EXPANDING THE NARRATIVE is a long-term undertaking by Early Music Access Project to center voices of color in the study and performance of early American music.
An outgrowth of The Jefferson Project, Artistic Director David McCormick’s research on Black fiddlers associated with Monticello, Expanding the Narrative seeks to shine a light on the contributions and lasting legacies of musicians of color from the colonial period to today. Early Music Access Project is collaborating with a diverse group of musicians, historians, musicologists, and community leaders to create an ongoing series of live and virtual concerts and lectures.
An outgrowth of The Jefferson Project, Artistic Director David McCormick’s research on Black fiddlers associated with Monticello, Expanding the Narrative seeks to shine a light on the contributions and lasting legacies of musicians of color from the colonial period to today. Early Music Access Project is collaborating with a diverse group of musicians, historians, musicologists, and community leaders to create an ongoing series of live and virtual concerts and lectures.
Expanding the Narrative: Symposium on Early American Music
August 15 & 16, 2020
In an effort to find ways the early music field can better represent music and musicians of color, Early Music Access Project recently convened a Virtual Symposium with fifteen early American music scholars presenting on a wide range of topics. Though this symposium was not open to the public, we are working to create public-facing content inspired by these presentations and ensuing discussions. Watch this page for new live and virtual performances, Q&A sessions, and lectures.
August 15 & 16, 2020
In an effort to find ways the early music field can better represent music and musicians of color, Early Music Access Project recently convened a Virtual Symposium with fifteen early American music scholars presenting on a wide range of topics. Though this symposium was not open to the public, we are working to create public-facing content inspired by these presentations and ensuing discussions. Watch this page for new live and virtual performances, Q&A sessions, and lectures.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Expanding the Narrative: Slave Songs and Spirituals as Early Music
Sunday, November 22 at 4pm
Sunday, November 22 at 4pm
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Early Music Access Project’s new virtual series, Expanding the Narrative, aims to center Black music and musicians in the story of early America. EMAP Artistic Director David McCormick is joined by countertenors Reggie Mobley and Patrick Dailey and baritone James Dargan for a roundtable discussion on approaching slave songs and spirituals from a historical performance perspective. Exciting connections are made between Charlottesville’s musical past and major national trendsetters like the Fisk Jubilee Singers. All four artists offer musical selections from their respective locations.
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Register HERE for the live follow-up conversation sponsored by Early Music America, held November 30 at 6pm via Zoom, or join us on Facebook.
Expanding the Narrative: Centering Black Lives in Historical Spaces
Sunday, March 21 at 4pm
Sunday, March 21 at 4pm
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Some of the east coast’s finest performer-scholars of early American music join Early Music Access Project Artistic Director David McCormick to amplify stories of Black musicians as they relate to some of the most iconic historic spaces in Virginia. Gambist Brady Lanier and historical clarinetist Dominic Giardino offer a glimpse into the multicultural worlds of martial and domestic music-making in the era of the American Revolution, while horn player Katy Ambrose weaves a fascinating tale of enslaved horn players, including one you might have missed in an iconic painting of George Washington. Gambist Loren Ludwig and violinist David McCormick detail their findings during their time as 2020 Fellows of the International Center for Jefferson Studies.
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Stay tuned for information on how to view this FREE event!
The thoughts and views expressed in this virtual conversation do not necessarily reflect those of Colonial Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, and Monticello.
The thoughts and views expressed in this virtual conversation do not necessarily reflect those of Colonial Williamsburg, Mount Vernon, and Monticello.
