Saturday, April 1
The Spirit Transformed: Women and the 17th Century Sacred Songs
La Donna Musicale: Adriana Ruiz, Devon Russo, voice; Cynthia Mathiesen, Baroque violin, viola da gamba; Na’ama Lion, Baroque flute; Laury Gutiérrez, viola da gamba; Katherine Shao, keyboards
This concert features 17th-century French-language sacred songs composed primarily for women by Catholic priests as part of the Catholic Reform, initiated during the sixteenth century in response to the Protestant Reformation. Initially, sacred songs were used primarily to teach women of all classes about the fundamentals of Catholicism as a means to prevent the spread of Protestantism and to facilitate a deeper spiritual experience. They could also be sung during recreational hours or used for private devotion in domestic settings, salons, classrooms, or private chapels. Sacred songs were composed in popular song forms, either tunes already in circulation with secular texts replaced by religious lyrics or newly composed songs by notable composers like Bertrand de Bacilly, Michel Lambert, and André Campra. This beautiful repertory, never heard in performance before, features songs for one, two, and three voices accompanied by basso continuo, violin, and flute. Professor Catherine Gordon will provide commentary of the repertory during the concert.
7pm EST - Ryan Concert Hall, Smith Center for the Arts, Providence College, 1 Cunningham Sq, Providence, RI
$35, $20 and $5
https://ladm.org/
La Donna Musicale: Adriana Ruiz, Devon Russo, voice; Cynthia Mathiesen, Baroque violin, viola da gamba; Na’ama Lion, Baroque flute; Laury Gutiérrez, viola da gamba; Katherine Shao, keyboards
This concert features 17th-century French-language sacred songs composed primarily for women by Catholic priests as part of the Catholic Reform, initiated during the sixteenth century in response to the Protestant Reformation. Initially, sacred songs were used primarily to teach women of all classes about the fundamentals of Catholicism as a means to prevent the spread of Protestantism and to facilitate a deeper spiritual experience. They could also be sung during recreational hours or used for private devotion in domestic settings, salons, classrooms, or private chapels. Sacred songs were composed in popular song forms, either tunes already in circulation with secular texts replaced by religious lyrics or newly composed songs by notable composers like Bertrand de Bacilly, Michel Lambert, and André Campra. This beautiful repertory, never heard in performance before, features songs for one, two, and three voices accompanied by basso continuo, violin, and flute. Professor Catherine Gordon will provide commentary of the repertory during the concert.
7pm EST - Ryan Concert Hall, Smith Center for the Arts, Providence College, 1 Cunningham Sq, Providence, RI
$35, $20 and $5
https://ladm.org/
J.S. Bach's Easter Oratorio
H+H Orchestra and Chorus with Rinaldo Alessandrini, conductor
You’re invited to Bach’s Easter Oratorio. The awe-inspiring music evokes a powerful gamut of universal emotions—from laments and astonishment, to jubilation and victory, underscored by bright trumpets and drums—even dance rhythms. Opening the concert is Antonio Bononcini’s affecting Stabat Mater.
7:30PM - Symphony Hall, Boston, MA
Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 3:00PM
https://handelandhaydn.org/
H+H Orchestra and Chorus with Rinaldo Alessandrini, conductor
You’re invited to Bach’s Easter Oratorio. The awe-inspiring music evokes a powerful gamut of universal emotions—from laments and astonishment, to jubilation and victory, underscored by bright trumpets and drums—even dance rhythms. Opening the concert is Antonio Bononcini’s affecting Stabat Mater.
7:30PM - Symphony Hall, Boston, MA
Sunday, April 2, 2023 at 3:00PM
https://handelandhaydn.org/
Sunday, April 2
Johann Theile’s St. Matthew Passion
Arcadia Players
After years of waiting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arcadia Players proudly presents Johann Theile’s St. Matthew Passion. Theile’s elegant setting predates that of Johann Sebastian Bach and is a hidden masterpiece of the German Baroque.
