Houston Early Music

Fri., Mar. 5, 2010, 8:00PM
Pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m

ENSEMBLE CAPRICE

Music of Paradise and Hell

Christ the King Lutheran Church
2353 Rice Blvd

Houston Early Music presents Ensemble Caprice in Music of Paradise and Hell on March 5^th at 8pm at Christ the King Lutheran Church, featuring a dazzling selection of 17^th century works on recorders, viola da gamba, Baroque guitar and percussion. The performance coincides with the Society of Seventeenth-Century Music annual conference at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.

“The co-artistic directors, Matthias Maute and Sophie Larivièreare, are simply phenomenal players, among the best in the world,” says Nancy Ellis, Houston Early Music artistic director. “Their virtuosity, along with that of the other ensemble musicians, has earned Caprice a much-deserved reputation as one of the top early music groups on the international scene.” The ensemble also includes such outstanding musicians as Susie Napper on viola da gamba, David Jacques on Baroque guitar, and percussionist Ziya Tabassian.

Originally founded in Germany, the now Montreal-based Ensemble Caprice aims for innovation as they head into their 20^th anniversary season. “We try to find Baroque music that does not sound Baroque,” says Maute, who plays the recorder and Baroque flute, and composes. “There is so much music in the 17^th and 18^th century that is off the beaten tracks, that it gives us great pleasure to throw these unusual styles – like Baroque gypsy music – into our program.”

Music of Paradise and Hell features music by such 17^th century legends as Andrea Falconieri, Francesco Turini, Marco Uccellini, Francesco Corbetta and Johann Heinrich Schmelzer. “We are all somewhere in between heaven and hell, and we like to present programs that relate to us as contemporaries,” says Maute. “Needless to say, the composers of the 17^th century had a lot to say on this subject.” Contrasts abound as well in considering the pairing of Andrea Falconieri and Johann Heinrich Schmelzer. “They never worked together, but when you witness the meeting of their music, it is as if John Lennon and Paul McCartney started joint song writing again,” says Maute. “It is ‘reality music,’ full of joy, conflict, dissonances, arguments, entertainment and sadness.”

Matthias Maute will give a pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m.

Venue

Christ the King Lutheran Church, 2353 Rice Blvd., Houston, TX 77005

Limited free parking is available on the lot west of Christ the King Lutheran Church. Ample parking is available for $1.00 (credit card only) across the street at Rice University’s stadium parking lot on the southeast corner of Rice & Greenbriar.

Tickets

Purchase online

and at the door: $35 for general admission, $30 for seniors, and $10 for students (with student ID.) Free admission for children under 15.

PROGRAM NOTES AND ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES

Continue reading…

If you have difficulty reading this in email, please see our web site
http://www.houstonearlymusic.org/archives/810

Please share this email with friends who may be interested in our programs.

Houston Early Music presenting the world’s finest period ensembles and soloists … bringing to life music from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance to the Baroque and Classical periods. Experience with us early music played on original instruments, by musicians reviving performances of the past.

In this Newsletter: Next concert:  Ensemble Caprice Concert reminders via email only Purchase tickets for remainder of season online

