THE 2017/18 SFEMS CONCERT SEASON
—The Music of Transformation—
Notes for Uncertain Times
Western music has had its acknowledged watershed events, but its sound world also inhabits a larger social world whose changing realities it always has engaged. In a season spanning seven centuries, our artists explore some important and intriguing moments of social and musical transformation: the upheavals of the Reformation and the 30 Years War; the pregnant interval at the end of the baroque era, when the rules of Classical composition had not yet been written; the apotheosis of an arcane art or instrument on the eve of its dissolution. Throughout history, in uncertain times, music interprets and responds—with anguish, hope, comfort, contemplation, and celebration.
Special Event
Bruce Dickey & Hana Blažíková : May 4, 5, 6
Hana Blažíková, soprano; Bruce Dickey, cornetto are “Exquisite, Pure, Eloquent…BREATHTAKING.”
–Not a statement to be made lightly, but one that is hard to argue with.
BREATHTAKING—A Cornetto and a Voice Entwined
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the cornetto was praised as the instrument closest to the human voice. In his famous memorandum to the Seville cathedral, Francisco Guerrero states that a cornetto might be substituted for an absent soprano singer, and undoubtedly ensembles of the late Renaissance and early baroque often did mix cornetti with voices. This stunning concert, featuring an all-star ensemble and spotlighting Hana Blažíková’s angelic soprano entwined with the supernaturally beautiful sound of Bruce Dickey’s cornetto, explores the unique possibilities of this combination. The repertory includes early 17th-century motets and madrigals for voice and cornetto, as well as some rare, late 17th-century arias from operas and oratorios with obbligato parts written explicitly for the cornetto. Composers include Biagio Marini, Nicolò Corradini, Giovanni Battista Bassani, Giacomo Carissimi, Tarquinio Merula, Alessandro Scarlatti, and Maurizio Cazzati.
THE ENSEMBLE: Hana Blažíková, soprano; Bruce Dickey, cornetto; Ingrid Matthews and Tekla Cunningham, violin; Joanna Blendulf, viol; Michael Sponseller, organ & harpsichord; Stephen Stubbs, theorbo & guitar
FRIDAY, MAY 4, 8:00PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell at Gough, San Francisco
SATURDAY, MAY 5, 7:30PM
St. Mary Magdalen Church
2005 Berryman St, Berkeley
SUNDAY, MAY 6, 4:00PM*
Bing Concert Hall, Stanford University
327 Lasuen St., Palo Alto
*Tickets for the Sunday, May 6th performance are only available by ordering directly from Stanford Live. (650-724-BING, 650-724-2464, Buy Tickets Online).
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October 20/21/22, 2017
The Aulos Ensemble
Handel and His World
- AULOS ENSEMBLE: Christopher Krueger, flauto traverso and recorder; Marc Schachman, baroque oboe; Linda Quan, baroque violin; Myron Lutzke, baroque cello; Arthur Haas, harpsichord
- More Information…
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November 17/18/19, 2017
Ciaramella
1517—German Music Before and After the Reformation
CIARAMELLA: Adam Gilbert, shawm, recorder & bagpipe; Rotem Gilbert, shawm, recorder & bagpipe; Malachai Komanoff Bandy, shawm, viola da gamba, hurdy-gurdy & bagpipe; Adam Bregman, sackbut & recorder; Aki Nishiguchi, shawm & recorder; Jason Yoshida, lute, guitar & percussion
More Information…
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January 5/6/7, 2018
Vajra Voices with Shira Kammen and Kit Higginson
Annus Novus: One Yeare Begins—Medieval Poetry, Music & Magic to Ring in the New Year
VAJRA VOICES: Karen Clark, Director; Allison Zelles Lloyd, Amy Stuart Hunn, Cheryl Moore, Lindsey McLennan Brudick, Phoebe Jevtovic Rosquist, and Celeste Winant. With Shira Kammen, vielle & harp; and Kit Higginson, recorder, psaltery & jongleur
More Information…
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February 2/3/4, 2018
Agave Baroque with Reginald Mobley
Peace in our Time—music of love and loss in the shadow of the 30 Years’ War
AGAVE BAROQUE: Aaron Westman, violin; Natalie Carducci, Anna Washburn, violins & violas; Katherine Kyme, viola; William Skeen, cello & viola da gamba; Kevin Cooper, guitar and theorbo; Henry Lebedinsky, harpsichord and organ) with Reginald Mobley, countertenor
More Information…
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March 2/3/4, 2018
Les Délices
Age of Indulgence
LES DÉLICES: Debra Nagy, baroque oboe; Julie Andrijeski and Adriane Post, baroque violin; Emily Walhout, viola da gamba; Mark Edwards, harpsichord
- More Information…
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April 6/7/8, 2018
Wildcat Viols
The Magnifick Consort of Four Parts—Fantasies, Suites and Sonatas for viol quartet
WILDCAT VIOLS: Joanna Blendulf, treble viol; Julie Jeffrey, tenor viol; Annalisa Pappano, tenor viol; Elisabeth Reed, bass viol
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May 4/5/6, 2018
Special Event—Hana Blažíková and Bruce Dickey
Breathtaking—a Cornetto and a Voice Entwined
THE ENSEMBLE: Hana Blažíková, soprano; Bruce Dickey, cornetto; Ingrid Matthews and Tekla Cunningham, violin; Joanna Blendulf, viol; Michael Sponseller, organ & harpsichord; Stephen Stubbs, theorbo & guitar
Build Your Own Mini Series—Three Concerts
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