Patrick Dailey has been described as possessing “a powerful and elegant countertenor voice” (Los Angeles Daily News) and as a “vocal standout” (Boston Classical Review). Operatic repertoire includes Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, Nerone in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea, and Belize in Eötvös' Angels in America. He performs regularly with Harlem Opera Theater, ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and has appeared with the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra (NC), Soulful Symphony, Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Additionally, he is a featured artist with Cook, Dixon, and Young (formally Three Mo’ Tenors). On the eve of President Barack Obama’s first inauguration, Mr. Dailey made his Kennedy Center debut singing the finale duet with Aretha Franklin in the annual Let Freedom Ring: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration. Mr. Dailey made his west coast operatic debut as Satirino in Cavalli’s La Calisto with Pacific Opera Project of Los Angeles in the spring of 2014. He debuted with Opera Memphis in their historic first baroque production of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in 2015 and soon after, won first place in Opera Ebony’s 1st Benjamin Matthews Vocal Competition. At the invitation of Trumpet Foundation founder and CEO Xernona Clayton, Mr. Dailey performed the opening invocation for the 2015 Trumpet Awards in Atlanta, GA.
In 2016, Mr. Dailey made international debuts in the United Kingdom and Brazilian premieres of Hasse’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra with the Woodhouse Opera Festival and Il Festival de Ópera Barroca de Belo Horizonte. Additionally in 2016, He made his New York Cabaret debut at the invitation of Tony Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown as a part of Brown’s broadway cabaret residency at Subculture NYC. In the spring of 2017, he debuted with Opera Louisiane as Telemaco in Michael Borowitz’s world premiere jazz-gospel orchestration of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and returned to the U.K. that fall for the international premiere of Soosan Lolavar’s I.D. Please in the Tete a Tete New Opera Festival in London. In the fall of 2018, Mr. Dailey sang the role of Mini-B/Boris the Boar in the world premiere of Dan Visconti and Cerise Jacobs’s Permadeath: A Video Game Opera with White Snakes Projects in Boston, MA to great acclaim. Mr. Dailey became the first countertenor to perform with Shreveport Opera singing Kyle in Robert Paterson’s Three Way: Masquerade in 2019. The remainder of his 2018/2019 season included debuts and appearances with the Austin Baroque Orchestra, the IRIS Orchestra of Memphis, Music By Women Festival, and Boston Early Music Festival.
In the summers of 2015 and 2016, Mr. Dailey was a young artist with the American Bach Soloists. Concert repertoire includes Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Mass in C, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Mr. Dailey sang the world premiere of Frederick Douglas: The Making of an American Prophet by Grammy Award winning country songwriter Marcus Hummon in 2016 and debuted with the Grand Rapids Symphony singing Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms in 2017. He is featured in Fatherhood, a documentary directed by award winning London based director, Ben Gregor, which premiered on FUSE TV in 2019. Additionally, Mr. Dailey is a featured artist on the debut album of acclaimed duo Louis York, American Griots released in 2019 and Adrian Dunn’s Redemption Live in Chicago, released in 2020.
Growing in his reputation as a scholar, he was invited to the Center for Black Music Research's inaugural Black Vocality Symposium in 2013 to give a performative presentation entitled "The Anatomy of the Black Voice: Peculiarities, Challenges, and Regional Differences." Since that time, he has been a visiting artist, masterclass clinician, and guest lecturer at Southern University and A&M College, Prairie View A&M University, the University of Arkansas, and Vanderbilt University, among others. Mr. Dailey was lead soloist and served as vocal music curator of the official MLK50 Commemoration at the National Civil Rights Museum on April 4, 2018 in Memphis, TN. In fall of 2019, he presented at the inaugural Harry T. Burleigh Week organized by the Burleigh Legacy Alliance of Burleigh’s hometown, Erie, PA.
Mr. Dailey is a graduate of Morgan State University and received his masters of music in voice and opera from Boston University. In addition to an active performing schedule, Mr. Dailey currently serves on the voice faculty at Tennessee State University (TSU). At TSU, he established the Big Blue Opera Initiatives (BBOI) and the annual Harry T. Burleigh Spiritual Festival. Additionally, he is the founder and artistic director of the W. Crimm Singers (aka Wakanda Chorale), professional ensemble in residence of BBOI and a co-founding member of Early Music City, a historically informed crossover ensemble. Mr. Dailey holds membership in the National Association of Negro Musicians, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, Inc.
