Houston Early Music

• Concert Reminder:  Ensemble Caprice

• Complete program notes

This Friday:

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

• See complete Program Notes and Artist Biographies on our web site

• See information about the Society of Seventeenth-Century Music annual conference

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. (Be sure to use the same credit card to enter and leave the parking lot.)

Tickets

Tickets are available online at

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

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.

• 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 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.”

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

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.

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.

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

• Next concert: Rose Ensemble, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, 5:00 p.m.
• Concert reminders via email only
• Purchase tickets for remainder of season online

Next Concert:

Sun., Dec. 13, 2009, 5:00PM

THE ROSE ENSEMBLE

Celebremos el Niño – A Mexican Baroque Christmas

Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Ave.

Pre-concert talk at 4:15PM

Ample free parking is available in the Cathedral Parking Garage across San Jacinto Street (northbound) opposite the Cathedral.

Houston Early Music presents The Rose Ensemble in Celebremos el Niño – A Mexican Baroque Christmas on Sunday, December 13 at 5:00 p.m., at Christ Church Cathedral as part an annual tradition, the Hispanic Heritage Series. The internationally known group brings a rare collection of early Mexican music, featuring over two centuries of festive Christmas dances, ballads and villancicos from the great cathedrals of Puebla and Mexico City. “This is remarkable music that is not heard that often,” says Nancy Ellis, artistic director of Houston Early Music. “We are delighted to bring The Rose Ensemble to Houston for the very first time.”

Founded in 1996 by artistic director Jordan Sramek, The Rose Ensemble is a recipient of the 2005 Chorus America Margaret Hillis Award for Choral Excellence and a first-place winner in the sacred music category at the 2007 Tolosa International Choral Competition. The group specializes in bringing to audiences a repertoire that spans over 1,000 years in more than 25 languages. In addition, they are well-known for their research in Hawaiian, Swedish, Middle Eastern and American vocal traditions. “Why do what everyone else is doing?” asks Sramek. “We aim to explore the lesser-known areas of early music.” In addition to being known for their rich research, the Minneapolis-based group is also famous for its energetic performances. “We can be simultaneously scholarly and entertaining,” quips Sramek. “And we have had the good fortune to work with some of the best musicologists of our time who have created wonderful transcriptions for us.”

Celebremos el Niño – A Mexican Baroque Christmas provides a perfect example of the kind of far reaching programming that characterizes the Ensemble’s approach. “On a historical level, things can get really exciting. These composers saw Mexico as an open playing field. With fewer restrictions from the Catholic church, we see more compositional experimentation. We see the use of native dance rhythms in the liturgy to entice people to come to church. Seventeenth-century street and dance music became fashionable, even in high mass, during the Mexican Baroque era. Spanish composers used the vivid rhythms and energy of the xácara to drive forward the plots of operas and to introduce theatrical excitement into church music,” says Sramek. “Villancicos even depict the song and dance of African slaves in the Spanish colonies.”

The group of ten singers and three instrumentalists tour nationally and internationally. “We are excited to bring this joyous program to Texas,” says Sramek. “We are always delighted to perform in a city such as Houston that has such a substantial early music scene.”

Artistic director Jordan Sramek will present a pre-concert talk at 4:15 p.m.

Tickets

Tickets 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.

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.

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.