Recent
Some highlights
Symphonie des Dragons
This amazing 15-piece oboe band, under the dynamic direction of Gonzalo Ruiz, rocked the house in its debut concerts in January at the Morgan Library in New York and in Cambridge, MA, as part of the Boston Early Music Festival Concert Series. The ensemble, playing oboes, bassoons and recorders, with theorbo and percussion, performed a program of music from the French Court and the English Theater. It was an experience I can’t wait to repeat!
Music for Castrato, at Rutgers University
Featuring the renowned countertenor Mark Chambers, this program presented the celebrated rivalry of London composers Handel and Porpora (with some Veracini thrown in for good measure). Rutgers alumni filled out the remaining vocal roles. The orchestra featured professionals playing alongside the students they had coached, and the whole was ably directed and narrated by the inimitable Andrew Kirkman.
Alba
In a return to one of my first loves in early music – Dufay – I joined fellow instrumentalists Louise Schulman and John Mark Rozendaal in this ensemble, directed by the mezzo-soprano Margo Grib, for a program using voice, recorders, vielles and lute, performed in June in New York. As well as secular songs of Dufay, the program was especially interesting for me because I became acquainted with the music of the French Court in Cyprus around 1400. The repertoire is all from a single manuscript, now in Torino, all of it anonymous, and none of it found in any other source. It’s a fabulous fusion of the rhythmic intricacies of the late 14th century French style with the harmonic simplicity of a more folk-like tradition. It felt almost like playing medieval jazz!
Fire and Folly
After a hiatus of a year, Fire and Folly returned to the concert platform in June in a program called Mixed Marriages, which we presented on Long Island and as a Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Concert. This ensemble, which I co-direct with the stellar harpsichordist Jeff Grossman, has a flexible membership, and for this program we were joined by violinist, Abigail Karr, and cellist, Ezra Seltzer. The dynamic program of music by Telemann, Couperin, Vivaldi and Barsanti featured both recorder and bassoon in combination with the strings and continuo. I’m very much looking forward to more projects with this dynamic ensemble.
Mechelen Blokfluitdagen
It was with great pleasure that I returned to Belgium in August to teach at this unique recorder festival, meeting old friends and making new ones. The three day festival features classes, concerts, a music store, and many opportunities to prove how limited my language skills are! The format of the workshop is rather free-form, with participants choosing classes right before they happen. Sometimes this means classes are bigger than you expect, sometimes smaller, but always the spirit of improvisation prevails! I had the pleasure of teaching classes ranging from 14th century Cyprus to the African Suite of Soren Sieg, by way of Tallis, Byrd, Handel, Bach, baroque Mexico, Jef Raskin and Arvo Part.
Fiori Musicali
A splendid week playing dulcian in music from 17th century Italy, being directed by Wouter Verschuren (dulcian) and Adam Wolff (sackbut), culminating in a remarkable performance as a fringe event for the Utrecht Early Music Festival.
CityRecorder!
A marvellous, sold-out, weekend workshop for amateur recorder players in New York. It was a pleasure to be one of the distinguished faculty, and to lead such enthusiastic players in their music-making. It's so hard to say which was my favorite class: Monteverdi, Tallis or Dufay?
Wolf-in-Skins
Working with composer Gregory Spears and librettist/choreographer Christopher Williams on their current collaboration, an opera-in-progress currently titled Wolf-in-Skins. The music, to my ear at least, was in a tone-world akin to that of Arvo Part, and used both modern and period instruments (and pitches). The resulting colors were fascinating. I'm looking forward to working more with Christopher and Greg as this project develops further.