In 2016, Mr. Dailey made international debuts in the United Kingdom and Brazilian premieres of Hasse’s Marc’Antonio e Cleopatra with the Woodhouse Opera Festival and Il Festival de Ópera Barroca de Belo Horizonte. Additionally in 2016, He made his New York Cabaret debut at the invitation of Tony Award winning composer Jason Robert Brown as a part of Brown’s broadway cabaret residency at Subculture NYC. In the spring of 2017, he debuted with Opera Louisiane as Telemaco in Michael Borowitz’s world premiere jazz-gospel orchestration of Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria and returned to the U.K. that fall for the international premiere of Soosan Lolavar’s I.D. Please in the Tete a Tete New Opera Festival in London. In the fall of 2018, Mr. Dailey sang the role of Mini-B/Boris the Boar in the world premiere of Dan Visconti and Cerise Jacobs’s Permadeath: A Video Game Opera with White Snakes Projects in Boston, MA to great acclaim. Mr. Dailey became the first countertenor to perform with Shreveport Opera singing Kyle in Robert Paterson’s Three Way: Masquerade in 2019. The remainder of his 2018/2019 season included debuts and appearances with the Austin Baroque Orchestra, the IRIS Orchestra of Memphis, Music By Women Festival, and Boston Early Music Festival.
In the summers of 2015 and 2016, Mr. Dailey was a young artist with the American Bach Soloists. Concert repertoire includes Bach’s Mass in B Minor and Magnificat, Handel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Mass in C, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. Mr. Dailey sang the world premiere of Frederick Douglas: The Making of an American Prophet by Grammy Award winning country songwriter Marcus Hummon in 2016 and debuted with the Grand Rapids Symphony singing Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms in 2017. He is featured in Fatherhood, a documentary directed by award winning London based director, Ben Gregor, which premiered on FUSE TV in 2019. Additionally, Mr. Dailey is a featured artist on the debut album of acclaimed duo Louis York, American Griots released in 2019 and Adrian Dunn’s Redemption Live in Chicago, released in 2020.
Growing in his reputation as a scholar, he was invited to the Center for Black Music Research's inaugural Black Vocality Symposium in 2013 to give a performative presentation entitled "The Anatomy of the Black Voice: Peculiarities, Challenges, and Regional Differences." Since that time, he has been a visiting artist, masterclass clinician, and guest lecturer at Southern University and A&M College, Prairie View A&M University, the University of Arkansas, and Vanderbilt University, among others. Mr. Dailey was lead soloist and served as vocal music curator of the official MLK50 Commemoration at the National Civil Rights Museum on April 4, 2018 in Memphis, TN. In fall of 2019, he presented at the inaugural Harry T. Burleigh Week organized by the Burleigh Legacy Alliance of Burleigh’s hometown, Erie, PA.
Mr. Dailey is a graduate of Morgan State University and received his masters of music in voice and opera from Boston University. In addition to an active performing schedule, Mr. Dailey currently serves on the voice faculty at Tennessee State University (TSU). At TSU, he established the Big Blue Opera Initiatives (BBOI) and the annual Harry T. Burleigh Spiritual Festival. Additionally, he is the founder and artistic director of the W. Crimm Singers (aka Wakanda Chorale), professional ensemble in residence of BBOI and a co-founding member of Early Music City, a historically informed crossover ensemble. Mr. Dailey holds membership in the National Association of Negro Musicians, the National Association of Teachers of Singing, and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, Inc.
James Dargan is a polymath creative artist, athlete, polyglot, musician and writer, raised in the Deep South and - after a childhood spent at the Duke University String School and NC School of the Arts - educated in New and Old England.
