It seems that Bay Area musicians are constantly reaching out to one another for new sources of inspiration. Bertamo is the the newest addition the SFEMS affiliate family. You know the players (Letitia Berlin, recorder; David Morris, viola da gamba; and Yuko Tanaka, harpsichord) and this coming weekend they will be offering up a program of sonatas and suites by Handle and Mar Marias as well as bringing with special guest Erica Dunkle, alto to their musical Thanksgiving celebration: “A Feast of Music: Marais, Handel, and Bach.” Check the SFEMS weekly Calendar of Early Music for details.
Meet the Artists
LETITIA BER
LIN (recorder) teaches recorder and coaches ensembles in California and at workshops around the country, including the Amherst Early Music Festival, and the Port Townsend early music workshop. She is the director of the Hidden Valley Recorder Elderhostel (Carmel Valley, CA) and co-director of the San Francisco Early Music Society’s Music Discovery Workshop for young children. Ms. Berlin performs regularly with the Farallon Recorder Quartet and the recorder duo Tibia. She has performed with the Carmel Bach Festival and the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra as well as other ensembles. Recordings include Motets, Lieder, and Instrumental Works of Ludwig Senfl with the Farallon Recorder Quartet, Ladino love songs with Yatan Atan on the New Albion label and the second edition of the Disc Continuo play-along CD on the Katastrophe label. Ms. Berlin received a master’s degree in early music performance practices from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor of music from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her mentors and teachers have included Inga Morgan, Saskia Coolen, Marion Verbruggen, Carol Marsh and Ross Duffin.
Yuko Tanaka (SFEMS VP, recorder) a native of Tokyo, Japan, is active as harpsichord and fortepiano soloist, ensemble performer and educator. She performs with numerous ensembles including Musica Pacifica, Music of the Spheres, Philharmonia Baroque Chamber Players, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, and American Bach Soloists. She has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony and the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra. She maintains a private studio, conducts master classes, and appears as guest lecturer at various universities. Recent engagements include performances at the Frick Collection (New York City), Tage Alter Musik Regensburg (Germany) and the Istanbul International Music Festival, as well as performances on National Public Radio and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation transmissions. Yuko has studied with Margaret Fabrizio at Stanford, Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Ketil Haugsand in Oslo, Norway. She performs on a Taskin harpsichord built in 1987 by Kevin Fryer, a Vaundry harpsichord built by Kevin Fryer in 1992, and a copy of a Stein Fortepiano, rebuilt by Janine Johnson and John Phillips. She has recorded for Koch International and Delos International.
David Morris (cello/viola da gamba) is a member of Musica Pacifica, The King’s Noyse, the Galax Quartet, Quicksilver, the Sex Chordae Consort of Viols and NYS Baroque and now a founding member of Bertamo. He has performed with The Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Tragicomedia, Tafelmusik, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Musica Angelica, Seattle Baroque Orchestra, the Mark Morris Dance Company, and Pacific Opera Works (Seattle). He was the founder and musical director of the Bay Area baroque opera ensemble Teatro Bacchino, and has produced operas for the Berkeley Early Music Festival and the San Francisco Early Music Society series. Mr. Morris received his B.A. and M.A. in Music from U.C. Berkeley, and has been a guest instructor in early music performance-practice at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Mills College, Oberlin College, the Madison Early Music Festival and Cornell University. He has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, New Albion, Dorian, New World Records, Drag City Records (with Joanna Newsom) and New Line Cinema. In addition to performing on baroque cello, viola da gamba, bass violin and lirone, Mr. Morris plays modern cello with the ensemble “Parlor Tango”.
Raised in Los Altos, Erica Dunkle, mezzo-soprano, has been living and performing in North Carolina since 2004. An active soloist, chamber musician, and choral singer, Erica is excited to be back in her home state for this performance. Erica frequently solos with musical ensembles across North Carolina, and her recent appearances include performances with the North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, Greensboro Early Music, as well as Mallarme Chamber Players and Choral Society of Durham’sHistorical Bach Series. Highlights of her recent solo performances include Handel’s Israel in Egypt, Bach’s Mass in B Minor, and Monteverdi’s Vespers as well as several solo and duet recitals throughout North Carolina and California. Erica has performed throughout the U.S. and Europe, soloing in France, Spain, Germany, and Austria where she performed at the International Haydn Festival in 2009 in Vienna. Erica received an A.B. in Music from Vassar College and last year earned her Masters of Social Work from UNC-Chapel Hill.
