Archives for category: Artists

“Here’s a fact that might intrigue you: The year 2313 is as far in the future from us as the year 1713 is in the past! In many ways it is equally as difficult SDaltonto imagine the state of music in both those far off worlds. Despite this, the oboe class will work on the challenging task of appreciating the unique qualities of music and technique that must have existed so long ago. We will try to discover in the old notational practices clues to the rhetorical/poetical nature of Baroque music. Also, the age-old goal of making good reeds will be revisited with a focus on the mechanical principles involved.”

Sand Dalton

Sand’s Bio

MSpringfelsThe SFEMS Baroque workshop provides a supportive, non-competitive learning environment for professional and amateur musicians who are seriously interested in learning about Baroque style, and honing their technical skills. The caliber of the faculty has been and continues to be first-rate.

Highlights of the week are Concerto Night and the faculty concert. We offer a positive alternative to more competitive programs aimed at emerging young professionals, while offering our participants the highest possible quality of instruction.”
–Mary Springfels

Mary’s Bio

Harpsichordist JungHae Kim’s playing has been described as inspired, fluid, emotionally exquisite, warm, and inviting. Her unique style blends a sparkling virtuoso techjhkim_newnique with a gentle and lyrical sensibility. JungHae holds a Bachelors Degree in Harpsichord Performance from the Peabody Conservatory, and a Masters Degree in Historical performance in Harpsichord from the Oberlin Conservatory. She completed her studies with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam on a Haskell Scholarship, and holds an Advanced Degree in Harpsichord Performance from Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Conservatorium. JungHae has performed in concert throughout United States, Europe and in Asia as a soloist and with numerous fine historical instrument ensembles including American Baroque, Brandywine Baroque, Musica Angelica, Music’s ReCreation, Agave Baroque, and Ensemble Mirable. She has also soloed with some of California’s premier modern ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony and the New Century Chamber Orchestra. During her summers, JungHae has performed on a number of music festival series including the Britt Festival (Oregon), the Assisi Music Festival (Italy), Music In The Vineyards (Napa, CA), the Bloomington Early Music Festival (Indiana), and at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. For additional information including information regarding upcoming concerts, please visit JungHae’s website: http://www.junghaekim.com. Recordings may be purchased online at iTunes, through Magnatune at http://www.magnatune.com, or by contacting Ms. Kim.

Adam Gilbert –Performer, Educator, Visionary

We are thrilled that Adam Gilbert has joined our Baroque workshop faculty.  He is a performer and educator of extraordinary talent.  His vision of what will be offered at this year’s workshop is inspiring.

This is my first time at SFEMS baroque workshop, and I imagine we will have a great time exploring solo and ensemble AdamGilbertrepertory through performance, master class sessions, and yes, a bit of improvisation. My specialty is exploring relationships between the craft of improvisation and composition, and I believe that what we tend to think of as “elusive” creativity is really little more than a series of easy-to-learn craft and magic tricks.

Everybody is naturally musical, and there is a bag of technical magic tricks that foster creativity more than just telling someone how something should be played. The recorder can range sweet and simple to subtle and complex. As a teacher, I like to help players explore their place within that continuum and provide technical tools for expressing their own creativity.

Improvising and playing over ground bass chord progressions offers some of the most fertile ground for exploring the range of the instrument, from the simplest four-note melodies to the most extreme virtuosity, accommodating everyone from the timid to the brave. These progressions (chaconnes, passamezzos, morescas, canarios, and passacaglias) lie at the heart of the baroque compositions of the Hapsburg Court. By learning the grounds, melodic and rhythmic building blocks of diminution, and baroque rhetorical conventions, one will better appreciate the craft of improvising composers. Don’t worry, we will play composed music, but with one eye and ear open to how we can not only play the music of the Baroque masters, but even (within our comfort zone!) re-create their own compositional process.”

SFEMS is proud to present the John Prescott summer lecture series in support of the children’s Music Discovery Workshop. 

