For immediate release.
Contact: Katharine Drake
katharinedrake@gmail.com
(518) 577-8734
A Chamber Music Concert by one of Crescendo’s Ensembles:
Mientras me abraza–Baroque, Latino, and Folk Fusion
On April 8 and 9, the music organization Crescendo will present the first in a series of four concerts of vocal and instrumental music.
This first concert of Crescendo’s 2022 season is a program featuring chamber music with a “twist.” The repertoire featured and the instruments uses not only crossover into different genres of classical, folk and contemporary music, but they also break down the barriers between these genres and illustrate how very connected these different styles of music are.
The unifying element is the folk dance – from Poland over Spain to Latin America. Folk music and dance rhythms permeate classical music, and connect different genres and eras from the Baroque to present times. Polish folk music and dances influenced music by many Baroque composers, including some that are generally associated with serious sacred music, such as Johann Sebastian Bach and George Philip Telemann. The ensemble will present their own ar-rangements of three Baroque works, Telemann’s Suite Polonoise, and Bach’s famous Orchestral Suite in B minor, and his motet “Singet dem Herrn.” All are great examples of this fusion of styles.
Traditional Spanish, Polish and European dance music was influenced by the Folk music in Colonial Latin America. The ensemble will present their own arrangements of Mariachi tunes and other traditional dances from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bolivia and Chile. Some of these pieces will be preceded by improvisations in Baroque style. Connecting the past and the present are two contemporary works, written in this decade and based on Latin American dances.
Dan Román, the composer of one of the contemporary works written for the ensemble, describes the fusion in the following way: “My piece is an attempt to meld two seemingly dissimilar musical traditions: minimalist music, and folkloric and popular dance music such as the Bomba, Plena, Salsa, and Mambo. These two traditions turned out to have great affinity to one another due to the use of layered rhythms and a sense of perpetual drive.”
The musicians who present these works will use an unusual combination of chamber instruments: Violin and per-cussion played by Job Salazar, Carlos Boltes with viola and charango, and Crescendo’s Founder and Artistic Director Christine Gevert, virginal and organ.
These concerts have been made possible in part with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Support has also been provided to Crescendo from CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.
The concerts will take place on Friday, April 8, at 6 pm at Trinity Church Lime Rock, 484 Lime Rock Rd., Lakeville, CT, and on Saturday, April 9, at 4 pm at Saint James Place, 352 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA. Tickets are $35 (general seating), $60 (premium seating), and $10 (youth). All audience members, including staff, and performers must show proof of being fully vaccinated. Musicians, audience members, and staff must remain properly masked once inside the performance venue. These policies are subject to change. Access online ticket sales and the full Covid precaution policy in the most updated version on Crescendo’s website: www.crescendomusic.org.
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Upcoming Performances: April – June 2022
Mientras me abraza (While she hugs me)–Baroque, Latino, and Folk Fusion
Chamber Music with a ‘twist’: Polish folk music influenced music by J.S. Bach and Telemann, and traditional and contemporary Latin American works arranged for an unusual combination of instruments.
Job Salazar, violin and percussion – Carlos Boltes, viola and charango – Christine Gevert, harpsichord and organ
Friday, April 8, at 6 pm – Trinity Church Lime Rock, Lakeville CT
Saturday, April 9, at 4 pm – Saint James Place, Great Barrington, MA
These concerts have been made possible in part with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Support has also been provided to Crescendo from CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.
Sunday, May 15, 2022 @ 4:00 PM
Trinity Lime Rock Church, Lakeville, CT
POSTPONED: Carissimi’s Jephte and Missa L’Homme armé
Italian Giacomo Carissimi tells the story of a human drama in one of the first oratorios. His twelve-voice mass of the Early Baroque is based on a famous medieval folk tune: “The Armed Man.”
Pablo Bustos, tenor (Jephte), Agnes Coaxley Cox, soprano (Filia), with Peter Becker, bass solo, Crescendo Vocal Ensemble and period instruments
Saturday, May 14, at 6pm – Saint James Place, Great Barrington, MA
Sunday, May 15, at 4 pm – Trinity Church Lime Rock, Lakeville CT
These concerts have been made possible in part with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Support has also been provided to Crescendo from CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.
The Art of the Improvisation: Two Keyboards in Dialogue
At the center are Bernardo Pasquini’s sonatas for two figured bass lines, in which the performers are challenged to respond to each others’ impromptu improvisations. Also original works and arrangements by Alessandro Piccinini, Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Merulo and others.
Juan Mesa and Christine Gevert, virginals, Hideki Yamaya, lute and theorbo
Friday, June 10, at 6 pm – Trinity Church Lime Rock, Lakeville CT
Sunday, June 12, at 4 pm – Saint James Place, Great Barrington, MA
These concerts have been made possible in part with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Support has also been provided to Crescendo from CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.
Grandson of Afro-Brazilian Slaves: Classical Star Composer José Maurício Nunes Garcia
Matinas do Apóstolo São Pedro à 6 (1815) and Missa S. Pedro de Alcantara à 4 for chorus, soloists, two bassoons, and organ; “Te Christe solum novimus” (1800) for soprano and organ.
Crescendo Chorus, Soprano Schauntice Shephard and Baritone Jermaine Woodard Jr., Crescendo Period Instrument Ensemble
Friday, June 24, at 7:15 pm – Saint James Place, Great Barrington, MA
Saturday, June 25, at 6 pm – Trinity Church Lime Rock, Lakeville CT
These concerts have been made possible in part with support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, which also receives funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Support has also been provided to Crescendo from CT Humanities (CTH), with funding provided by the Connecticut State Department of Economic and Community Development/Connecticut Office of the Arts (COA) from the Connecticut State Legislature.