4pm - Bombyx Center, Florence, MA
www.arcadiaplayers.org
Arcadia Players
After years of waiting due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arcadia Players proudly presents Johann Theile’s St. Matthew Passion. Theile’s elegant setting predates that of Johann Sebastian Bach and is a hidden masterpiece of the German Baroque.
4pm - Bombyx Center, Florence, MA
www.arcadiaplayers.org
Wednesday, April 19
Bright and Early: The First Sources for Renaissance Lute
Hopkinson Smith, lute
Hopkinson Smith has been called “the finest lute player in the world today” (San Francisco Chronicle), and his many recordings have been lauded as “superb.” Smith returns to Cambridge for an exciting concert exploring the very beginnings of solo lute music. The instrument had been popular for centuries, but sources of solo lute music do not appear until just after 1500, when the print revolution was transforming society. Then a virtual avalanche of musical sources began. Ottaviano Petrucci, inventor of movable type for music, issued his first two volumes of lute music in Venice with works of Francesco Spinacino (1507) and Zoan Ambrosio Dalza (1508). The Spinacino book contains settings of polyphonic songs, by revered French and Flemish masters, and free-form ricercars. The Dalza volume has artful and varied dances. In Paris, Pierre Attaignant started his own avalanche with the first French lute books in 1529 and 1530, containing preludes, dances and chansons. Hopkinson Smith delves into these rich sources for a remarkable view of a major historical moment: the first flowering of Renaissance lute music. This concert includes improvisatory pieces and a variety of Italian and French dances, some light and delicate, others energetic, with virtuoso flourishes. Some of them suggest Celtic roots. Capping them off are “some of the most beautiful chanson settings ever.” Smith enlivens the scores with embellishments and variations, and he gives us freshly edited readings of the Spinacino works, freed of printing errors. The instrument is a specially made, 6-course lute, with 8ve stringing on the 3rd to 6th courses, for “ringing clarity and brighter resonance.” Masks required. Reception follows.
7:30pm - Christ Church Annex, Zero Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02238
$35, $30 seniors, $15 students, cash or check at the door, or prepay at www.csem.org
www.csem.org / 617-501-9637
Hopkinson Smith, lute
Hopkinson Smith has been called “the finest lute player in the world today” (San Francisco Chronicle), and his many recordings have been lauded as “superb.” Smith returns to Cambridge for an exciting concert exploring the very beginnings of solo lute music. The instrument had been popular for centuries, but sources of solo lute music do not appear until just after 1500, when the print revolution was transforming society. Then a virtual avalanche of musical sources began. Ottaviano Petrucci, inventor of movable type for music, issued his first two volumes of lute music in Venice with works of Francesco Spinacino (1507) and Zoan Ambrosio Dalza (1508). The Spinacino book contains settings of polyphonic songs, by revered French and Flemish masters, and free-form ricercars. The Dalza volume has artful and varied dances. In Paris, Pierre Attaignant started his own avalanche with the first French lute books in 1529 and 1530, containing preludes, dances and chansons. Hopkinson Smith delves into these rich sources for a remarkable view of a major historical moment: the first flowering of Renaissance lute music. This concert includes improvisatory pieces and a variety of Italian and French dances, some light and delicate, others energetic, with virtuoso flourishes. Some of them suggest Celtic roots. Capping them off are “some of the most beautiful chanson settings ever.” Smith enlivens the scores with embellishments and variations, and he gives us freshly edited readings of the Spinacino works, freed of printing errors. The instrument is a specially made, 6-course lute, with 8ve stringing on the 3rd to 6th courses, for “ringing clarity and brighter resonance.” Masks required. Reception follows.
