Galway-based Resurgam, Ireland’s leading project-based choral ensemble, will be in concert in the city’s St Nicholas’ Collegiate Church on Saturday, June 1.

The event, with the English Cornet and Sackbut Ensemble, is part of the Galway Early Music Festival and will start at 8pm.

Resurgam has been entertaining audiences for over 18 years with an historically informed repertoire brought to life with freshness and passion, under the directorship of Mark Duley.

For this concert, entitled Siege to Siege, Resurgam and the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble will partner with The St Nicholas’ Collegium, making it a real community event.

The music in the programme comes from a period in history when large empires and their constant drive for territory and power resulted in major political changes.

The Habsburg Empire, which dominated a large area of Central Europe from the early 16th century to the turn of the 19th century, was one of the most powerful of these dynasties.

There were many conflicts during its different iterations and under its many monarchs – and it was also involved in major revolutions in history, culture and music.

The programme for June 1 will follow the milestone battles of the 16th and 17th centuries, tracing the major lines of conflict and contact between the Holy Roman Empire (Habsburgs) and the Ottoman Empire.

The concert will explore how musical and cultural interactions created an era of thriving musical activity in Europe.

Resurgam has been praised for its “power and confidence” by Gramophone Magazine, while the music company Europadisc singled out Mark Duley’s “unerringly passed direction” and the choir’s “imposing yet wonderfully sensitive sound”.

The previous night, Friday, May 31, Resurgam and the English Cornet and Sackbut Ensemble will team up with St Muredach’s Cathedral Choir in Ballina, County Mayo, to perform the same programme.

Tickets for both shows are available at www.resurgam.ie.

This year’s Galway Early Music Festival will run from Friday next, May 31, to Sunday, June 9,  with events in Galway City and Headford.

More information at www.galwayearlymusic.com.