Next Concert: Fri., Mar. 5, 2010, 8:00PM Pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m ENSEMBLE CAPRICE Music of Paradise and Hell Christ the King Lutheran Church 2353 Rice Blvd “Such dazzling virtuosity on the recorder leaves you in staggering daze! We wonder by which diabolical trick the flautists manage to articulate at such speed, with so much breath and energy.” Le Devoir – Canada See videos of Ensemble Caprice Houston Early Music presents Ensemble Caprice in Music of Paradise and Hell on March 5th at 8pm at Christ the King Lutheran Church, featuring a dazzling selection of 17th century works on recorders, viola da gamba, Baroque guitar and percussion. The performance coincides with the Society of Seventeenth-Century Music annual conference at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. “The co-artistic directors, Matthias Maute and Sophie Larivièreare, are simply phenomenal players, among the best in the world,” says Nancy Ellis, Houston Early Music artistic director. “Their virtuosity, along with that of the other ensemble musicians, has earned Caprice a much-deserved reputation as one of the top early music groups on the international scene.” The ensemble also includes such outstanding musicians as Susie Napper on viola da gamba, David Jacques on Baroque guitar, and percussionist Ziya Tabassian. Originally founded in Germany, the now Montreal-based Ensemble Caprice aims for innovation as they head into their 20th anniversary season. “We try to find Baroque music that does not sound Baroque,” says Maute, who plays the recorder and Baroque flute, and composes. “There is so much music in the 17th and 18th century that is off the beaten tracks, that it gives us great pleasure to throw these unusual styles – like Baroque gypsy music – into our program.” Music of Paradise and Hell features music by such 17th century legends as Andrea Falconieri, Francesco Turini, Marco Uccellini, Francesco Corbetta and Johann Heinrich Schmelzer. “We are all somewhere in between heaven and hell, and we like to present programs that relate to us as contemporaries,” says Maute. “Needless to say, the composers of the 17th century had a lot to say on this subject.” Contrasts abound as well in considering the pairing of Andrea Falconieri and Johann Heinrich Schmelzer. “They never worked together, but when you witness the meeting of their music, it is as if John Lennon and Paul McCartney started joint song writing again,” says Maute. “It is ‘reality music,’ full of joy, conflict, dissonances, arguments, entertainment and sadness.” Caprice’s most recent CD, Gloria! Vivaldi’s Angels, (Analekta) has won Canada’s prestigious 2009 JUNO award in the category of Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance. “It’s been an honor to win the JUNO,” says Maute. “We can definitely book the year 2009 as our most successful year.” Matthias Maute will give a pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m. Venue Christ the King Lutheran Church, 2353 Rice Blvd., Houston, TX 77005 Limited free parking is available on the lot west of Christ the King Lutheran Church. Ample parking is available for $1.00 (credit card only) across the street at Rice University’s stadium parking lot on the southeast corner of Rice & Greenbriar. Tickets Tickets are available online at www.HoustonEarlyMusic.org and at the door: $35 for general admission, $30 for seniors, and $10 for students (with student ID.) Free admission for children under 15. Click to purchase tickets online

NOTE NOTE NOTE This season we will send our concert reminders via email only. We will not be mailing postcards. Please be sure your current email address is on our list. Click to subscribe to our email list If you have friends interested in our programs, please be sure they also know of this change and ask them to join the list. If you don’t use email, please let us know by phone 713-432-1744 or mail at Houston Early Music, P.O. Box 271193, Houston, TX 77277-1193. We will accommodate your needs.

Houston Early Music Online Ticket Service Houston Early Music is pleased to announce that you can now purchase tickets to our performances online, using major credit cards. Click to purchase tickets to future concerts

Contact Houston Early Music P.O. Box 271193 Houston TX 77277-1193 Phone 713-432-1744 email info@HoustonEarlyMusic.org Web http://www.HoustonEarlyMusic.org

Houston Early Music is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Please make sure that info@HoustonEarlyMusic.org is registered in your contacts list or with your spam filter to ensure that delivery will not be blocked. If you wish to modify or cancel your email subscription, please see the links at the bottom of this email. For new subscriptions visit http://www.houstonearlymusic.org/lists/

If you have difficulty reading this in email, please see our web site
http://www.houstonearlymusic.org/archives/778

Please share this email with friends who may be interested in our programs.

Houston Early Music presenting the world’s finest period ensembles and soloists … bringing to life music from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance to the Baroque and Classical periods. Experience with us early music played on original instruments, by musicians reviving performances of the past.