7:30pm - Christ Church Annex, Zero Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02238
$35, $30 seniors, $15 students, cash or check at the door, or prepay at www.csem.org
www.csem.org / 617-501-9637
Thursday, April 20
Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride
Boston Baroque presents a new production of Gluck’s opera Iphigénie en Tauride, returning to the work for the first time in over 20 years. Led by stage director Mo Zhou, the production stars Metropolitan Opera star Wendy Bryn Harmer in her role debut as Iphigénie, William Burden as Pylade, Jesse Blumberg as Oreste, and David McFerrin as Thoas.
8pm - GBH’s Calderwood Studio, Boston, MA
https://baroque.boston/
Boston Baroque presents a new production of Gluck’s opera Iphigénie en Tauride, returning to the work for the first time in over 20 years. Led by stage director Mo Zhou, the production stars Metropolitan Opera star Wendy Bryn Harmer in her role debut as Iphigénie, William Burden as Pylade, Jesse Blumberg as Oreste, and David McFerrin as Thoas.
8pm - GBH’s Calderwood Studio, Boston, MA
https://baroque.boston/
Friday, April 21
Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride
Boston Baroque presents a new production of Gluck’s opera Iphigénie en Tauride, returning to the work for the first time in over 20 years. Led by stage director Mo Zhou, the production stars Metropolitan Opera star Wendy Bryn Harmer in her role debut as Iphigénie, William Burden as Pylade, Jesse Blumberg as Oreste, and David McFerrin as Thoas.
Thurs, April 20 / 8pm
8pm - GBH’s Calderwood Studio, Boston, MA and streamed on IDAGIO
https://baroque.boston/
Boston Baroque presents a new production of Gluck’s opera Iphigénie en Tauride, returning to the work for the first time in over 20 years. Led by stage director Mo Zhou, the production stars Metropolitan Opera star Wendy Bryn Harmer in her role debut as Iphigénie, William Burden as Pylade, Jesse Blumberg as Oreste, and David McFerrin as Thoas.
Thurs, April 20 / 8pm
8pm - GBH’s Calderwood Studio, Boston, MA and streamed on IDAGIO
https://baroque.boston/
Saturday, April 22
Marcello and Marcella: Cantatas by Benedetto Marcello and his Wife Rosanna Scalfi
Newton Baroque: Laurie Heimes, soprano, Shiba Nematt-Nasser, alto, Deborah Fox, theorbo, Chris Haritatos, cello, Andrus Madsen, harpsichord
This concert is a joint project between Newton Baroque, and Pegasus Early Music based in Rochester NY.
7:30pm - Second Church in Newton, 60 Highland St., West Newton MA
http://www.newtonbaroque.org
Newton Baroque: Laurie Heimes, soprano, Shiba Nematt-Nasser, alto, Deborah Fox, theorbo, Chris Haritatos, cello, Andrus Madsen, harpsichord
This concert is a joint project between Newton Baroque, and Pegasus Early Music based in Rochester NY.
7:30pm - Second Church in Newton, 60 Highland St., West Newton MA
http://www.newtonbaroque.org
Vivaldi: Forces of Nature—Love of Nature
Ensemble Castor and Sherezade Panthaki, soprano; Rodolfo Richter, leader
Don’t miss radiant mezzo-soprano and BEMF favorite Mireille Lebel in an exciting collaboration with esteemed violin virtuoso Rodolfo Richter and the outstanding Austrian chamber orchestra Ensemble Castor, both making their BEMF début. Enjoy a program exploring concertos and vocal works by Antonio Vivaldi that vividly evoke the natural world through music, from bird song to violent tempests to pastoral countrysides.
8pm - First Church in Cambridge, Congregational
VIRTUAL PREMIERE: Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 8pm (ET)
Available to watch until May 20, 2023 at 11:59pm (ET)
www.bemf.org
Ensemble Castor and Sherezade Panthaki, soprano; Rodolfo Richter, leader
Don’t miss radiant mezzo-soprano and BEMF favorite Mireille Lebel in an exciting collaboration with esteemed violin virtuoso Rodolfo Richter and the outstanding Austrian chamber orchestra Ensemble Castor, both making their BEMF début. Enjoy a program exploring concertos and vocal works by Antonio Vivaldi that vividly evoke the natural world through music, from bird song to violent tempests to pastoral countrysides.
