The 2025-26 season of the Saint Bartholomew Concert Series begins on Saturday, September 13 at 7:00 p.m. with the event, "Journey through Time with a Hurdy-Gurdy." It features Spanish musician Tomás Lozano, who comes to Columbus from Bloomington, IN. The music series is hosted by Saint Bartholomew Catholic Church, located at 1306 27th Street, Columbus, IN 47201 (corner of National Road and Home Avenue). A fundraising dinner in support of scouts will precede the concert in the Parish Hall from 6:00-7:00 p.m. Admission for the concert is free, donations are welcome.

Step back in time with singer, musician, and scholar Tomás Lozano into the peculiar world of the hurdy-gurdy. Discover how this curious instrument made its mysterious appearance in the Middle Ages in Europe. From monks in churches to street minstrels to blind beggars to peasants and eventually to the French nobility in the Baroque period, follow the hurdy-gurdy’s journey as it moved through society.

How was this multifaceted instrument used by all these different people? How did the tunes and songs differ? How did the models, sizes and shapes evolve? How did it make it to the present? What does it look like and sound like today?

Join Tomás Lozano in this highly experiential and informational performance by way of live demonstrations and visual projections. Be amazed, as Lozano plays different styles, tunings and even invites you to peer into the secret and hidden mechanics that make the hurdy-gurdy work.

Program outline:
This program combines a power-point presentation and a live hurdy-gurdy performance. Mr. Lozano begins by featuring the mother of the hurdy-gurdy, the organistrum, via images from sculptures in churches in Spain in the 11th Century. He shows the evolution of the instrument as it appears in art in Europe, while telling anecdotes about its fluctuations through social classes during different historical periods. He intersperses live hurdy-gurdy performances to provide a real feel for the explanations and demonstrates how the instrument works mechanically. The program is dynamic, full of funny anecdotes, images and historical facts.