While at Boston University, James studied violin with Nicholas Kitchen (the first violinist of the acclaimed Borromeo Quartet, still in residence at NEC), and completed bachelor's degrees in Literature, Religion, and Musicology, all the while singing and acting in various choirs and stage productions, fencing, and writing his thesis under the aegis of his advisor, the late poet Geoffrey Hill.
While in the UK, James studied English Literature in the graduate program at Leeds University, continued to play the violin, and began to find his voice as a singer, working as a Lay Clerk in the Choir of the renowned York Minster.
After York, James returned to Boston, where he sang with groups as diverse as The Choir of the Church of The Advent, Boston Baroque, and Lowell House Opera, continued to play and teach violin, and added composition and outreach work to his portfolio. He’s studied voice with Dr. Lynn Eustis, Neil Semer, Peter Harvey, and Dr. Claudia Friedlander, and recently attended the prestigious Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute in Toronto, on a full scholarship.
James is based in New York, where he sings in the choir of All Souls UU church, freelances around Manhattan (most recently with Musica Sacra, the choir of St. John The Divine, and the Bard Festival Chorus) and continues to pursue social justice through the arts. In 2016 he taught composition at 4 different schools and made his debut at Bard College's Summerfest.
Recent artistic milestones include his first Schubert's Winterreise; numerous performances (past and upcoming) of his social justice-oriented recital “Oh, Glory!”; his Manhattan solo debut as the baritone soloist for Musica Viva NY's April 2018 concert, "Infinite Hope"; several NYC premieres of songs for which James was lyricist, composer, and performer; and the in-progress writing of his first opera: The Legend of John Henry. James was also the artist-in-residence at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA for the 2019 MLK Day weekend, recently completed a tour of Chicago in which he sang 6 recitals in 5 days, and was the 2019-2020 Visiting Artist at Phillips Academy.
While at Boston University, James studied violin with Nicholas Kitchen (the first violinist of the acclaimed Borromeo Quartet, still in residence at NEC), and completed bachelor's degrees in Literature, Religion, and Musicology, all the while singing and acting in various choirs and stage productions, fencing, and writing his thesis under the aegis of his advisor, the late poet Geoffrey Hill.
While in the UK, James studied English Literature in the graduate program at Leeds University, continued to play the violin, and began to find his voice as a singer, working as a Lay Clerk in the Choir of the renowned York Minster.
After York, James returned to Boston, where he sang with groups as diverse as The Choir of the Church of The Advent, Boston Baroque, and Lowell House Opera, continued to play and teach violin, and added composition and outreach work to his portfolio. He’s studied voice with Dr. Lynn Eustis, Neil Semer, Peter Harvey, and Dr. Claudia Friedlander, and recently attended the prestigious Tafelmusik Baroque Summer Institute in Toronto, on a full scholarship.
James is based in New York, where he sings in the choir of All Souls UU church, freelances around Manhattan (most recently with Musica Sacra, the choir of St. John The Divine, and the Bard Festival Chorus) and continues to pursue social justice through the arts. In 2016 he taught composition at 4 different schools and made his debut at Bard College's Summerfest.
Recent artistic milestones include his first Schubert's Winterreise; numerous performances (past and upcoming) of his social justice-oriented recital “Oh, Glory!”; his Manhattan solo debut as the baritone soloist for Musica Viva NY's April 2018 concert, "Infinite Hope"; several NYC premieres of songs for which James was lyricist, composer, and performer; and the in-progress writing of his first opera: The Legend of John Henry. James was also the artist-in-residence at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA for the 2019 MLK Day weekend, recently completed a tour of Chicago in which he sang 6 recitals in 5 days, and was the 2019-2020 Visiting Artist at Phillips Academy.
Noted for his ‘purity of timbre’ and ‘homogeneity of tone’, countertenor Reginald Mobley is highly sought after for baroque, classical and modern repertoire.
Recent highlights include an extensive tour of sixteen concerts around Europe singing Bach’s Matthäus Passion with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists led by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. He also performed concerts of Händel’s Messiah with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Purcell’s King Arthur with the Academy of Ancient Music in London and Mozart Requiem with Orkiestra Historyczna in Poland.
