2013‑14 OPERATING GRANTS

29 T H SEASON

Emanuel Bach TricentennialS

Jeffrey Cohan, baroque flute

Hans-Jürgen Schnoor, harpsichord

Simphonie Nouvelle

Saturday, 22 February 2014 at 8pmAlix Goolden Hall, Victoria Conservatory of Music

SPECIAL EVENT

Co-presented with Pacific Opera Victoria

Friday, 14 MarCH and Saturday, 15 MarCH 2014 McPherson Playhouse 8pm

Boston Early Music Festival (USA)

Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, Musical Directors

A stunning operatic double bill

Marc-Antoine Charpentier La descente d’Orphée aux Enfers

and La Couronne de Fleurs First played for the Dauphin of France in 1686

For the first time ever, Victoria audiences will have the opportunity to experience a staged baroque opera, performed in a period style by one of the world’s leading baroque music ensembles. Close to thirty singers, dancers and musicians will perform a double bill of operas by Marc-Antoine Charpentier, first played for the Dauphin of France. This is the most ambitious production in EMSI’s almost thirty-year history.

Saturday, 12 aPriL 2014 alix Goolden Hall 8pm

Monica Huggett violin and direction (UK)Harry Van der Kamp bass (Netherlands)

Portland Baroque OrchestraSeventeenth-century German cantatas

EMSI is proud to present the Victoria debut of Harry Van der Kamp, the legendary Dutch bass with more than 120 CDs to his credit. The equally distinguished Monica Huggett leads performances of cantatas and instrumental music by Johann Christoph Bach, Bruhns, Rosemüller, Tunder and Biber.

2013–14 Concert Season

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Emanuel Bach Tricentennial

Jeffrey Cohan, baroque fluteHans-Jürgen Schnoor, harpsichord

Simphonie NouvelleJoanna Blendulf, celloSteve Creswell, viola

Courtney Kuroda, violinChristine Wilkinson Beckman, violin

S Suite in B Minor, BWV 1067. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Johann Sebastian Bach

Ouverture (1685–1750) Rondeau Sarabande Bourrée I and II Polonaise and Double Menuet Badinerie

Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor, Wq. 17 . . . . . . . . Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Allegro (1714–1788) Un poco adagio Allegro

INTERMISSION

Flute Concerto in D Minor, Wq. 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Allegro Un poco Andante Allegro di molto Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D Major, BWV 1050 . . . . . . Johann Sebastian Bach Allegro Afetuoso Allegro

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Programme Notes

SCarl Philipp Emanuel Bach, born in Weimar on 8 March 1714, is the most famous of the sons of Maria Barbara and Johann Sebastian Bach. His godfather was Georg Philipp Telemann. He was three years old when the family moved to Coethen, seven when his father married Anna Magdalena and nine when Sebastian became Cantor of the Leipzig Thomasschule and Music Director in the principal churches.

Emanuel matriculated at the great University of Leipzig on 1 October 1731 to study law. In 1734 he moved to the University of Frankfurt an der Oder, again as a law student, and remained there until the end of the academic year in 1738, supporting himself

mainly by giving keyboard lessons and by composing for or directing public concerts.

The years 1731 to 1738 mark the real beginning of his composing career, first under Sebastian’s supervision, and by 1738 on his own as a composer.

“When I finished my academic year in 1738 and went to Berlin, I was given a very advantageous opportunity to guide a young gentleman in foreign travel; an unexpected and gracious summons to Ruppin from the then crown prince of Prussia, now king, caused me to break off plans for my journey,” he said in his autobiographical sketch. The young gentleman was Count Heinrich Christian Keyserlingk

All good wishes for the New Year ~ With appreciation for EMSI’s outstanding presence in Victoria’s culture

My motion to

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(the son of Count Hermann Keyserlingk, who had been a friend of Sebastian); the King of Prussia was flutist Frederick II, “The Great”. Some 17 musicians were already in Frederick’s employ when Emanuel was engaged, including J.J. Quantz, the brothers Graun and the brothers Benda.

Emanuel had been in the service of Frederick the Great for nearly 30 years when Telemann’s death in June of 1767 opened up a possible avenue of escape; after five months of deliberation Emanuel was chosen as Telemann’s replacement. In March 1768, at the age of 54, the most famous keyboard player and teacher in Europe assumed his new position in Hamburg. His duties in the new post were similar to those of his father in Leipzig: to act as Cantor of the Johanneum (the Lateinschule) and director of music in the five principal churches. He held the position for about 20 years, until his death.