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Microsoft Word - SFEMS 2013 Prescott-Vivaldi Flyer v4

Alcina and Ruggiero:  Sorceress and Knight

Well…as we know great knights are always striving. Striving for something great like the love of a princess.

alcina_knightIn this story our hero the knight Ruggiero, loves the princess Bradamante and plans to marry her but there is trouble. She is trapped in a tower.  No problem, Ruggiero saves her, but out of nowhere comes a magical hippogriff –shaped like a horse but with the head, wings and claws of an eagle– and carries him away to an enchanted isle in the middle of the ocean, a magical isle where nothing is what it seems to be.  The plants, the rocks, even the wild animals on this island are all former knights who have been trapped in spells cast by the sorceress Alcina.  hippogriff

Bradamante, however,  is no ordinary princess.  She is a strong willed fighter, who never gives up, and she is not happy to learn that her Ruggiero has disappeared.  So Bradamante puts on a suit of armor –nothing too girlish for this princess– and sets out, with the help of the old teacher Melisso, to find her guy and she does, but this is only the beginning.  Ruggiero, when Bradamante finds him, is already in love with the sorceress Alcina and remembers nothing about Bradamante who now looks like any other knight in armor.

Fortunately the princess Bradamante and Melisso have a magic ring that protects them from Alcina’s magic and allows them to see the isle for what it really is –a desert island.  All of this is confusing, nothing is what it seems and we –just like Ruggiero and all of the other spell bound knights– can only hope that someone will figure out what is really going on and rescue everyone.

Our SFEMS Music Discovery Workshop performance of this fantastical tale is a spoken play accompanied by songs, dances, and even a duel in Baroque style. The music is a pastiche from not one but two Alcina operas – by George Frederick Handel in early-18th century England and by the 17th century Italian composer Francesca Caccini – mixed with singable English choruses from other Handel works.

Shula_85Director Shulamit Kleinerman draws on her long experience with Seattle Historical Arts for Kids presenting masterworks of early music, dance, and drama that put young people at center stage. Discover just how engaging these colorful early arts can be.

 

Magnificat_12_11_72For over twenty years Magnificat has explored the emotionally charged music of the 17th century, each season bringing together an assembly of internationally recognized musicians to present unique and innovative programs that engage the senses and inspire the imagination. Magnificat has offered audiences the chance to hear many significant works by well-known figures of the 17th century while also uncovering forgotten masterpieces, including many modern premieres. With dramatic flair and sensitivity to historical perspective context, Magnificat imbues each concert with an infectious joy and a delight in musical make-believe. Over the past decade Magnificat has taken a special interest in promoting the works of women composers, undertaking a project to record the complete works of Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, devoting entire programs to the music of Barbara Strozzi and Isabella Leonarda and hosting a conference on Women and Music in Seventeenth Century Italy.

Del Valle fine Arts Series presents Archetti Baroque String Ensemble

Archetti will be treating concert-goers to an evening of baroque masterpieces.

Saturday, March 23
8PM
Bankhead Theater
2400 1st St, Livermore.
$39/$32/$25
925-373-6800, www.mylvpac.com,  >Buy Tickets

Archetti was founded in 2009 by violinist Carla Moore and viola da gambist John archetti_instruments_4927_web_smlDornenburg to perform the rich chamber concerto repertory of the baroque era. The collective experience and artistry of Archetti’s members allow them to develop distinctive, dynamic and historically-informed interpretations without a conductor. The ensemble’s size is perfectly suited to the bountiful 8-part-book violin concerti of composers such as Vivaldi, Corelli, Handel and Torelli, yet it is also small enough for the intimacy of Bach’s harpsichord concerti.

Archetti (pronounced “ar-keht’-tee”) means “bows” in Italian and naturally alludes to the dominance of Italian string music in the baroque concerto repertory.

John Dornenburg, violone, is a Bay Area performer, recording artist, and educator. As viola da gamba soloist he has performed in Europe, Turkey, Australia, and New Zealand, and can be heard locally with Music’s Re-creation, Sex Chordæ Consort of Viols, and Magnificat. He has also performed occasionally with the San Francisco Symphony, American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia, the Carmel and Oregon Bach Festivals, and many other groups across the US. He has made over 30 compact discs of solo and chamber music. John holds music diplomas from The Royal Conservatory in The Hague and the Salzburg Mozarteum, where his teachers included Wieland Kuijken and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He teaches the viola da gamba at Stanford University, and is Lecturer Emeritus in music history at CSU, Sacramento.