Coming up on Sunday, Dec. 13 Houston Early Music and The Religion and the Arts Council, Christ Church Cathedral, present: THE ROSE ENSEMBLE Celebremos el Niño – A Mexican Baroque Christmas See program, notes, and song text See more information

Continue reading…

In this note:

• Program
• Program notes
• About the Rose Ensemble
• Translations of song texts

Houston Early Music 

And 

The Religion and the Arts Council,

Christ Church Cathedral 
 

Present 
 

THE ROSE ENSEMBLE 
 
 

Celebremos el Niño:

Delights of the Mexican Baroque 

Continue reading…

Red Priest will do their outreach concert at the Shepherd School this 
coming Tuesday, October 27, at 12:10pm.  They’ll perform in Hirsch 
hall (enter the building from the parking lot and turn left), and it’s 
free.  Please do come and spread the word!

Thanks,

Greg

Gregory Barnett
Associate Professor of Musicology
Rice University
The Shepherd School of Music – MS 532
P.O. Box 1892
Houston, TX 77251-1892

Known as The Rolling Stones of early music!

• Click to Purchase Tickets Online
• See Program, Notes, and Biographies

The season launches with the notorious renegade of the recorder, Piers Adams, and his famed UK-based group, Red Priest, presenting Nightmare in Venice, just in time for Halloween, on Tuesday, October 27, 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 1015 Holman at Main.

Adams, a rock star of the early music genre, is known for bending the rules and for high theatrics. “We don’t set out to cause trouble, honestly,” quips Adams, Red Priest’s artistic director. “But we do like to shake off all of those early music straitjackets and preconceptions, so that we’re no longer bound by a fear of what the composer—long dead as he is—might think.”

According to Houston Early Music artistic director Nancy Ellis, Red Priest is a bit like early music gone wild. “They are known for being way out there,” says Ellis. “They will most definitely add some spice to our programming.” The program includes Vivaldi’s Nightmare Concerto, Tartini’s Devil’s Trill sonata, Masque music by Robert Johnson, Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits, Leclair’s Demon Airs and Red Priest’s own Fantasia on Corelli’s La Follia. “Expect some Halloween flavor,” says Adams. “Taking Vivaldi’s spooky and dramatic concerto La Notte as a place to begin, we will explore the myriad themes of fantasy, myth and horror in the Baroque, not forgetting that the word ‘baroque’ itself means strange, bizarre and irregular.” Red Priest really lets it go in Corelli’s La Follia. “Using this famous ground as a starting point, and Corelli’s variations as a loose structure, we pass through many musical styles from gypsy to Indian to modern jazz,” adds Adams.

Some of the fun ingredients in the Red Priest mix include creating their own original arrangements, incorporating stylistic elements from the world and folk music realms, bringing out stories and drama in the music, and wildly colorful costumes. Adams has been referred to as early music’s version of The Rolling Stones, and he doesn’t mind the comparison in the least. “We definitely want to shake things up,” says Adams. “We want to find the most eye- and ear-catching ways to present what we consider to be some of the most fantastic music ever written to the widest possible audience, even if that does mean stretching the boundaries a little.”

Adams will give a pre-concert talk at 6:45 p.m.

View a short video of Red Priest

Venue

Trinity Episcopal Church
1015 Holman (at Main)
Houston, TX 77004

Map

Tickets

Tickets to RED PRIEST may be purchased through our new online ticket service.

• Click to Purchase Tickets Online

Prices at the door are $35 for general admission, $30 for seniors, and $10 for students (with student ID.) Free admission for children under 15.

Houston Early Music Presents

RED PRIEST

NIGHTMARE IN VENICE: a Baroque Fantasy

Piers Adams – recorders
David Greenberg – violin
Angela East – cello
Howard Beach – harpsichord

7:30PM Tuesday, October 27, 2009, Trinity Episcopal Church
1015 Holman

6:45PM
Preconcert talk
Piers Adams

Continue reading…

Houston Early Music is pleased to announce that you can now purchase tickets to our performances on our web site, using major credit cards. We are using the Brown Paper Tickets service, especially suited for non-profit performing arts organizations. Brown Paper Tickets allows Houston Early Music to offer this service at very low cost, ensuring that the maximum amount of your ticket price goes for actual concert expenses.

