A Reasonable Facsimile, the wife and husband duo of Anne and Rob Burns, brings to life the popular music of Shakespeare’s time with an assortment of appropriate instruments including cittern, 4-course guitar, dulcimer, recorders, fifes, shawms and percussion. Their program features dynamic arrangements of ballads and dance tunes from England circa 1550-1650. A Reasonable Facsimile has revitalized the music of the Renaissance, gathering selections which were popular in their day and delight modern audiences as well. A Reasonable Facsimile has released two albums on the Second from the Bottom label.

Anne and Rob are long time performers of early music. They have performed at Indiana Afternoons Performing Arts Series, the New Year’s Fest of Kalamazoo (Michigan), the Michigan Renaissance Festival, the Bristol Renaissance Faire (Wisconsin), the Ann Arbor Art Fair, the Boston Early Music Festival, Scarborough Faire (Texas), the Detroit Institute of Arts Brunch with Bach Series, and for school children in Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Massachusetts and the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan.

Both Anne and Rob received Bachelors of Arts degrees with concentrations in early music but found working at Renaissance festivals, coffeehouses, art fairs and community concerts in the Great Lakes area to be a practical educational experience which drew on their offbeat senses of humor. This tomfoolery is now an integral part of A Reasonable Facsimile’s performances.

Anne Burns began playing the modern flute in grade school and soon advanced to private lessons on both flute and piano. She was fascinated by different instruments and played flute, piccolo, oboe, saxophone, recorder, guitar and double bass by the time she completed high school. Anne liked to read about old instruments, and the diversity of the early music performers so appealed to her that she was inspired to learn some Renaissance and Baroque instruments.

When Rob Burns was a high school senior, he purchased a recording of old instruments and decided to learn the recorder. He taught himself recorder, classical guitar and modern flute, and found himself thrust into the performance spotlight at the small private college he first attended. When he changed colleges, he joined the band as a flutist at his new university. Rob was also interested in different modern instruments and took courses in bassoon and cello. He pursued a major in music composition before being drawn back to the recorder and other early instruments.

RESUME

Anne Burns

EDUCATION:
Bachelor of Arts in Music, Oakland University
(concentration in early music)
INSTRUMENTS:
cittern, 4-course guitar (gittern), flutes, recorder, fife, 6-hole pipe, 3-hole pipe, crumhorn, shawm, voice
PERFORMING ENSEMBLES:
A Reasonable Facsimile (Renaissance street & popular) - 1982 to present
The Little Dickens Band (Olden time popular) - 1986 to present
Old Oaks Renaissance Consort (Good Company) (Renaissance & Medieval) - 1978 to present
Canzonet (Renaissance Vocal Trio) - 2014 to present
On Flute and Dulcimer - 1988 to present
Clarkston Community Band - 2013 to 2014
Interlochen College of Creative Arts Summer Early Music Workshop Ensemble - 2010 to present
Continuous Treble Baroque Ensemble - 1985 to 1988
Oakland University Collegium Musicum - 1978 to 1981
Guest with Warren (Michigan) Symphony - 1985 (recorder)
Guest with La Salle Baroque Ensemble - 1984 (Baroque flute)
RECORDINGS:
About as close as you can get, A Reasonable Facsimile, 1987, Second from the Bottom Records SBR001; The merry pranks of Robin Goodfellow, A Reasonable Facsimile, 1989, Second from the Bottom Records SBR002; A Christmas Stocking Stuffer, The Little Dickens Band, 1992, Second from the Bottom Records SBR003; Popular Music of the Renaissance, A Reasonable Facsimile, 1993, Second from the Bottom Records SBR001/2 (Double Album combining About as close as you can get and The merry pranks of Robin Goodfellow)
DIVERSIONS:
Microfilm and Back Issues Librarian, Lute Society of America

Rob Burns

EDUCATION:
Bachelor of Arts in Music, Oakland University (concentration in early music)
INSTRUMENTS:
recorder, flutes, viola da gamba, mandora, dulcimer, 4-course guitar (gittern), fife, 6-hole pipe, 3-hole pipe, crumhorn, shawm, early percussion, voice
PERFORMING ENSEMBLES:
A Reasonable Facsimile (Renaissance street & popular) - 1982 to present
The Little Dickens Band (Olden time popular) - 1986 to present
Old Oaks Renaissance Consort (Good Company) (Renaissance & Medieval) - 1978 to 80; 1982 to present
Fluidity (Four flutes and a cello) - 2014 to present
On Flute and Dulcimer - 1988 to present
Clarkston Community Band - 2009 to 2014
North Oakland Concert Band - 2009 to present
Interlochen College of Creative Arts Summer Adult Band - 2009 to present
Continuous Treble Baroque Ensemble - 1985 to 1988
La Salle Baroque Ensemble - 1979 to 1984
Oakland University Collegium Musicum - 1976 to 1978
Guest with Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra - 2012 (cimbalom & hammered dulcimer)
Guest with Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra - 2010 (cimbalom)
Guest with Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra - 2009 (hammered dulcimer)
Guest with Detroit Symphony Pops Orchestra - 2004 (hammered dulcimer)
Guest, Christ Church (Grosse Pointe Michigan) Orchestra - 1990 (recorder)
Guest with Warren (Michigan) Symphony - 1985 (recorder)
Soloist, Clarkston Community Band - 2012 (recorder)
Soloist, North Oakland Concert Band - 2012 (recorder)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
Private Instructor of Recorder, Baroque Flute, Hammered Dulcimer
Instructor of Baroque Flute, Oakland University, 1990
Instructor of Recorder, Oakland University, 1993
Private Instructor of Recorder, Brookside School, Cranbrook, 1995
RECORDINGS:
About as close as you can get, A Reasonable Facsimile, 1987, Second from the Bottom Records SBR001; The merry pranks of Robin Goodfellow, A Reasonable Facsimile, 1989, Second from the Bottom Records SBR002; A Christmas Stocking Stuffer, The Little Dickens Band, 1992, Second from the Bottom Records SBR003; Popular Music of the Renaissance, A Reasonable Facsimile, 1993, Second from the Bottom Records SBR001/2 (Double Album combining About as close as you can get and The merry pranks of Robin Goodfellow)
DIVERSIONS:
Manager of User Support Services, Kresge Library, Oakland University