Reggie also made his Paris recital debut at the Musée d'Orsay in May 2019 which was
enthusiastically received, and recently completed a tour of Germany and Belgium with
Balthasar Neumann Chor & Ensemble, performing Bach Cantatas and Händel Dixit Dominus, and a further tour of Germany with Freiburger Barockorchester under Kristian Bezuidenhout. He also recently performed Händel’s Messiah with the Händel and Haydn Society (H+H) under Masaaki Suzuki, and made his debut in Hong Kong with Methodist International Church.
In a world untouched by Covid-19, 2020 would have included a performance of Händel’s Messiah with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, projects with Philharmonia Baroque and Pacific MusicWorks, and a recital at Columbia university with acclaimed pianist Simone Dinnerstein. In the 2021 season, he will sing Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and embark on a European tour of Bach’s St. John Passion with the Monteverdi Choir.
Outside of singing, Reggie enjoys an active relationship as a director with H+H, leading the ensemble in its efforts to reintegrate the ensemble within the concerns of its home community of Boston, a position which made him the first Black person to conduct the ensemble in its 200+ year existence. His role will be expanded in the ‘21-’22 season in the newly created position of Programming Consultant, a role that directly connects to his work as a political and social activist in Boston.
Recent highlights include an extensive tour of sixteen concerts around Europe singing Bach’s Matthäus Passion with the Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists led by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. He also performed concerts of Händel’s Messiah with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Purcell’s King Arthur with the Academy of Ancient Music in London and Mozart Requiem with Orkiestra Historyczna in Poland.
Reggie also made his Paris recital debut at the Musée d'Orsay in May 2019 which was
enthusiastically received, and recently completed a tour of Germany and Belgium with
Balthasar Neumann Chor & Ensemble, performing Bach Cantatas and Händel Dixit Dominus, and a further tour of Germany with Freiburger Barockorchester under Kristian Bezuidenhout. He also recently performed Händel’s Messiah with the Händel and Haydn Society (H+H) under Masaaki Suzuki, and made his debut in Hong Kong with Methodist International Church.
In a world untouched by Covid-19, 2020 would have included a performance of Händel’s Messiah with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, projects with Philharmonia Baroque and Pacific MusicWorks, and a recital at Columbia university with acclaimed pianist Simone Dinnerstein. In the 2021 season, he will sing Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and embark on a European tour of Bach’s St. John Passion with the Monteverdi Choir.
Outside of singing, Reggie enjoys an active relationship as a director with H+H, leading the ensemble in its efforts to reintegrate the ensemble within the concerns of its home community of Boston, a position which made him the first Black person to conduct the ensemble in its 200+ year existence. His role will be expanded in the ‘21-’22 season in the newly created position of Programming Consultant, a role that directly connects to his work as a political and social activist in Boston.
David McCormick performs regularly on both violin and viele (medieval fiddle) and is in demand as an educator and arts leader. He is the founding Artistic Director of Early Music Access Project (EMAP), a rotating group of musicians bringing a wide range of early music to Charlottesville, Virginia and surrounding communities. Through EMAP, David was awarded a 2020 Fellowship with the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies, culminating in a series of concerts and online events exploring various aspects of music-making in Jefferson’s Virginia.
He 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 was also founding Artistic Director of Charlottesville-based baroque ensemble Three Notch’d Road, and has 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 is Executive Director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival and former Executive Director of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, where he regularly performs as soloist and chamber musician. He also serves on the board of Early Music America.
David was President of the Charlottesville Music Teachers Association for two years 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.
David’s instruments include a viele by Karl Dennis and violin by Jonathan Vacanti, with period bows by Louis Bégin, Michelle Speller, Ralph Ashmead, and H. F. Grabenstein.