After being one of the leading baroque violinists of his generation, violinist Anthony Martin is savoring his retirement playing with the New Esterházy and the Novello Quartets as well as the cross-over group String Circle.  He still plays violin now and again with Philharmonia and with Orchestra of the 18th Century. When he appeared in their first concerts in 1981, both these groups were 3000 miles away from where Mr. Martin lived in Boston. He still teaches the occasional lesson in early violin at Stanford, where as an undergraduate in the 1960s he majored in draft evasion. His wife, Titia, is a Board Certified Music Therapist from the Netherlands. Their three children play horn, harp, and sax, instruments of which their parents have no knowledge or experience.

Carla Moore, described by Strad Magazine as possessing “unerring musicality,” moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from New York City in 1991 when she joined Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. She now serves as one of Philharmonia’s concertmasters and soloists, as well as concertmaster and soloist for Portland Baroque Orchestra (Oregon). In 1989, Carla won First Prize in the 1989 Erwin Bodky Competition for Early Music. She has recorded extensively, including highly praised solo performances as well as chamber music. Carla teaches baroque violin and coaches the Baroque Ensemble at the University of California at Berkeley. She received her Master of Music Degree from Indiana University’s Early Music Institute where she was a student of Stanley Ritchie.

Davitt Moroney is a Professor of Music at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is also University Organist and Director of the University Baroque Ensemble. He has made over sixty commercial CDs, especially of music by Bach, Byrd, and various members of the Couperin family. His recordings have been awarded the French “Grand Prix du Disque” (1996), the German “Preis der Deutschen Schallplatenkritik” (2000), and three British “Gramophone Awards” (1986, 1991, 2000). In 1987 he was named Chevalier dans l’Ordre du mérite culturel by Prince Rainier of Monaco and, in 2000, Officier des arts et des lettres by the French government.

Until 1998 cellist, Tanya Tomkins, lived in Holland for 14 years, where she toured and recorded extensively as a chamber musician. She was the first cellist ever to win the international Bodky Competition for Early Music Soloists and has recently recorded all of the Bach Suites. Currently one of Philharmonia and Portland Baroque’s principal cellists, she has performed as soloist with both orchestras. On modern instruments she is a member of the Left Coast Ensemble and appears regularly in summer festivals including Music in the Vineyards Festival and the Moab Chamber Music Festival. She is a member of the Tomkins-Zivian Duo and the Benvenue Fortepiano Trio with violinist, Monica Huggett. Tanya teaches at the American Bach Soloists Summer Academy and San Jose State University.

David Wilson has performed extensively with period instrument ensembles in the United States and Europe. An avid chamber musician, he has played with Baroque Northwest and Magnificat, and he is a founding member of Florilegia, the Galax Quartet, Aurora Baroque, and other ensembles. He has taught baroque violin at Indiana University, where he earned the Doctor of Music degree in Early Music, and he holds degrees in violin from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He is the author of Georg Muffat on Performance Practice, published by Indiana University Press.

Violinist Jolianne von Einem received her musical training at UCLA and USC, where she studied modern violin with Alex Treger and Alice Schoenfeld.  Concurrently she studied baroque violin with Monica Huggett and began dedicating her career to historical performance practices.  She is a currently member of the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, Magnificat, and Portland Baroque Orchestra, and has also been featured with the highly acclaimed west-coast groups such as the Allard String Quartet, Archetti Baroque Strings, American Bach Soloists, California Bach Society, Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica, and the Seattle Baroque Orchestra.  She has traveled to Europe to perform and record with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Hausmusik, and Trio Sonnerie. Recordings include Mendelssohn’s Octet w/Hausmusic (EMI), Early Music of the Netherlands 1700-1800 w/ Trio Sonnerie (Emergo), and Eighteenth Century Music for Lute and Strings w/ Trio Galanterie (Audioquest). For fun she enjoys the family life, old movies, yoga, gardening in Humboldt County, and playing jazz/ bebop with partner Rob Diggins in Cuckoo’s Nest Gypsy Jazz Sextet.