Emanuel composed more than 50 concertos for solo harpsichord with strings (sometimes with flutes

and horns) and 11 concertos for flute and strings, formerly in the Singakademie Berlin, now lost. Nearly all his concertos date from Berlin and are in the same manner as Sebastian’s, composed for the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig during the 1730s. The d-minor flute concerto is a transcription of one for harpsichord and strings in the same key.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750), today the most famous composer in the world, wrote his “Brandenburg Concertos” for the Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg in Coethen before 1721, six concertos with different instruments. Brandenburg V has a “concertino” for flauto traverso, violino and harpsichord with violino, viola, violoncello and violino in ripieno—probably the most famous of the Brandenburg Concertos. The Suite in B Minor for flauto traverso and strings was composed in 1738–39 for the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig in French style—Sebastian’s most elaborate orchestral suite, including the world famous “Badinerie”.

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The Artists

SFlutist Jeffrey Cohan has performed as soloist in 25 countries, including most recently Ukraine and China, and is one of the few who specialize in all transverse flutes from the Renaissance through to the modern. He is the only person to win both the Erwin Bodky Competition in Boston and the highest prize awarded in the Flanders Festival International Concours Musica Antiqua in Bruges, Belgium, two of the most prestigious awards in the United States and Europe for performers of early music. His many other prizes and awards include First Prize in the Olga Koussevitzky Young Artist Awards Competition and a grant from the Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music, which sponsored his debut recital in Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. He is artistic director of the Capitol Hill Chamber Music Festival in Washington, DC and the Salish Sea Early Music Festival.

Harpsichordist Hans‑Jürgen Schnoor from Lübeck, Germany has been cantor and organist at the St. Jakobi Church in Lübeck and music director at the Vicelinkirche in Neumünster, and is one of Germany’s leading performers of early keyboard music. He is also a leading conductor of period instrument performances of instrumental and choral works by Bach and others, as director of the Neumünster Bach Choir, Concerto Lübeck, the Hamburg Consort, Orchestra Seattle/Seattle Chamber Singers and other groups. Mr. Schnoor

studied piano with Edmund Schmid, organ with Walter Kraft, and conducting with Wilhelm Ehmann and Kurt Thomas. Currently professor for harpsichord, basso continuo, early performance practice and music theory at the Lübeck Conservatory of Music, he has also been a faculty member at the Church Music College of Westfalia, has won numerous awards, and has made many recordings as conductor, organist, harpsichordist and fortepianist He frequently performs as soloist on all of these keyboard instruments (including more than 100 performances of Bach’s Goldberg Variations) and in recital with other noted instrumental and vocal soloists.

Simphonie Nouvelle, founded in 2003 by Jeffrey Cohan, performs concerti and other early chamber music. During the reign of Louis XIV, “simphonie” (there were several spellings) referred simply to chamber music for any number of players—as few as two—and often included instrumental transcriptions of orchestral and vocal repertoire. The composer and violinist Jean-Féry Rebel spent his formative years during this period, and when the “simphonie” had gone quite out of fashion four decades later in 1737, when he was 71, Rebel crafted a “new” mode for it: a wild, programmatic and cohesive set of pieces depicting the creation of the world, which he entitled “Les Élémens, simphonie nouvelle”.

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Today’s “Simphonie Nouvelle” follows Rebel’s lead in conjuring up new meaning for the “simphonie” and other baroque chamber music, while affirming the grand overtones of forms that appear to be delicate, small and contained.

Joanna Blendulf has performed as soloist and continuo player in leading period instrument ensembles throughout the United States. Ms Blendulf holds performance degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Indiana University, where she studied with Stanley Ritchie, Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Alan Harris. In 1998, she was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate by Indiana University for her accomplishments on baroque cello. Ms. Blendulf performs with the Portland, Seattle and Indianapolis Baroque Orchestras, Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra and American Bach Soloists. She is also an active chamber musician, performing and touring with the Catacoustic Consort, American Baroque, Ensemble Mirable, the Streicher Trio and Wildcat Viols. Her recording of the complete cello sonatas of Jean Zewalt Triemer with Ensemble Mirable can

be found on the Magnatune label. Ms. Blendulf ’s summer engagements have included performances at the Bloomington, Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, the Aspen and Ojai Music Festivals and the Carmel and Oregon Bach Festivals.