8pm - First Church in Cambridge, Congregational
VIRTUAL PREMIERE: Saturday, May 6, 2023 at 8pm (ET)
Available to watch until May 20, 2023 at 11:59pm (ET)
www.bemf.org
Sunday, April 23
Lute Solos and Duets
Tim Burris and Seth Warner, lutes
Early Music in St Luke’s Chapel presents 17th-century lute duets.
2:30pm - St Luke's Cathedral, 143 State Street, Portland, Maine, 04101
$15 / $10
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seth-warner-timothy-burris-lute-solos-and-duets-tickets-522989845707
Tim Burris and Seth Warner, lutes
Early Music in St Luke’s Chapel presents 17th-century lute duets.
2:30pm - St Luke's Cathedral, 143 State Street, Portland, Maine, 04101
$15 / $10
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seth-warner-timothy-burris-lute-solos-and-duets-tickets-522989845707
Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride
Boston Baroque presents a new production of Gluck’s opera Iphigénie en Tauride, returning to the work for the first time in over 20 years. Led by stage director Mo Zhou, the production stars Metropolitan Opera star Wendy Bryn Harmer in her role debut as Iphigénie, William Burden as Pylade, Jesse Blumberg as Oreste, and David McFerrin as Thoas.
Thurs, April 20 / 8pm
Fri, April 21 / 8pm*
3pm - GBH’s Calderwood Studio, Boston, MA
https://baroque.boston/
Boston Baroque presents a new production of Gluck’s opera Iphigénie en Tauride, returning to the work for the first time in over 20 years. Led by stage director Mo Zhou, the production stars Metropolitan Opera star Wendy Bryn Harmer in her role debut as Iphigénie, William Burden as Pylade, Jesse Blumberg as Oreste, and David McFerrin as Thoas.
Thurs, April 20 / 8pm
Fri, April 21 / 8pm*
3pm - GBH’s Calderwood Studio, Boston, MA
https://baroque.boston/
Friday, April 28
England’s Nightingale: Music of William Byrd
Stile Antico
A favorite of BEMF audiences for more than a decade, the intensely collaborative singers of Stile Antico have established themselves as one of the world’s most vibrant and expressive vocal ensemles. They return for a season finale honoring the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd, one of the most extraordinary composers England has ever produced. Their program weaves together the strands of Byrd’s complex life as both pillar of the Protestant musical establishment and faithful servant of the Catholic underground with some of the composer’s most beloved works alongside lesser-known gems by his pupils Thomas Morley, Peter Philips, and Thomas Tomkins.
8pm - St. Paul Church, Cambridge
VIRTUAL PREMIERE: Friday, May 12, 2023 at 8pm (ET)
Available to watch until May 26, 2023 at 11:59pm (ET)
www.bemf.org
Stile Antico
A favorite of BEMF audiences for more than a decade, the intensely collaborative singers of Stile Antico have established themselves as one of the world’s most vibrant and expressive vocal ensemles. They return for a season finale honoring the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd, one of the most extraordinary composers England has ever produced. Their program weaves together the strands of Byrd’s complex life as both pillar of the Protestant musical establishment and faithful servant of the Catholic underground with some of the composer’s most beloved works alongside lesser-known gems by his pupils Thomas Morley, Peter Philips, and Thomas Tomkins.
8pm - St. Paul Church, Cambridge
VIRTUAL PREMIERE: Friday, May 12, 2023 at 8pm (ET)
Available to watch until May 26, 2023 at 11:59pm (ET)
www.bemf.org
Saturday, April 29
Music, Poetry, and Moral Philosophy in Early Modern Europe
Julien Goeury (Université de Paris IV-Sorbonne), Isabelle His (Université de Poitiers), Ensemble Faenza
This interdisciplinary conference brings together an international group of musicologists, literary scholars, and historians to consider how poetry and music in early modern Europe creatively explored questions of living and dying well. The conference is co-organized by Julien Goeury (Université de Paris IV-Sorbonne) and Isabelle His (Université de Poitiers). Featuring a performance by Ensemble Faenza entitled “Sons et soupirs: Music of Life and Death in Early Modern France” on April 29 at 8:00 p.m. in Distler Performance Hall. All events are open to the public, but advance registration is required.