At this time, the first concert Red Priest is available for sale. In a few weeks we will add the remaining concerts to this service.

• Click to purchase tickets to Red Priest

Houston Early Music is excited to announce the concerts in its 2009/2010 season. We hope you will join us for the outstanding performances by some of the leading artists in early music today. Please see our Subscription Page

 NOTE NOTE NOTE

This season we will send our concert reminders via email. Please be sure to give us your contact information by emailing us at info@HoustonEarlyMusic.org or calling us at 713-432-1744. If you don’t use email, please let us know that by phone or mail at Houston Early Music, P.O. Box 271193, Houston, TX 77277-1193

Tue., Oct. 27, 2009, 7:30PM      RED PRIEST A Nightmare in Venice Trinity Episcopal Church 1015 Holman (at Main)

Just when you thought it was safe to go to a Baroque concert – UK’s Red Priest comes to town with a Halloween fest of some of the most extraordinary chamber music of the Baroque era, featuring Vivaldi’s Nightmare Concerto, Tartini’s Devil’s Trill sonata, Masque music by Robert Johnson, Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits, Leclair’s Demon Airs and Red Priest’s own Fantasia on Corelli’s La Follia. www.piersadams.com

“If the Rolling Stones played recorder, violin, cello and harpsichord and their genre was 17th-century music, they would be the band called Red Priest” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

HISPANIC HERITAGE SERIES 

Sun., Dec. 13, 2009, 5:00PM THE ROSE ENSEMBLE Celebremos el Niño – A Mexican Baroque Christmas Christ Church Cathedral 1117 Texas Ave.

Early Mexican music resounds in this joyful holiday program featuring over two centuries of festive Christmas dances, ballads and villancicos from the great cathedrals of Puebla and Mexico City. Accompanied by viola da gamba, vihuela da mano and percussion, solos and choruses burst forth in this program that’s anything but predictable. www.roseensemble.com

“a scholarly, period-conscious group, they sing and play with a lusty ease that blows the dust off old music.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Fri., Mar. 5, 2010, 8:00PM      ENSEMBLE CAPRICE Music of Paradise and Hell Christ the King Lutheran Church 2353 Rice Blvd

Montreal-based Ensemble Caprice, under the artistic direction of recorder virtuosi Matthias Maute and Sophie Larivière, returns to perform a dazzling selection of 17^th century works on recorders, viola da gamba, baroque guitar and percussion. The performance in conjunction with Society of Seventeenth-Century Music annual conference. www.ensemblecaprice.com

“Such dazzling virtuosity on the recorder leaves you in staggering daze!  We wonder by which diabolical trick the flautists manage to articulate at such speed, with so much breath and energy.” Le Devoir – Canada

Check out Matthias Maute at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzp_fD6JlAQ –

Fri., Apr. 16, 2010,  8:00PM TAPESTRY Faces of a Woman Trinity Episcopal Church 1015 Holman (at Main)

The three women of Tapestry, joined by Shira Kammen, vielle and harp return to Houston with a program crisscrossing borders and centuries to tell tales of remarkable women who inspired nations and generations. These women captured the imaginations of artists, composers, and writers throughout the ages. www.tapestryboston05.com

“An ensemble that plants haunting vibrations, old and new, in our ears.”
Cleveland Plain Dealer

SUBSCRIPTION RATES

Subscribe to our season and receive a discount on ticket price. As a season subscribers you will be given priority seating. Prices at the door are $35 for general admission, $30 for seniors and $10 for students (with student ID). Free admission for children under 15.

Please see our Subscription Page

Fri., 8:00 PM, April 3,  2009
Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church
6221 Main St.

CURIOSE INVENZIONI: 17th Century Italian Musical Fireworks

GALATEA

Paul Beier, Director
Monica Huggett, baroque violin
Richard Savino, baroque guitar
Bruce Dickey, cornetto
Avi Stein, organ
Paul Beier, theorbo

Continue reading…