Violist Steve Creswell performs on historical instruments with Pacific Baroque Orchestra, the Seattle Baroque Orchestra and Early Music Vancouver. He has recorded and toured internationally with Tafelmusik of Toronto and REBEL from New York. On modern instruments, he has worked with dance companies, new music ensembles, and unusual string collectives, most recently, SCRAPE! the brainchild of Cornish School for the Arts professor Jim Knapp. He also a member of Northwest Sinfonietta, a modern chamber orchestra from Tacoma, Washington, and has played in the Whidbey Island Music Festival. He performs frequently as concertmaster of Seattle Choral Company, and teaches at the Academy of Music Northwest in Bellevue, Washington. In November, 2010, he jointly launched a new classical string

G.F. Handel:

“Il Trionfo del Tempo”(� e Triumph of Time)

All-star soloists include

Amanda Forsythe, Krisztina Szabó,Reginald L. Mobley & Colin BalzerAlexander Weimann music director

Pacifi c Baroque Orchestra

  ursday, August 7, 2014 at 7:30pmChan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC

Tickets available through Ticketmaster beginning February 15.

Information: www.earlymusic.bc.ca Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ca

Coming up at the 2014 Vancouver Early Music Festival:

Amanda ForsytheAlexander Weimann

Krisztina Szabó

Colin Balzer

Reginald L. Mobley

Colin Balzer

Pleasure & Beauty abound in Handel’s

fi rst oratorio

Youth Tickets for EMSI Concerts

Bring-a-Teen-for-Free Each adult/senior ticket-holder may bring

one teen free of charge Tickets available at the door for Main Series

concerts only, unless concert is sold outStudent Rush Tickets

Tickets at the door, with student card Main Series $8, Special concerts $10

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ensemble in Seattle, the Kügeln Trio, with colleagues Nathan Whittaker and Laurel Wells.

Violinist Courtney Kuroda is an active performer of early music in the Seattle area and has performed throughout the United States and Canada with period chamber ensembles and orchestras, including Seattle Baroque Orchestra, Portland Baroque Orchestra, Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Ars Antigua in Chicago, Ensemble Mirable and Opera Lafayette in Washington DC, and has played in the Bloomington and Boston Early Music Festivals. Her violin playing has been described as “plangent of tone and right on the mark technically” (Herald-Times). Ms. Kuroda received her Master’s degree in performance from the Early Music Institute at Indiana University, where she studied Baroque violin with Stanley Ritchie. She has recorded for the Naxos and ATMA labels.

Violinist Christine Wilkinson Beckman recently graduated with a Master’s degree in Early Music Performance from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where she studied baroque violin with Julie Andrijeski. While at CWRU she served as co-concertmaster of the CWRU/CIM Baroque Orchestra and was a member of the CWRU/CIM Baroque Chamber Ensembles, Classical Quartet, and Renaissance Violin Band. With the CWRU ensembles she performed in the Young Performers Festival at the Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals in 2011 and 2012 respectively. Ms. Beckman has also studied with Ingrid Matthews and Marc Destrubé. As a period music specialist she has enjoyed playing as an apprentice with Apollo’s Fire and with NYS Baroque, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Pacific MusicWorks, Portland Baroque Orchestra, the Salish Sea Early Music Festival, and the Seattle Baroque Orchestra.

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EMSI SEASON SPONSORS

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EMSI wishes to thank…

The Volunteer Ushers at Alix Goolden Performance HallThe EMSI Volunteer Guild 2013–14

Mary Scobie who designs the EMSI brochure, ads, posters and programmes

Visit our website at www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca

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Friday 8pm

14 March 2014Saturday 8pm

15 March 2014 McPherson Playhouse

CO-PRESENTERS OOrphée

Tickets: phone or online$65– $85, Gala $125

250.385.0222 www.pov.bc.ca

250.386.6121 www.rmts.bc.ca

Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s

La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers and La Couronne de Fleurs

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“The orchestra, led by BEMF musical directors Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, was nearly flawless in

their performance, both technically and artistically,” BOSTON MUSICAL INTELLIGENCER

www.pov.bc.ca www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca

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Two jewels of the French Baroque, the operas are a brilliant fusion of music, drama, and

dance, staged by one of the world’s leading baroque ensembles. Paul O’Dette and Stephen Stubbs, reigning authorities on early music, lead the internationally acclaimed singers, instrumentalists, and dancers of the Boston Early Music Festival.

