COMMUNITY BAROQUE GATHERING
Saturday, January 11, 2020, 9:00am - 3:00pm
First Presbyterian Church, 500 Park Street, Charlottesville VA
Saturday, January 11, 2020, 9:00am - 3:00pm
First Presbyterian Church, 500 Park Street, Charlottesville VA
Join Early Music Access Project for our 3rd Annual Community Baroque Gathering! This event is suitable for advanced high school and college students, adult amateurs, and professional musicians. All voice types are encouraged to attend; both modern and baroque instruments are welcomed (we will play at A=440).
Though all are welcome to attend, special technique classes and sectional rehearsals will be geared towards string players, recorder players, and vocalists. Continuo players (harpsichord and plucked instruments) are also needed and may be eligible for free tuition!
Participants will be rehearsing and performing excerpts from John Blow's opera Venus and Adonis, widely considered to be the first English opera. Music will be available in early December. This event is designed to bring together early music lovers and performers for a day of exploration. Coaches David McCormick, Sian Ricketts, and Tracy Cowart will provide stylistic advice and historical context for the music to be rehearsed and performed.
REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED!
Contact us at info@earlymusiccville.org to inquire about late registration options.
Contact us at info@earlymusiccville.org to inquire about late registration options.
SCHEDULE
9-9:45am - Baroque Dance Class (Tutti)
Participants will learn basic dance steps for some of the dance types found in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis in order to better understand issues of tempo, beat hierarchy, and affect. Those with mobility issues are welcome to observe.
9:45-10:45am - Technique Class
Participants will be offered advice on baroque technique and style specific to their instrument.
Choir: Tracy Cowart, Strings: David McCormick, Recorders: Sian Ricketts
10:45-11:00am - BREAK
11:00am-12:00pm - Sectional Rehearsal
Choir, Strings, and Recorders will continue to work separately, using what they’ve learned to prepare their parts for Venus and Adonis. Strings and recorders will join forces for part of this rehearsal.
12-1pm - LUNCH
1-2:30pm - Tutti Rehearsal
The full complement of instruments and voices will join together to rehearse excerpts from Venus and Adonis.
2:30-3pm - Tutti Performance
The Community Baroque Gathering will end with an informal performance of excerpts from John Blow’s Venus and Adonis. Participants are encouraged to invite friends and family to attend this culminating presentation.
9-9:45am - Baroque Dance Class (Tutti)
Participants will learn basic dance steps for some of the dance types found in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis in order to better understand issues of tempo, beat hierarchy, and affect. Those with mobility issues are welcome to observe.
9:45-10:45am - Technique Class
Participants will be offered advice on baroque technique and style specific to their instrument.
Choir: Tracy Cowart, Strings: David McCormick, Recorders: Sian Ricketts
10:45-11:00am - BREAK
11:00am-12:00pm - Sectional Rehearsal
Choir, Strings, and Recorders will continue to work separately, using what they’ve learned to prepare their parts for Venus and Adonis. Strings and recorders will join forces for part of this rehearsal.
12-1pm - LUNCH
1-2:30pm - Tutti Rehearsal
The full complement of instruments and voices will join together to rehearse excerpts from Venus and Adonis.
2:30-3pm - Tutti Performance
The Community Baroque Gathering will end with an informal performance of excerpts from John Blow’s Venus and Adonis. Participants are encouraged to invite friends and family to attend this culminating presentation.
