(Washington, DC) Folger Consort, the early music ensemble in residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library, explores spirited music from an age of innovation in its 2009/10 season, entitled Circa 1610 . Science, ideas, and the arts flourished circa 1610, transforming the world and worldviews. As Galileo revolutionized understanding of the cosmos with his telescope, adventurous artists created “brave new worlds” with their music.
The Consort’s season opens in October with A Harmony of Friends, featuring music from Italy and China and performances by virtuoso pipa (Chinese lute) player Yang Wei. In December, the Consort is joined by Cantate Chamber Singers for Christmas concerts in the Folger’s festively decorated Elizabethan Theater, this year celebrating German Christmas music with In Dulci Jubilo. The Consort travels to Washington National Cathedral in January for two performances of Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, celebrating this masterpiece’s 400th anniversary. In March, the Consort returns to the Folger for Ballets and Brawls, showcasing French music of court and countryside. The season comes to a close in April with songs for lute, voice, and viol in A Musical Banquet. In addition, pre-concert discussions and early music seminars offer an opportunity for audiences to learn more about early music.
A five-concert subscription is now on sale for only $180—a savings off individual ticket prices. Individual tickets ($35-$50) go on sale on Tuesday, September 1, at 10am. Both subscriptions and single tickets can be purchased at www.folger.edu/consort or by calling the Folger box office at 202.544.7077.
FOLGER CONSORT’S 2009/10 SEASON:
Music of Italy and China
A HARMONY OF FRIENDS
In the Folger Elizabethan Theater
October 2-4, 2009
With sopranos Jolle Greenleaf and Elizabeth Hungerford, virtuoso pipa player Yang Wei, violin, and harpsichord
By 1610, Italian musicians were well on their way to creating the adventurous new style we now call Baroque. Jesuit priest Matteo Ricci, author of An Essay on Friendship , died that year after spending 20 years in China. In this season-opening concert, the Folger Consort and guest artists join in a speculative reconstruction of a musical evening Ricci and his Chinese friends may have enjoyed in Beijing. Our program includes Italian song and brilliant instrumental music by Francesca Caccini (the first woman to compose an opera), Sigismundo d’India, Biagio Marini, and others, along with music from China performed by guest virtuoso pipa (a short-necked Chinese lute) player Yang Wei.
Hailed as “a golden soprano” and “an exciting soloist” by The New York Times, Jolle Greenleaf has established herself as a leading specialist in repertoire from the 17th and 18th centuries. Soprano Elizabeth Hungerford is an early music voice major at The Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and has been a featured soloist on Public Radio International’s Carols for Christmas program. Virtuoso pipa player Yang Wei has performed throughout Asia, Europe, and North America alongside world-famous cellist Yo Yo Ma as part of the Silk Road Ensemble.
A Harmony of Friends is presented in conjunction with the Folger exhibition Imagining China: The View from Europe, 1550-1700, on view September 17, 2009 – January 2, 2010.
A German Christmas
IN DULCI JUBILO
In the Folger Elizabethan Theater
December 11-20, 2009
With Cantate Chamber Singers, virtuoso violinist David Douglass, and instrumentalist Mary Springfels (viol), Tom Zajac and Dan Stillman (trombone), and Webb Wiggins (organ and harpsichord)
Folger Consort celebrates the holidays in the Elizabethan Theater with the festive music of Michael Praetorius, the most prolific German composer of the early 17th century. The son of a Lutheran minister, he was responsible for combining the wonderful north German Lutheran chorale tradition with the new Italian developments of the Baroque. In 1610, the last volume of his collection of over 1000 chorale settings, Musae Zioniae, was published. The Consort performs some of the great Christmas favorites from this collection, including In Dulci Jubilo, Es ist ein Rose, and Puer Natus Est .
Guest ensemble Cantate Chamber Singers is one of the Washington region’s most critically acclaimed chamber choruses. The Washington Post says, “Cantate Chamber Singers put equal commitment into every note of their precise, riveting performance.” Virtuoso violinist David Douglass, whose playing has been praised by The New York Times for its “eloquence” and “expressive virtuosity,” has been a leading figure in the world of early music performance for more than 30 years. Since 2007, he has been a musician-in–residence at the Newberry Library in Chicago and director of the Newberry Consort.
Monteverdi’s
1610 VESPERS
At Washington National Cathedral
January 8-9, 2010
Featuring sopranos Ann Monoyios and Johana Arnold, tenor Robert Petillo, baritone François Loup, bass Peter Becker, virtuoso violinist Julie Andrijeski, brass, winds, strings, and organ
The resonant reaches of Washington National Cathedral provide a magnificent venue for Claudio Monteverdi’s timeless masterpiece Vespers of the Blessed Virgin, published in Venice in 1610. Monteverdi, a master of both old and avant-garde style, composed a work both retrospective and startlingly new—the grand Psalm settings are meditations on the age-old Gregorian chants, and the “sacred songs” are Monteverdi’s bold introduction of the latest theatrical style to liturgical music. Unlike most modern performances of the Vespers , the Folger Consort’s period version, without conductor, features one-on-a-part instrumentalists and vocal soloists who also serve as the choir.
Ann Monoyios has been praised by The New Yorker for her “clear, true, and fluent soprano,” and The New York Times said “her singing is first-rate." Opera and oratorio singer Johana Arnold is a frequent guest artist with the Folger Consort and Hesperus in Washington, DC. The Washington Post called tenor Robert Petillo “one of the enduring joys of the local early-music scene.” François Loup, a regular performer with The Metropolitan Opera of since 1992, has been called “distinguished” and “refined” by The Washington Post, while Peter Becker has been a featured soloist with the Smithsonian Chamber Players, Magnificat, and the Newberry Consort. Julie Andrijeski, a leading baroque violinists in the U.S. and faculty member of the Baroque Performance Institute at the Oberlin Conservatory for more than a decade, was recently lauded by The Washington Post for her “invigorating verve and imagination.”