YangAliciaBaroque violinist Alicia Yang has been engaged by both the American Bach Soloists and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra since moving to the Bay Area two years ago.  Nationally, Ms. Yang has performed with the Seattle and Portland Baroque Orchestras, The Washington Bach Consort, and the Smithsonian Chamber Players, among other ensembles.  She recently celebrated her tenth season with the Carmel Bach Festival.  Ms. Yang is a graduate of Oberlin College and the New England Conservatory.

¡Viva las Diferencias!
The Uncommon Grounds and Sonatas of the Italian and Spanish Baroque

mirableEnsemble Mirable performs the fiery and passionate music of the Spanish and Italian baroque, a Mediterranean feast of sunny sonatas and dazzling dances. From the deftly graceful improvisations of Diego Ortiz through the explosion of instrumental virtuosity during the time of Biagio Marini to the late refinements and elaborations in the era of Antonio Vivaldi, ¡Viva las diferencias! celebrates works by more than a dozen composers, written between about 1550 and early 18th century. This was an era in which close cultural and political connections existed between Spain and southern Italy, both parts of the Habsburg Empire. Composers, musical ideas, and instrumental designs, moved freely between these regions.

Mirable’s program will feature several brilliant examples of first-generation Italian sonatas by Biagio Marini (1587–1663), Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi Mealli (c. 1630–c. 1669), and Francesco Turini (c. 1595–1656).

Much of the concert, however, will focus on works drawn from popular Spanish dances of the day. The music for many of these—the pasacalle, folia, chacona, canarios—existed originally as nothing more than guitar chord sequences to be repeated over and over. Guitarists and players of accompanying melody instruments such as violin or flute would improvise various figures and melodies over these chord changes, giving rise to the name diferencias for sets of variations on a melody or chord sequence.  The concert will include traditional dances in their pure (solo instrumental) form and explore the elaborate compositions with written-out improvisations for accompanying instruments.

These sets of variations are hypnotic and joyous, the embellished melodies filled with syncopations and cross-rhythms.  Mirable’s exciting exploration of folias written by four different composers over a 90-year period, from 1615 to 1705 is not to be missed!  >>View Program

ENSEMBLE MIRABLE
Joanna Blendulf, viola da gamba; Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin; Kevin Cooper, guitar; JungHae Kim, harpsichord; Katherine Kyme, violin

 DATES AND TIMES

Friday, Apr. 19, 2013 | Palo Alto
8pm @ First Lutheran Church
600 Homer Avenue

Saturday, Apr. 20, 2013 | Berkeley
7:30pm @ St. John’s Presbyterian Church
2727 College Avenue

Sunday, Apr. 21, 2013 | San Francisco
4
pm @ St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell

>> Buy Tickets

Ensemble Mirable (Mirable—Old French,meaning astonishing, strong, powerful) is a San Francisco Bay Area based period instrument ensemble that originated Mirable_webin 1996 at Indiana University’s Early Music Institute where Joanna Blendulf and JungHae Kim were then studying. Since its inception, the group’s focus has been on exploring the many variations in continuo performance across different baroque styles and on bringing the music of lesser known composers to the public’s attention. Mirable has built an impressive reputation over the ensuing years, earning awards from Early Music America and critical acclaim for performances to enthusiastic audiences in San Francisco and throughout the United States. Over the past decade, in addition to live performances, Mirable has been engaged in producing a series of high quality compact disc recordings that now includes Triemer Six Cello Sonatas, The Virginalists, Conversations Galantes, Jean Henri D’Anglebert; Pieces de clavecin, 1689 Paris, and Influenza Italiana.

Harpsichordist JungHae Kim’s playing has been described as inspired, fluid, emotionally exquisite, warm, ajhkim_newnd inviting. Her unique style blends a sparkling virtuoso technique with a gentle and lyrical sensibility. JungHae holds a Bachelors Degree in Harpsichord Performance from the Peabody Conservatory, and a Masters Degree in Historical performance in Harpsichord from the Oberlin Conservatory. She completed her studies with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam on a Haskell Scholarship, and holds an Advanced Degree in Harpsichord Performance from Amsterdam’s Sweelinck Conservatorium. JungHae has performed in concert throughout United States, Europe and in Asia as a soloist and with numerous fine historical instrument ensembles including American Baroque, Brandywine Baroque, Musica Angelica, Music’s ReCreation, Agave Baroque, and Ensemble Mirable. She has also soloed with some of California’s premier modern ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony and the New Century Chamber Orchestra. During her summers, JungHae has performed on a number of music festival series including the Britt Festival (Oregon), the Assisi Music Festival (Italy), Music In The Vineyards (Napa, CA), the Bloomington Early Music Festival (Indiana), and at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. For additional information including information regarding upcoming concerts, please visit JungHae’s website: http://www.junghaekim.com. Recordings may be purchased online at iTunes, through Magnatune at http://www.magnatune.com, or by contacting Ms. Kim.