CLINICIANS
David McCormick performs regularly on both violin and viele (medieval fiddle) and is in demand as an educator and arts leader. He was founding artistic director of Charlottesville-based baroque ensemble Three Notch’d Road and is a founding member of Alkemie, a medieval ensemble based in New York City. With Alkemie, David has appeared at Indianapolis Early Music Festival, Music Before 1800, and Amherst Early Music Festival. He is the founding artistic director of Early Music Access Project, through which he has been awarded a 2020 Fellowship with the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies. David is executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, where he recently appeared as featured violin soloist for the opening concert of the 25th anniversary season. He has recently performed with Washington Bach Consort, Mountainside Baroque, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, and as featured guest artist for the Bach-Handel Festival at Shenandoah University. David served for two years as president of the Charlottesville Music Teachers Association and has nearly two decades of teaching experience through both the public schools and his private violin and viola studio. He has offered performance practice workshops for educators, students, and performers through Virginia Music Teachers Association, James Madison University, Fordham University, Fairmount State University, and others. His degrees in music education and performance from Shenandoah University and Case Western Reserve University include specialized training in chamber music and historical performance. He is a 2017 recipient of Shenandoah Conservatory’s Rising Stars Alumni Award.
Sian Ricketts enjoys a multi-faceted career as a singer and a period woodwinds specialist. This season, she performs medieval, Renaissance and baroque chamber music and orchestral repertoire with ensembles such as Apollo’s Fire (OH), Dallas Bach Society, Piffaro (PA), Forgotten Clefs, Bach Collegium Fort Wayne (IN), and Labyrinth Baroque (NY). Sian is a co-founding member of the early music ensemble Alkemie, specializing in music of the medieval period. This season, Alkemie is featured on several concert series, including the Cambridge Society for Early Music (MA), Five Boroughs Music Festival (NY), Amherst Glebe Arts Response (VA) and Fordham University (NY). In addition to her interest in early music, Sian also regularly performs 21st-century repertoire, and looks forward to collaborating with Elliot Cole in recording a newly-composed setting of the medieval Scottish ballad Tam Lin in 2020. Sian is a Visiting Medieval Fellow at Fordham University for 2019-2020, and is also co-director of Fordham University's Collegium ensemble. Sian holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in historical performance practice from Case Western Reserve University with concentrations in voice and baroque oboe.
Tracy Cowart (mezzo-soprano, early dance) has been praised by the New York Times as “the real attraction” with a voice that is “light and lithe.” Tracy has performed with Apollo’s Fire, Musica Pacifica, Musica Sacra, Opera Lafayette, the Newberry Consort, Rose of the Compass, Tenet, the Vox Vocal Ensemble, and the Washington Bach Consort. She is also co-founder the medieval ensemble Alkemie, with whom she has performed on the Capitol Early Music, Indianapolis Early Music, and Music Before 1800 series, and co-artistic director of Labyrinth Baroque. Tracy received her M.M. in Early Music from the Longy School of Music and her D.M.A. in Historical Performance Practice from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU); she co-directs the Fordham Collegium Musicum with Sian Ricketts, and is faculty with the Amherst Early Music Festival. In addition she has been a guest-artist/lecturer at Pennsylvania State University, Fairmont State University, Bucknell University, and the Society for Seventeenth Century Music.
Tracy began exploring early dance and choreography with Ken Pierce during her M.M. at the Longy School of Music, and continued under Julie Andrijeski during her DMA studies at CWRU. There, she regularly performed with the CWRU Renaissance and Baroque Dance Ensemble. As a early dancer she has performed and choreographed for Pegasus Early Music, El Fuego, and Alkemie. Her final doctoral recital investigated the role of dance in 17th-century French theatre, with a focus on the operas produced by Madame de Pompadour at Versailles.
Tracy began exploring early dance and choreography with Ken Pierce during her M.M. at the Longy School of Music, and continued under Julie Andrijeski during her DMA studies at CWRU. There, she regularly performed with the CWRU Renaissance and Baroque Dance Ensemble. As a early dancer she has performed and choreographed for Pegasus Early Music, El Fuego, and Alkemie. Her final doctoral recital investigated the role of dance in 17th-century French theatre, with a focus on the operas produced by Madame de Pompadour at Versailles.
Early Music Access Project's Community Baroque Gathering is sponsored in part by a grant from the Bama Works Fund of Dave Matthews Band at the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.