Sunday Nov 26
3:30 pm
First Unitarian Church
Renaissonics:
Carols for Dancing
John Tyson, recorders, pipe & tabor, crumhorn; Douglas Freundlich, lute & cuica; Laura Gulley, violin, viola; Daniel Rowe, cello; Miyuki Tsurutani, harpsichord, recorders, crumhorn
Carols for Dancing began as a WGBH Special exploring the rich traditions and unexpected stories of carols as festive dances. From ancient times the movement from darkness to light at the Winter Solstice has been an occasion of joy and hope - people told stories, feasted, sang and danced. The Christmas celebration absorbed much of the character of the Solstice holidays. Consequently, dance became part of the Christmas story—angels dance, shepherds run, leap and dance, the magi process… Joy to the World
"They have delved further than anyone into Renaissance Improvisation."
– Continuo Magazine
"They have a great groove!”
– The Boston Globe
Sunday Jan 14
3:30 pm
First Unitarian Church
A French Harpsichord Salon;
Byron Schenkman, Harpsichord
Music by Marie-Emanuelle Bayon, Joseph Boismortier, François Couperin, Jacques Duphly, & Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre.
This program offers a bouquet of delights from the final flowering of French harpsichord music. Music by Duphly, who died one day after the storming of the Bastille, combines the luscious harmonies of courtly French music with the virtuosity and popular appeal of newly fashionable Italian concertos. Boismortier was one of the first composers to support himself entirely through publishing music, with no reliance on royal or ecclesiastic patronage. Marie-Emmanuelle Bayon and Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre both hosted their own salons in Paris, while also enjoying royal and aristocratic patronage. Joseph Bologne (Chevalier de Saint Georges) was of the most celebrated violinist-composers of the late 18th century and led an all-Black regiment in the French Revolution.
“Byron Schenkman fairly stole the show... intense and commanding yet effortless and virtuosic”
– Pittsburgh Post-Gazette