These three major cities in Renaissance Europe were centers of art and learning, as well as the seats of the power of the Habsburg and Wittlesbach families. These families, in the persons of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria and Holy Roman Emperors Maximilian II and his son Rudolf II, patronized such illustrious composers such as Orlande de Lassus, Philipe de Monte, Jacob Vaet, and Jacob Handl, along with progressive thinkers like Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe, whose intellectual ideas spread throughout the area. It was a time of humanim scientific, and social progress. Scientists and artists were all welcomed to the noble courts. This concert of motets will celebrate these composers’ undeniable musical accomplishments and the role of these three cities within the political complexities of Europe at the twilight of the Renaissance.