African Ensemble

Denton Waites is an early music ensemble devoted to the repertory of medieval and Renaissance Europe. The original waites were the night watchmen and civic musicians of English towns, who walked the streets after dark sounding their shawms and played at processions, feasts, and civic ceremonies. In that spirit, Denton Waites takes up the music those musicians and their contemporaries actually played and sang. 

At times, the ensemble sings and plays from original notation, working directly from facsimiles and part books written centuries before bar lines, conductors, and rehearsal numbers. Repertory ranges across conducti and estampies, French and Italian chansons, and English consort music. UNT’s early instrument collection provides crumhorns, recorders, viols, and percussion. Decisions about tempo, ornamentation, and balance are made collectively, in the moment, the way the sources invite. 

The ensemble is open to students, faculty, and community members free of charge. There is no fee to participate, and the ensemble carries no course credit. Basic music literacy is the only requirement, and no prior experience with early repertoire or period instruments is needed, only curiosity. Each semester closes with an informance, an informal program where the group shares what it has discovered and how. 

Denton Waites was founded as a pilot project, with funding from the American Musicological Society. 

Director: 
Billy Traylor 

Contact: BillyTraylor@my.unt.edu