Early Music Now Celebrates 30 Years of Musical Exploration
Early Music Now -- 30th Anniversary Season – 2016-2017
Fretwork. Photo courtesy of Early Music Now.
Early Music Now (EMN), Milwaukee’s preeminent early music presenter, has announced its 30th Anniversary Season, exploring a full range of Medieval, Renaissance, and early Baroque music performed by world-class international early music specialists.
With its accustomed mix of well-established audience favorites and artists new to Milwaukee, EMN aims to create lively connections with the past through historically informed performances of music composed before 1800. As in recent seasons, artists and programs will also reach Across Borders – Across Time. Each half of the six-concert series provides a different perspective on the scope of early music, offering new sounds and fresh perspectives on our diverse cultural heritage.
The first half of the season presents three world-class ensembles that are already familiar to Milwaukee audiences: from England, France, and the United States. Each represents a different period and genre: 9th century Medieval vocal music, Elizabethan viol consort music (and the North American premiere of a new work for viols), and two performances of Christmas choral music of the Renaissance.
The second half presents outstanding ensembles new to Milwaukee – in fact, one will be making its North American debut! With artists from Cuba, Canada, and the United States, the historic progression continues with colonial music from the Hispanic Americas, Appalachian music with its roots in the British Isles, and a French Baroque musical murder mystery!
Between the two halves of the series, an extra concert will be inserted celebrating music for clarinet and period string quartet, by Mozart, Weber, and Beethoven.
Tickets to this extraordinary bounty of world-class early music are available as individual concerts or in full or partial season packages in three seating sections, with discounts for 4- 5- or 6-concert packages. Each full 6-concert subscription comes with a voucher for one free guest ticket. All three tiers feature general seating. Note that Tier 1 seating closes on September 30. The extra clarinet concert is available as a separate single ticket.
All orders will be delivered via email as “print-at-home” tickets, beginning May 3rd, with the option of choosing email or mail receipts to be redeemed at Will Call.
Full 6-concert series packages for adults and seniors range in price from $147 to $300, with student series from $51 to $102. Partial series packages of 3, 4, or 5 programs range from $87 to $266 for adults and seniors, with student series ranging from $30 to $45 (for full-time students between 6 and 26 years of age). Individual adult/senior tickets range in price from $29 to $59 dollars, with student tickets ranging from $10 to $20. All prices include sales tax and all applicable fees. A 20% discount is available for groups of ten or more.
Online ticket sales begin May 3rd at EarlyMusicNow.org. Tickets may also be ordered by phone at 414.225.3113, or by mail at Early Music Now, 759 North Milwaukee Street #420, Milwaukee 53202. A printable order form is available on the website.
Early Music Now — 30th Anniversary Season – 2016-2017
2016
A – Fretwork (London)
Oct 8 (Sa) 7:30 – UWM Zelazo Center
“In Nomine” | Celebrating their own 30th anniversary with a program centered on 16th century English works for viol consort by Byrd, Gibbons, Lawes, Purcell, Taverner, and Tye, along with a 1995 work of Gavin Bryars and the North American premiere of a composition by Nico Muhly. fretwork.co/uk
“Fretwork is the finest viol consort on the planet.” – Stephen Petit, The London Evening Standard
B – Sequentia (Paris)
Nov 19 (Sa) 7:30 – Wisconsin Lutheran College
“Monks Singing Pagans” | Led by Benjamin Bagby and dedicated to the performance of music from before 1300, this innovative ensemble explores monastic manuscripts from the 9th to 12th centuries, revealing that many monks were singing (not just Gregorian chant, but also) songs that were sometimes anything but Christian! sequentia.org
“Sequentia ranks among the noblest and most active of the very-early-music performing groups.” – LA Weekly
C – The Rose Ensemble (St Paul)
Dec 10 (Sa) 5:00 and Dec 11 (Su) 3:00 – Saint Joseph Chapel
“A Rose in Winter” | This Milwaukee favorite ensemble brings us “A Garden of Medieval and Renaissance Music for the Nativity” – honoring the ancient Christmas legend that describes a midnight blooming of all manner of plants, trees, and flowers, in honor of the Madonna and Child. Music of Byrd, Mouton, English ballads, Spanish cantigas, German carols. roseensemble.org
“. . . they sing and play with a lusty ease that blows the dust off old music.” – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
2017
D – Ars Longa de La Habana (Cuba)
Feb 18 (Sa) 5:00 – UWM Zelazo Center
“Gulumbá, Galubé” | For its U.S. debut, this celebrated ensemble brings us “Resonances of Africa in the New World” – a program of 17th- and 18th- century music from the colonial period in the Americas, resonating with strong influences from African culture. Music of Fernández, Salgado, de la Rocca, and of course, Anónimo (17th century), performed with viola da gamba, flautas dulces, chirimías, sacabuche, bajón, Baroque guitar, and chamber organ. Search “Ars Longa De La Habana” on YouTube! (website under construction)
“Ars Longa shows its vocal and instrumental quality with clarity, vividness, and impeccable tuning.” – Andrés Ruiz Tarazona, Revista Diverdi, España
E – Apollo’s Fire (Cleveland)
Mar 18 (Sa) 5:00 – UWM Zelazo Center
3:00 Silent Auction and Chocolate Reception
“Sugarloaf Mountain” | Eight musicians from this award-winning ensemble’s collection of creative artists bring voices, hammered dulcimer, harpsichord, fiddle, wooden flutes, lute, guitar, banjo, and cello to recreate “An Appalachian Gathering” – music with roots in the British Isles that long ago mingled with Southern hymns and African spirituals in the hills of Virginia. apollosfire.org
“The audience . . . enjoyed a taste of the good times that our mountain forebears must have had. . . . an absolutely joyous achievement” – ClevelandClassical.com
F – Infusion Baroque (Montreal)
Apr 22 (Sa) 7:30 – Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church
“Who Killed Leclair?” | Grand Prize winners in the 2014 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition, this young ensemble of Baroque flute, violin, cello, and harpsichord weaves a lively investigation of the murder of Jean-Marie Leclair (1697-1764) into stellar performances of several of his trio sonatas and a work by his talented rival, Jean-Pierre Guignon. infusionbaroque.com
“Infusion Baroque shaped the music from the very first note. They were dynamic and alive. They had no fear.” – Early Music America Magazine
Extra Concert
Clarinetist Eric Hoeprich and the London Haydn Quartet (London)
Jan 14 (Sa) 7:30 – Wisconsin Lutheran College
“Music for Clarinet and String Quartet” | In two prior seasons we have celebrated an instrument not usually associated with early music, but which has historical roots in the chalumeau and the basset horn. Prior programs showcased those earlier instruments with soprano, harpsichord, cello, and fortepiano. Eric Hoeprich, who specializes in performing on historical clarinet, returns for this third installment, this time with The London Haydn Quartet, one of the world’s leading period instrument string ensembles. The program will include W.A. Mozart’s “Clarinet Quintet” K581, Beethoven’s “String Quartet” Opus 18, No. 3, and the Weber “Clarinet Quintet” Opus 34. londonhaydnquartet.co.uk and glossamusic.com/glossa/artist.aspx?id=30
“London Haydn Quartet, Hoeprich are Golden” – The Boston Musical Intelligencer
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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