Musica Maestrale
Barbara Allen Hill, soprano
Dan Meyers, recorders
Hideki Yamaya, Renaissance lute, theorbo

July 15-17 Musica Maestrale

Airs de Cour: Court Songs of 17th-century France

Musica Maestrale makes their SoHIP debut with a program of music highlighting the charming courtly songs of 17th-century France. Dating from the reigns of the French kings Louis XIII (“the Just”) and XIV (“the Sun King”), these pieces were primarily meant for private consumption by the nobility, and they display a tender, intimate side of early- to mid-Baroque music. Airs by Moulinié, Lambert, Guedron and their contemporaries, and instrumental solos by Ballard, de Visée, and others express sentiments of loss, longing, and heartbreak—still very relatable subjects to us today, who are separated from the original intended audience through time and social status. Learn More

July 22-24 Meravelha

Golden Rule: Songs of Corruption and Justice

The quest for political power has changed little over the centuries. Kings and Presidents, popes and senators, all have their partisans, their detractors, their scandals, and their victories. Long before today's 24-hour news cycle, the propaganda machine ran on verse. Meravelha’s timely tour of Medieval political songs explores themes of nationalism, corruption, greed, propaganda, and justice for the common people. The program includes songs of the troubadours, works by Philip the Chancellor and Robert Morton, and selections from the Roman de Fauvel, the Trinity Carol Roll, the Notre Dame conductus repertoire, and the Carmina Burana. Between songs, the performers provide cultural and historical context for the music, and modern readings from social media and public commentary connect these works to our contemporary experiences. Learn More

Meravelha
Teri Kowiak, voice, artistic director
Joy Grimes, vielle
Barbara Allen Hill, voice, percussion 
Jaya Lakshminarayanan, voice, harp
Dan Meyers, voice, winds, percussion
Eric Miller, voice, hurdy gurdy
Catherine Stein, voice, winds

Ad Libitum Ensemble
Jesse Lepkoff, traverso, recorders
Na'ama Lion, traverso
Carol Lewis, pardessus, bass viol
Marina Minkin, harpsichord

July 29-31 Ad Libitum Ensemble

La mAgnifique: Music at Versailles

“La Magnifique” invites us into the realm of elegant and refined court music at the Palace of Versailles. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, France was governed by music-loving rulers who assigned great importance to the role of arts in society. They promoted not only grand genres such as the ballet de cour or tragedie lyrique but also intimate, sophisticated forms of instrumental chamber music written by the leading composer-performers of the day. In particular, the transverse flute repertoire reached great heights; solos, duets and trio sonatas were extremely popular at that time. Breathing new life into these petite masterpieces, Ad Libitum Ensemble performs works by such masters as Couperin, Hotteterre, Marais, Clerambault, Rameau, and Dieupart, all featuring the luminescent colors of Baroque flutes, viola da gamba, and harpsichord.

August 5-7
The Aulos and the Kithara

Reimaginings

Throughout history, musicians have engaged with familiar and beloved music by reimagining it in their own new ways. They may use melodies as the cantus firmus for new compositions, reharmonize works, transform one style into another, ornament and embellish pieces, or arrange them for novel instrumentation, like modern cover songs. In this new program, The Aulos and the Kithara explore the diverse ways that earlier composers reimagined well known material of their times, with their own creative twist. Some reimaginings involve minor adaptations to the instrumentation, while others reshape the original material into something completely new. This unique trio of recorder, viola da gamba, and the rarely heard harp guitar performs music by Sermisy, Ortiz, Bach, Gounod, and multiple O’Briens that is sure to delight the ears and spark the imagination.

The Aulos and the Kithara
Emily O'Brien, recorders, voice
Michael O'Brien, guitar, harp guitar, voice
Nathan Varga, double bass, viola da gamba

Nota Bene Viol Consort
Joanna Blendulf, Wendy Gillespie, Sarah Mead, Emily Walhout, viols
Anney Barrett, soprano
Michael Barrett, tenor & recorder

June 11-13 Nota Bene viol consort

so far from home

The experience of exile can take many forms–from banishment to estrangement to homesickness. The despair of being unwillingly separated from all that is familiar resonates deeply in the human soul. Voices and viols unite in 16th-century polyphony from Spain, France, Holland, Italy, England, and Germany that depicts both physical and psychological exile. From well-known composers Dowland, Rossi, and Ferrabosco to the less Ruimonte, Camphuysen, and Cavendish, the ensemble has sought out a variety of perspectives on displacement and isolation. Two New England composers, Will Ayton and Roy Sansom, contribute contemporary perspectives on ancient themes. As our society experiences social fragmentation, massive migration, and wars between neighbors, the themes of exile and separation resonate with many of us. This concert connects us across time with people who experienced similar upheavals and sought hope through music just as we do today. Learn More

June 18-20 miryam

shir levi’im: a song of levites

MIRYAM traces the thread of Jewish resilience and creativity from medieval Iberia to Baroque Amsterdam. Shir Levi’im (the song of the Levites) refers both to the ancient Levites who sang psalms of worship in the Temple, and 11th-c. Sephardic poet Yehuda Halevi, whose surname evokes this musical heritage. In 1593, Portuguese Jews began to resettle in Amsterdam, and by 1675 the thriving community had built the Esnoga or synagogue. Its library contains a wealth of historical documents including Hebrew-language musical scores spanning the late Baroque and early Classical eras. This collection allows a glimpse into the rich musical life of the Portuguese Jews of Amsterdam, who commissioned works from both Christian and Jewish composers. The program features music of Caceres and Lidarti, mystical poems by Yehuda Halevi, and a new setting of the Kaddish Shalem, a central prayer of thanksgiving and praise. Learn More