Orphée is a blend of two operas by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The operas, dating from 1685 and 1686, are presented as a play within a play—a musical contest framing the story of Orpheus and Euridice.

La Couronne de Fleurs, based on a text by Molière, depicts the musical contest in tribute to Louis XIV, in which shepherds vie for a crown of flowers from the goddess Flora for the most beautiful and eloquent aria.

The short opera La Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers is presented as a further entry in the poetic contest, telling the famous story of Orphée, who decends into the underworld to use his musical

A stunning operatic double bill by Marc-Antoine Charpentier

Friday 14 March and Saturday 15 March 2014, 8pm McPherson Playhouse

Orphée

“A must-see event for those who love Baroque opera” THE ARTS FUSE

For synopsis, libretti, an article on Baroque Opera, and a Behind-the-Scenes Preview video, visitwww.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca

Free Public Event Saturday 15 March 4pmWingate Studio (St. John the Divine Hall), 925 Balmoral Road

Stephen Stubbs, Conductor and Co-Artistic Director of the Boston Early Music Festival conducts a master class with an emphasis on baroque practice

Please register artistinfo@pov.bc.ca or 250.382.1641

powers to rescue his beloved Euridice. These miniature masterpieces showcase one of the great composers of the French Baroque.

Playful, elegant, and haunting, this performance is a perfect melding of consummate musicianship and exhilarating theatricality.

Pre‑performance lobby lecture 7:00 pm

Boston Early Music SocietyFounded in 1980, the Boston Early Music Society has long been one of the leading groups in the performance of music from the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras, acclaimed internationally for their artistry, technical polish, style, scrupulous research, and above all excitement and drama. This is a perfect opportunity for Victorians to acquaint ourselves with the bewitching and unique world of French Baroque opera, made only more perfect by the performers.

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Make a DonationThe Early Music Society of the Islands relies on individual donations, memberships and grants to sustain its operations each year. Your donation will help to present concerts featuring internationally renowned artists and to promote interest and appreciation of early music in the community.

Ways to DonateONLINE To make a secure online donation by Visa, MasterCard or AmEx, visit: www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca

MAIL Please send cheque payable to EMSI to:EMSI Donations c/o McPherson Box Office,#3 Centennial Square, Victoria BC V8W 1P5

THROUGH UNITED WAY OR EMPLOYEE CAMPAIGNS If your employer participates in the United Way or other employee campaigns, you can support the Early Music Society of the Islands by writing in the gift on your pledge card. Our charitable registration number is 11889-0367-RR0001.

To discuss donation options, please leave a message at the Society’s voice mailbox: (250) 882–5958 or email us at info@earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca. Tax receipts are issued for all donations of $10 and over.

Donate for the FutureThe Early Music Endowment Fund is owned and managed on our behalf by the Victoria Foundation. Each year, part of the investment income is given as a grant to EMSI, and the balance is re-invested to

Supporting the Society

Shelp the Fund grow. These operating grants will assist in presenting artists that would otherwise be unaffordable, and to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Society. Tax receipts will be provided.

You can contribute directly to this Fund in three ways:

MAIL By sending a cheque to: Early Music Endowment Fund, Victoria Foundation,Suite #109–645, Fort Street Victoria, BC V8W 1G2

ONLINE Donate online by Visa, MasterCard, AmEx at the Victoria Foundation’s Web site: http://www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca/web/give/ways Click on “give now” to go to CanadaHelps, select “Donate Now” and choose “Early Music Endowment Fund” from the drop-down list.

BEQUESTS OR GIFTS OF SECURITIES Bequests or gifts of life insurance or securities may be arranged through the Victoria Foundation. For more information, visit www.victoriafoundation.bc.ca or phone the Foundation at (250) 381–5532.

SponsorshipsBUSINESS SPONSORS The Society welcomes business sponsorships and will provide appropriate public acknowledgement of such support.

PRIVATE SPONSORS The Artistic Director would be pleased to offer guidance and information relating to large gifts for a special purpose or to support a specific concert.

Please contact us at: info@EarlyMusicSocietyoftheIslands.ca

Thank you for your generosity in supporting early music on southern Vancouver Island

www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca PHONE 250–882–5058

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