French Music of Court and Countryside
BALLETS AND BRAWLS
In the Folger Elizabethan Theater
March 19-21, 2010
With soprano Rosa Lamoreaux; baritone William Sharp; Renaissance winds, including Gwyn Roberts (recorder), Dan Stillman (recorder and trombone), and Tom Zajac (multiple instruments); and strings
For a delightful springtime concert, the Consort performs a program of French romance and wit circa 1610. France was also influenced by the great revolution in musical taste that occurred at the beginning of the 17th century, but French music developed in very different directions than Italian Baroque. In court entertainments, dance reigned supreme, and our program includes charming dances, complemented by songs for voice and lute, in both sophisticated and rustic styles, including witty, amorous dialogues for baritone and soprano.
Rosa Lamoreaux, a frequent guest soprano with the Folger Consort, was hailed by The Washington Post for her “wonderfully rich timbre and amazingly flexible voice” and her “excellent diction, technical mastery, and engaging personality.” Baritone William Sharp has earned a reputation as a singer of great versatility and was praised by The New York Times as a “sensitive and subtle singer” who is able to evoke “the special character of every song that he sings.” Gwyn Roberts, who is frequently heard on NPR’s Performance Today and SymphonyCast, was described as “a world-class virtuoso” by American Record Guide .
Songs for Lute, Voice, and Viol
A MUSICAL BANQUET
In the Folger Elizabethan Theater
April 9-11, 2010
With tenor Mark Bleeke and multi-instrumentalists Charles Weaver and Tom Zajac
The Consort returns to its English roots with music from a 1610 anthology of songs entitled A Musicall Banquet, published by Robert Dowland, the son of the great lutenist John Dowland. A feast of varied styles, the collection includes English lute ayres, French court airs, and some of the most famous Italian monodies. In 1610, the lute and viol still reigned as the most popular and influential English instruments, but the violin was beginning to make its presence felt as well. Our program features some of the first English pieces for violins and viols together by John Cooper, also known as Giovanni Coprario.
Tenor Mark Bleeke last performed with the Consort in 2007 on The Fairy Queen , for which The Washington Post said his “lyrical and agile singing was unfailingly lovely.” Multi-instrumentalists Charles Weaver and Tom Zajac are frequent collaborators with the Folger Consort. The Washington Post described Weaver’s performances on lute, theorbo, and guitar as captivating” and “splendid.” Zajac, widely praised for his versatility and his stylish playing, is a long-standing member of the Philadelphia-based Renaissance wind band Piffaro.
Discussions & Seminars:
In addition to the five concerts, Folger Consort offers two special discussion series to enhance appreciation of the music:
Pre-concert Discussions – WETA and XM Radio’s Robert Aubry Davis leads livelY pre-concert discussions with the performers at 7pm before Friday concerts in the Elizabethan Theater and at 6:30pm at Washington National Cathedral. No additional charge.
Early Music Seminars – Led by artistic director Robert Eisenstein , these three insightful seminars give music lovers a detailed look at the composers and their world. Subscribe to three seminars for only $30. Offered on the Wednesday before each concert weekend at 6pm (excludes December and January concerts).
About Folger Consort:
The early music ensemble in residence at the Folger Shakespeare Library since 1977, Folger Consort presents music from the 12th through 21st centuries, with a focus on the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Artistic Directors Robert Eisenstein and Christopher Kendall are joined by guest artists, including the world’s leading vocalists and instrumentalists in the field of early music. With recordings and early music seminars, Folger Consort continues to add to the interest in and knowledge of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music. Janet Alexander Griffin serves as Artistic Producer, and Donnajean Ward is the Folger Consort Manager. For more on Folger Consort, please visit www.folger.edu/consort.
Robert Eisenstein (violin, viol, recorder) is a founding member of the Folger Consort and its current program director. In addition to his work with the Consort, he is the director of the Five College Early Music Program in western Massachusetts, where he teaches music history; performs regularly on viola da gamba, violin, and medieval fiddle; and coordinates and directs student performances of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music.
Christopher Kendall (lute, vihuela, Renaissance guitar, theorbo) is the founder of the Folger Consort. Since 2005, he has served as Dean of the School of Music, Theatre & Dance at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He was Director of the School of Music at the University of Maryland from 1996 to 2005, a period of significant institutional growth related to the building of the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. Kendall is also Artistic Director, founder, and conductor of the 21st Century Consort, the new music ensemble-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution.
Folger Consort recordings are distributed nationwide by Albany Music Distributors (800.752.1951) and are also available for digital download on iTunes and CDBaby.com.
Performance Venues & Tickets/Information:
Folger Shakespeare Library
201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC
Metro: Capitol South (blue/orange lines) or Union Station (red line)
Parking: Street parking in Capitol Hill neighborhood; unrestricted on evenings and weekends.
Washington National Cathedral
3101 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC (just north of Massachusetts Avenue)
Metro: Tenleytown/AU or Dupont Circle (both red line) and then metro bus 32, 34, or 36.
Parking: Cathedral garage and grounds and neighboring streets
Tickets/Information: www.folger.edu/consort or 202.544.7077
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MEDIA IMAGES: High resolution .jpg images of artists are available upon request; please contact Tim Swoape at tswoape@folger.edu or 202.675.0344.
NOTE: Programs, dates, and performers subject to change.
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