9am - Varis Lecture Hall, Granoff Music Center, 20 Talbot Ave., Medford, MA
Free; All events are open to the public, but advance registration is required.
Website
Julien Goeury (Université de Paris IV-Sorbonne), Isabelle His (Université de Poitiers), Ensemble Faenza
This interdisciplinary conference brings together an international group of musicologists, literary scholars, and historians to consider how poetry and music in early modern Europe creatively explored questions of living and dying well. The conference is co-organized by Julien Goeury (Université de Paris IV-Sorbonne) and Isabelle His (Université de Poitiers). Featuring a performance by Ensemble Faenza entitled “Sons et soupirs: Music of Life and Death in Early Modern France” on April 29 at 8:00 p.m. in Distler Performance Hall. All events are open to the public, but advance registration is required.
9am - Varis Lecture Hall, Granoff Music Center, 20 Talbot Ave., Medford, MA
Free; All events are open to the public, but advance registration is required.
Website
Songs & Dances for Isabella: Courtly music from Mantua & Ferrara, c. 1500
Blue Heron: Sophie Michaux, mezzo-soprano; Jason McStoots, tenor; Debra Nagy, recorder, douçaine, harp; Anna Danilevskaia, fiddle; Emma-Lisa Roux, lute; Scott Metcalfe, fiddle & harp
Blue Heron singers Sophie Michaux and Jason McStoots will be joined by an ensemble of medieval instrumentalists – including fiddle player Anna Danilevskaia (artistic director of Solazzo Ensemble) from Switzerland, French lutenist Emma-Lisa Roux from Paris, and multi-instrumental virtuosa Debra Nagy (artistic director of Les Délices) from Cleveland – in a program of music connected to the great patroness Isabella d’Este of Ferrara, Marchesa of Mantua. Free pre-concert talk 45 minutes prior to the performance.
3pm - First Church Congregational, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge MA
blueheron.org
Blue Heron: Sophie Michaux, mezzo-soprano; Jason McStoots, tenor; Debra Nagy, recorder, douçaine, harp; Anna Danilevskaia, fiddle; Emma-Lisa Roux, lute; Scott Metcalfe, fiddle & harp
Blue Heron singers Sophie Michaux and Jason McStoots will be joined by an ensemble of medieval instrumentalists – including fiddle player Anna Danilevskaia (artistic director of Solazzo Ensemble) from Switzerland, French lutenist Emma-Lisa Roux from Paris, and multi-instrumental virtuosa Debra Nagy (artistic director of Les Délices) from Cleveland – in a program of music connected to the great patroness Isabella d’Este of Ferrara, Marchesa of Mantua. Free pre-concert talk 45 minutes prior to the performance.
3pm - First Church Congregational, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge MA
blueheron.org
Into the Light: Unearthed Treasures by Christoph Graupner
Musicians of the Old Post Road
Thrill to the unveiling of lost works by Christoph Graupner, an unsung German composer who was as legendary in his day as his contemporaries Bach and Telemann. Unseen for centuries, his compositions are gradually coming to light. We introduce you to his concertos, suites, and sonatas along with works by his Darmstadt court colleague Count Ernst-Louis, his talented student Johann Fasch, and his good friend Telemann.
4pm - Worcester Historical Museum, 30 Elm St, Worcester, MA
$35-$50
www.oldpostroad.org/concert_series
Musicians of the Old Post Road
Thrill to the unveiling of lost works by Christoph Graupner, an unsung German composer who was as legendary in his day as his contemporaries Bach and Telemann. Unseen for centuries, his compositions are gradually coming to light. We introduce you to his concertos, suites, and sonatas along with works by his Darmstadt court colleague Count Ernst-Louis, his talented student Johann Fasch, and his good friend Telemann.