MIRYAM
Lev DePaolo, soprano
Hilary Anne Walker, mezzo-soprano Marika Holmqvist, violin
Emily Hale, violin
Sarah Freiberg, cello
Juan Mesa, Italian virginal

The Pandora Consort
Kendra Comstock, Angie Tyler,
Gina Marie Falk, voices, harmonium
Cate Duckwall, visual artist

June 25-27 the pandora consort

hildegard reanimated: vision in vision

The Pandora Consort explores the mystical visions of Hildegard von Bingen through her illuminations and music. Hildegard is an impressive figure in many regards; she was a theologian, philosopher, botanist, doctor, magistra (mother superior), and one of the first named composers of music. Hildegard experienced visions (“umbra viventis lucis” or “the reflection of the living light”) from the age of three up to her death, and many of her writings and illuminations are a result of these visions. Hildegard’s writings, visions, and music are inextricably linked in her life and philosophy. Taking inspiration from her life, we weave them together in a concert program focused on four of her most famous visions that influenced her spiritual philosophy. Working with visual artist Cate Duckwall to bring these visions to life, this concert features music from Hildegard’s vast oeuvre accompanied by artistic animations of key illuminations, creating a multimedia experience. Learn More

July 9-11 guts baroque

Fantasticus!

Guts Baroque with featured guest Andrus Madsen will perform whimsical, varied, and fantastical instrumental music from the 17th-century courts of what is now Germany and Austria. Emperor Leopold I, himself a musician and composer, brought several prominent Italian musicians across the Alps to Vienna. These guests, including violin virtuoso Antonio Bertali, received good salaries and plenty of opportunities to perform, to compose, and to teach the new generation of German musicians the Stylus Fantasticus: the Italian style of purely instrumental fantasies made popular by Italian composers such as Girolamo Frescobaldi. Bertali’s student Johann Heinrich Schmelzer further developed the style, and his innovations helped spread it throughout what is now Germany, teaching and inspiring other prominent composers including Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber. Learn More

Guts Baroque
Sylvia Schwartz, violin
Rebecca Shaw, viola da gamba
Andrus Madsen, harpsichord

The Berlin Trio
Mary Oleskiewicz, flute
Georgina McKay Lodge, viola
David Schulenberg, fortepiano

july 16-18 the berlin trio

The 18th-century Salon: Music by Bach’s Son

The Berlin Trio presents a set of quartets featuring the enchanting and unusual instrumentation of flute, viola, and fortepiano. Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach composed these distinctive quartets in 1788, and they embody the expressive and innovative style characteristic of Berlin court composers during this transitional period between the late Baroque and early Classical eras. The writing is equitable for all three instruments, with elegant motives and virtuosic embellishments gracefully exchanged between them. Autographs from arts patron Sara Levy’s personal library suggest that she commissioned these quartets for her salon, which served as a hub for intellectuals, attracting some of the most talented composers associated with King Frederick “the Great’s” court.

july 23-25 sempervirens

Let’s Make arrangements

Sempervirens presents a brand new program spanning the Middle Ages to the present day. Four virtuoso recorder players join forces to perform music originally written for lute, organ, piano, voice, saxophone, and even symphony orchestra, all arranged to highlight the remarkable sound of the recorder consort. This highly varied repertoire includes vocal works by 15th-c. Franco-Flemish masters Busnois and Josquin, keyboard variations of Bach and Sweelinck, selections from Ligeti’s Bagatelles and Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, and dances ranging from the Medieval estampie to the Romantic tango. You’ll discover music that’s so compelling, Sempervirens just had to make arrangements to play it!

Sempervirens
Héloïse Degrugillier, Daniel Meyers, Emily O’Brien, Roy Sansom, recorders

Xacarilla
Camila Parias, soprano
Christa Patton, harp
with
Jason Priset, guitar
Dan Meyers, percussion, recorders, flute

july 30-August 1 xacarilla

cantos y suspiros

Xacarilla explores the sumptuous sound world of 17th-c. Spanish songs and dances. “Cantos y Suspiros” tells of the pleasures and treacheries of love as depicted in nature by the birds, wind, sea, and forest. This rich poetic landscape is illuminated by the music of master composers Juan Hidalgo, Juan de Návas, José Marín, Cristóbal Galán, Santiago de Murcia, Diego Fernández de Huete, and others. Selected songs from a collection held at the Hispanic Society of America in New York City round out the program. Colombian soprano Camila Parias’ crystalline tone joins eloquent plucked strings, plaintive winds, and colorful percussion to bring to life these rarely-heard love songs. Learn More

july 6-8 Kim Leeds & Dani Zanuttini-Frank

blistering passions

Kim Leeds and Dani Zanuttini-Frank make their SoHIP debut with a compelling program of English and Italian music that explores imagery of burning love and icy rejection. Lute songs of the 17th century prominently feature these amorous themes, often through surprising allegories of pastoral idylls, militaristic conquests, and discordant bodily organs. Across its different allegorical incarnations, love pushes our 17th century poets to the physical breaking point: blazing heat and bitter cold express love's blistering sensation throughout this program. The duo performs works by Girolamo Frescobaldi, Barbara Strozzi, Francesca Caccini, Henry Purcell, William Lawes, and others. Learn More

Kim Leeds, mezzo-soprano
Dani Zanuttini-Frank, lute, theorbo