the 11th-15th centuries. The name “Meravelha,” which translates as “marvel” or “wonder” was taken from the song “Non es meravelha s’eu chan” (It is no wonder that I sing) by Bernard de Ventadorn, a 12th-century troubadour.
Meravelha frequently performs self-produced concerts around the Greater Boston area, and has also appeared at the 2013 IBERICA Early Music Festival, in a fringe concert at the 2013 Boston Early Music Festival, and on the SoHIP Summer Concert Series in 2014, 2016, and 2025
Current Ensemble Members
Teri Kowiak, artistic director
A graduate of the Longy School of Music’s Master’s in Early Music Program, Teri Kowiak specializes in the historically-inspired performance of medieval, renaissance and baroque music while also performing a wide range of styles including classical, jazz, traditional Irish/Celtic, and premiering new compositions. Her repertoire spans from the chants of Hildegard von Bingen to Samuel Barber to James Bond Movie themes to newly-composed choral works. She greatly enjoys vocal improvisation in many styles and collaborative composition via improvisation.
She is a featured vocalist on the premier solo album “Redline” by bagpiper Michael McNutt (of Cu Dubh) and has performed with Cappella Clausura, the Seraphim Singers, Red Shift (Baton Rouge, LA), Lorelei, the Harvard Early Music Society, and the choir of the Church of Our Saviour in Brookline, MA.
She is the lead singer of the eclectic band Night’s Blackbird, for whom she has written lyrics and melodies.
Outside of performing, Teri loves to help others make music. She runs a thriving private voice studio, gives workshops on performance practice, and provides choral coaching to local ensembles. She is also a librettist and writer of speculative fiction.
Barbara Allen Hill, executive director
Highly regarded for her artistry and versatility, Barbara is a multi-genre artist performing and recording the music of the Middle Ages through the present day. Recent solo performances include Mozart's Coronation Mass, Kate Bush’s Pi (arr Kyle Sanna), Richard Clark's Te Deum, and Britten’s The Company of Heaven, as well as concert appearances with Seven Times Salt, Hesperus, The Henry Purcell Society of Boston, and the Cambridge Midwinter Revels. As an ensemble member, she has appeared with Emmanuel Music, Ensemble Altera, Nightingale Vocal Ensemble, and The Crossing. Highlighted contemporary premiers and recordings include Gavin Bryars: The Fifth Century (2018 GRAMMY Award for Best Choral Performance), Julia Wolfe’s Fire in my mouth with the NY Philharmonic and The Crossing in January 2019 (premier), and appearing as the mezzo-soprano soloist in the premiere of Heidi Breyer’s Amor Aeternus: A Requiem for the Common Man at Carnegie Hall.
Barbara is a member of Beyond Artists and donates a portion of her artistic earnings to organizations such as 350.org. (beyondartists.com)
barbaraahill.com
Jaya Lakshminarayanan
Described as “a stunning soprano…moving and charismatic” by the Boston Musical Intelligencer, Jaya Lakshminarayanan has appeared in concert series and dramatic productions throughout New England and in Pennsylvania, Portugal and Italy. Her stage credits extend from the twelfth century to the twenty-first, and include Procris in Jacquet de la Guerre’s Cephale et Procris, Pirithous in Conradi’s Die schöne und getreue Ariadne, and Castitas and Misericordia in Hildegard of Bingen’s Ordo Virtutum. She has appeared as a soloist with the Philharmonic Society of Arlington, Seven Times Salt, and the Andover Choral society, and as a chorister has sung with the Handel and Haydn Society and the Choir of the Church of the Advent. As a harpist, she has performed with the Boston Christmas Revels and the Wellesley Collegium, and as a Jeopardy! contestant she lost, but still effected what may be the first ever mention of a vielle on syndicated television. She holds degrees from Chatham College and the Longy School of Music.
Dan Meyers
A versatile multi-instrumentalist, Dan Meyers is an enthusiastic performer of both classical and folk music; his credits range from contemporary chamber music, to the Newport Folk Festival, to playing Renaissance instruments on Broadway for Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Company. He is a founding member of the early music/folk crossover group Seven Times Salt and the medieval music ensemble Meravelha, and in recent seasons he has performed with the The Folger Consort, The Boston Camerata, The Newberry Consort, Hesperus, The Henry Purcell Society of Boston, Early Music New York, Amherst Early Music, The 21st Century Consort, and In Stile Moderno. He also enjoys playing traditional Irish music with the band ISHNA, and eclectic fusion from around the Mediterranean with the US/Italy-based group Zafarán. He has taught historical wind instruments for the Five Colleges Early Music Program in MA, at Tufts University, and at workshops around the US. Dan holds a Master of Music degree from the Longy School of Music.
Catherine Stein
In high school, Catherine Stein, mezzo, used to go to her best friends' house after school to sing madrigals. Then at UNCG, where she studied the oboe and completed her B.A. in music history, she found her people in the Collegium Musicum, UNCG's period performance ensemble under the direction of Patricia Petersen and later Elaine Peterson. She then attended the Longy School of Music for her Master of Music in Early Music Performance, studying Baroque oboe with Stephen Hammer, Renaissance reeds with Daniel Stillman, and early vocal performance with Laurie Monahan. In addition to Meravelha, she plays shawm, dulcian, and recorder with the Seven Hills Renaissance Wind Band, and freelances on the Baroque oboe. By day, she is a web developer for Wayfair.com. By night, she can often be found at home in Somerville with her husband Matthew, daughter Cora, and cat Damon.