4pm - Worcester Historical Museum, 30 Elm St, Worcester, MA
$35-$50
www.oldpostroad.org/concert_series
Sons et soupirs -- Music of Life and Death in Early Modern France
Ensemble Faenza
A performance by the french ensemble Faenza, a group that explores the music of the ancien régime – the political and social system of France before the Revolution of 1789 – endeavouring to rediscover the spirit rather than the letter, and focus on the relationship between the audience and the musicians. Faenza's performances result in interactive concert forms, such as “Le Salon de musique”, “Le Jeu des amants” or “Les Quatre saveurs de l’amour”, in which they connect with the audience by means of acting, storytelling, and reciting, while relying on devices that minimise the physical distance between stage and audience.
This event is part of Music, Poetry, and Moral Philosophy in Early Modern Europe, a two day interdisciplinary conference at the Granoff Music Center.
8pm - Distler Performance Hall, Granoff Music Center, 20 Talbot Ave. Medford, MA
Free; no tickets required
Website
Ensemble Faenza
A performance by the french ensemble Faenza, a group that explores the music of the ancien régime – the political and social system of France before the Revolution of 1789 – endeavouring to rediscover the spirit rather than the letter, and focus on the relationship between the audience and the musicians. Faenza's performances result in interactive concert forms, such as “Le Salon de musique”, “Le Jeu des amants” or “Les Quatre saveurs de l’amour”, in which they connect with the audience by means of acting, storytelling, and reciting, while relying on devices that minimise the physical distance between stage and audience.
This event is part of Music, Poetry, and Moral Philosophy in Early Modern Europe, a two day interdisciplinary conference at the Granoff Music Center.
8pm - Distler Performance Hall, Granoff Music Center, 20 Talbot Ave. Medford, MA
Free; no tickets required
Website
Sunday, April 30
Recital & Fundraiser
Seth Warner, lute
Seth Warner returns to North Orange, MA for an afternoon recital of music for the lute and vihuela. Admission is by donation and will benefit the American Society for Suicide Prevention https://afsp.org/
3pm - Community Church of North Orange & Tully, 48 Main St, Orange, MA 01364
$10-$100
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seth-warner-lute-vihuela-tickets-522999825557
Seth Warner, lute
Seth Warner returns to North Orange, MA for an afternoon recital of music for the lute and vihuela. Admission is by donation and will benefit the American Society for Suicide Prevention https://afsp.org/
3pm - Community Church of North Orange & Tully, 48 Main St, Orange, MA 01364
$10-$100
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seth-warner-lute-vihuela-tickets-522999825557
Into the Light: Unearthed Treasures by Christoph Graupner
Musicians of the Old Post Road
Thrill to the unveiling of lost works by Christoph Graupner, an unsung German composer who was as legendary in his day as his contemporaries Bach and Telemann. Unseen for centuries, his compositions are gradually coming to light. We introduce you to his concertos, suites, and sonatas along with works by his Darmstadt court colleague Count Ernst-Louis, his talented student Johann Fasch, and his good friend Telemann.
4pm - Old South Church 645 Boylston St, Boston, MA and online
$35-$50
www.oldpostroad.org/concert_series
Musicians of the Old Post Road
Thrill to the unveiling of lost works by Christoph Graupner, an unsung German composer who was as legendary in his day as his contemporaries Bach and Telemann. Unseen for centuries, his compositions are gradually coming to light. We introduce you to his concertos, suites, and sonatas along with works by his Darmstadt court colleague Count Ernst-Louis, his talented student Johann Fasch, and his good friend Telemann.
4pm - Old South Church 645 Boylston St, Boston, MA and online
$35-$50
www.oldpostroad.org/concert_series