Viola da Gambist Joanna Blendulf has performed as soloist and continuo player in leading period instrument ensembles throughout the United States. Ms. OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABlendulf holds performance degrees with honors from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Indiana University School of Music. In 1998, she was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate for her accomplishments in early music from Indiana University. Joanna is currently performing with the Portland Baroque Orchestra, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra, Bach Collegium San Diego and Pacific Musicworks in Seattle and has been a guest artist of Early Music Vancouver in British Colombia. Ms. Blendulf is also an active chamber musician, performing and touring internationally with the Cascade Consort, Catacoustic Consort, Ensemble Electra, Ensemble Mirable, Nota Bene Viol Consort (Boston) and Wildcat Viols. Joanna’s summer engagements have included performances at the Bloomington, Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, the Aspen and Ojai Music Festivals as well as the Carmel and Oregon Bach Festivals. Ms. Blendulf is sought-after as a teacher and chamber music coach and regularly serves on faculties of viola da gamba workshops across the country.

Violinist Elizabeth Blumenstock is widely admired as a performer of interpretive eloquence and technical sparkle.A frequent soloist, concertmaster, and BLUMENSTOCK-Elizabethleader with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, the American Bach Soloists, and the Italian ensemble Il Complesso Barocco, she is also the music director of the new Los Angeles-based Baroque ensemble, Les Surprise Baroques.She has pursued her love of chamber music as a founding member of several of California’s finest period-instrument ensembles, including Musica Pacifica, Live Oak Baroque Orchestra, the Arcadian Academy, Ensemble Mirable, Trio Galanterie, and the Galax Quartet.She has taught at the University of Southern California and the International Baroque Institute at the Longy, Oberlin’s Baroque Performance Institute, and the Austrian Baroque Academy.Elizabeth has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, Deutsche Grammophon, Virgin Classics, Dorian, BMG, and Koch International, among others.

Violinist Kati Kyme has been a member and frequent concertmaster of both Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and American Bach KymeKatherineSoloists for many years. Recordings of Kati playing Vivaldi Concerti with PBO can be found on Harmonia Mundi, and Corelli Concerti Grossi (with violinist Libby Wallfisch) can be heard on Koch. In addition to her work with Bay Area chamber orchestras, she is a passionate chamber musician. She has played in the prizewinning Artaria and Sierra Quartets, with Nic McGegan’s Arcadian Academy, and in the Streicher Trio. Currently she plays with the String Circle, which is in the middle of a complete Beethoven Quartet Cycle, and the New Esterhazy Quartet which is the first quartet in North America to perform all 68 Haydn Quartets on period instruments. She is also devoted to teaching and has held positions at University of Puget Sound, the Cornish Institute and at Sonoma State University. Currently, she conducts 180 young string players in three orchestras of the California Youth Symphony

Kevin Cooper is a classical and baroque guitarist from central California with an affinity for the extremes of modern and early music. Kevin CooperKevin performs as a soloist and as a member of the Coprario Consort, Agave Baroque, and Ensemble Mirable. He publishes and records for Lifescapes, Lorenz Corporation, and Doberman Editions. Some of his titles include Night of Four Moons, a recording of new music for voice and guitar; Cold Genius, a recording of baroque music by Henry Purcell; Purloined Pearls, a collection of arrangements for guitar ensemble; and Snakes, Snails, and C Major Scales, a book of folk and children’s songs. In 2006 Kevin was honored as the Outstanding Doctoral Graduate in music from the University of Southern California where he studied with William Kanengiser and James Tyler. Currently he leads the guitar program at Fresno City College.

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