1776 to 1861: 85 years in which America wasn’t coming up to its own mark, minted in The Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal …” The Newberry Consort fills that time span—from revolution to reckoning—with square piano, keyed bugle (which started the brass band movement in 19th-century America), fiddle, percussion, and an ensemble of vocal specialists. Music on the program comes from a wide variety of American cultures and traditions, including choral and sacred harp music, Moravian sacred music, solo salon and cotillion music, military music, spirituals, and abolitionist music. There’s also a world premiere composition for American period instruments (and voices) by the composer and bass-baritone Jonathan Woody. —Laura Jacobs

Performances of Revolution!: May 7, at the First Presbyterian Church of Evanston; May 8, at the First Unitarian Church of Hyde Park; May 9, at the Saint Joseph Chapel in Milwaukee; and May 10, at Ganz Hall at Roosevelt University, in Chicago. A virtual broadcast streams online from June 1 to 22