Saturday, April 19, 2008 at 8:00 PM
(Jamestown, VA)
Countertop Quartet
German Exploration in Italy
Early Baroque German Music around the time
of the 1608 Jamestown Landing
While the first Germans were landing at
Jamestown in 1608 (two Hessian glassblowers and three German
wainscot sawyers, aboard an English ship), composers in Germany were
deep in the brilliant waters of the early baroque Italianate school.
A young Heinrich Schütz, one of the
greatest 17th century German composers, was preparing
to go to law school, but instead went to study music in Venice a
year later with Giovanni Gabrieli. He was not the first to seek an
education in Italy – Hans Leo Hassler studied with Giovanni's uncle
Andrea Gabrieli in 1584, and Gregor Aichinger was G. Gabrieli's
student beginning around the same time. The Italian influence was
not limited to those who went to Italy for training – Michael
Praetorius, Johann Hermann Schein, and Jacob Praetorius (II) were
among those who soaked up the Italian musical styles without leaving
Germany. These composers all adopted Italian musical forms ranging
from madrigals to vocal concertos to huge polychoral antiphonal
works.
The Countertop Quartet, a vocal
ensemble comprised of two counter-tenors, a mezzo-soprano, and a
soprano, will explore the music that grew out of this German
fascination and mastery of the Italian compositional styles in the
early Baroque period. For this concert, the group will include five
vocalists, joined by a period instrument ensemble of lute/theorbo,
viols, and recorder. Many of the works will be performed as they
would have been heard in the 17th century, with
instruments playing some of the voice parts. This performance will
present a slice of German vocal music history around the time of the
Jamestown landing (and a few years before and after), including
works by M. Praetorius (from his 9-volume Musae sioniae published between 1605-1610),
Aichinger, J. Praetorius, Schein, and more.
This concert is
sponsored by the German Embassy and is part of the festivities
celebrating the first landing of Germans in Jamestown, Virginia. I'm
afraid I don't have any information on the venue or ticket
availability. The Countertop Quartet will be presenting this concert
again in June at the Washington Early Music Festival, though I won't
be singing for that one (I'll be in Montana).
Saturday, April 19, 8:00 PM
Woodlands Conference Center
Jamestown, VA
|
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 at 12:10 PM
(Washington, DC)
Washington Bach Consort
J. Reilly Lewis, music director
J.S. Bach
Cantata BWV 71
Gott ist mein König
I'll be singing in the chorus and will post the soloists names when I know them. Scott Dettra will also play the Toccata in E Major (BWV 566).
Tuesday, May 6, 12:10 PM
Church of the Epiphany
1317 G Street NW
Washington, DC (Metro Center)
There is no admission charge; a donation is requested.
|
Sunday, May 11, 2008 at 3:00 PM
(N. Bethesda, Maryland)
Washington Bach Consort
J. Reilly Lewis, music director
J.S. Bach
St. Matthew Passion
Rufus Müller, tenor, Evangelist
Christòpheren Nomura, bass, Christus
Christine Brandes, soprano
Sara Mingardo, alto
Frederick Urrey, tenor
Peter Harvey, bass
I'll be singing in the chorus.
Sunday, May 11, 3:00 PM
The Music Center at
Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, MD (Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro)
For ticket information, call the WBC office at
202-429-2121 or visit
their website .
|
Friday, May 16, 2008 at 7:30 PM
(Washington, DC)
St. Matthew's Schola Cantorum
William Culverhouse, music director
Music by St. Matthew's Composers
The Schola Cantorum will present a special concert of music by St. Matthew’s composers, featuring works by David Arbury, Chris Brush, Bill Culverhouse, Jennifer Goltz, Tim Howe, and Gerald Muller. Several yearly favorites will be included in the concert, including Bill Culverhouse's Gloria and Gerald Muller's Seven Last Words. The concert will conclude with the premiere of Bill Culverhouse's Requiem for chorus and harp, and will be Bill’s last concert with the Schola.
Friday, May 16, 7:30 PM
Cathedral of St. Matthew the
Apostle
1725 Rhode Island Ave. NW
Washington, DC (Dupont Circle, Farragut North, or Farragut West Metro)
I think this is a free concert.
|
Sunday, June 1, 2008 at 6:30 PM
(Washington, DC)
Choral Arts Society of Washington
Joseph Holt, conductor
Music by Franz Liszt
Music will include the Missa Choralis and Ave Maria.
Leigh Ann Hinton, soprano
Marjorie Bunday, alto
There are also tenor and bass soloists, but I don't have their names yet.
Sunday, June 1, 6:30 PM
National Gallery of
Art
West Building Main Floor, West
Garden Court
4th and Constitution Avenue NW
Washington, DC (Judiciary Square, Archives, or Smithsonian Metro)
Concerts at the National Gallery are open to the public, free of charge. Admittance is on a first-come, first-seated basis, beginning at one half hour before each concert. The entrance at 6th Street and Constitution Avenue NW remains open on Sunday until 6:30 p.m. Please note that late entry or reentry of the West Building after 6:30 p.m. is not permitted. For further information, call (202) 842-6941.
|
Stay tuned for more concerts - updates are always on the way!
Last modified Thursday, April 10, 2008, 02:15 PM.
Neil Gladd has just published his "Three Songs after Thomas Campion" for voice and mandolin. You can get information on ordering them here at his website, and you can hear a recording of the first song, Silly Boy, 'Tis Full Moone Yet, featuring your favorite altodiva singing :-), here at his MySpace page.
The Countertop Quartet CD is here! To get your copy of Seraphic Flames: Duets, Trios & Quartets of the Renaissance and Baroque, follow this link. There you'll also find a free mp3 download of a track from the CD, Candida Virginitas by Cristóbal de Morales.
|
Welcome to altodiva.com, the official website of vocalist Marjorie Bunday! I'm an alto & mezzo-soprano currently living in Washington, DC. My immediately upcoming concerts are listed a little further below on this page, and you can peruse a whole season of performances by clicking on the "Current Season" button above.
Special thanks to