He 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 was also founding Artistic Director of Charlottesville-based baroque ensemble Three Notch’d Road, and has 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 is Executive Director of the Charlottesville Chamber Music Festival and former Executive Director of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival, where he regularly performs as soloist and chamber musician. He also serves on the board of Early Music America.
David was President of the Charlottesville Music Teachers Association for two years 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.
David’s instruments include a viele by Karl Dennis and violin by Jonathan Vacanti, with period bows by Louis Bégin, Michelle Speller, Ralph Ashmead, and H. F. Grabenstein.
Brady Lanier can currently be seen performing on viola da gamba and Baroque cello with The Governor’s Music, Colonial Williamsburg’s resident Baroque chamber ensemble. He is a degree candidate for the Doctorate in Music in viola da gamba performance at Indiana University, where he studied with Wendy Gillespie and Joanna Blendulf. A founding member of Quaver Viol Consort, he has performed around the country with numerous ensembles such as the Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra, Houston Bach Society, the Princeton Festival, Ars Lyrica Houston, and Musikanten Montana. He has served on the faculty of numerous summer workshops, including the Viola da Gamba Society of America’s Conclave, Music On The Mountain, and the Texas Toot. Mr. Lanier is also much in demand as an arranger and composer, having had works performed by the Houston Symphony and the United States Air Force Orchestra, and has had three original works performed at Carnegie Hall. Mr. Lanier holds a BA from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and a MM from Indiana University.
Driven by a pursuit to reconcile his deep interests in history and music, clarinetist Dominic Giardino has been exploring the world of historical performance since the age of 14. After completing his B.M. in clarinet performance at the Eastman School of Music, Dominic moved to the Netherlands in 2016 as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar to study historical clarinets under Eric Hoeprich at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague, completing his M.M. in 2018. He has been heard with ensembles such as Grand Harmonie (USA), Capricornus Consort Basel (CH), the Arcadia Players (USA), Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester (NL), the Eastman Wind Ensemble (USA), and the Eastman Wind Ensemble Harmonie (USA), with which he travelled to Europe in 2016 as a part of the ensemble’s premiere European tour. He has also recorded two CD’s with Newberry’s Victorian Cornet Band (USA), chronicling never before recorded works of America’s 19th century band repertoire. Balancing a career in performance, research, and arts administration, Dominic currently lives in Williamsburg, Virginia where he is employed as a musician and historical interpreter by the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, and additionally serves as the Operations Manager of Three Notch’d Road: The Virginia Baroque Ensemble.
Praised by the Philadelphia Inquirer as a “spectacular” and “graceful” musician, Katy Ambrose has made a name for herself as an educator, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. She is on faculty at the University of Virginia, where she is Assistant Professor in the McIntire Department of Music and an Academic Faculty Fellow at Hereford Residential College. In her role at UVa she also serves as Principal Horn of the Charlottesville Symphony Orchestra, holding the ensemble’s Johanna and Derwood Chase & Chase Investment Counsel Corporation Chair.
Katy’s extensive orchestral experience includes positions with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra (current), Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Philly Pops!, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic (KY), as well as substitute appearances with numerous orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Hawai’i Opera Theater, Chamber Music Honolulu, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Harrisburg Symphony, Vermont Symphony and the New Haven Symphony. In the realm of Historically Informed Performance Practice, Katy has performed on Baroque horn with the Washington Bach Consort, and on Classical horn at the Staunton Music Festival.
As a soloist and chamber musician she has commissioned and performed world premieres of pieces by Rene Orth, Sarah DuBois, Rachel Devorah Wood Trapp, Lucy Pankhurst, Katherine McMichael, Scott Boerma, and James Territo. She commissioned and performed the world premiere of Boerma’s “Isle of Skye” at the 2012 Edinburgh Easter Festival. Outside of the classical setting, Ambrose has played for Adele, Cee Lo Green, Andrea Bocelli, and as a recording artist for NFL Studios.
Katy is involved with the Boulanger Initiative, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that promotes music by women through performance, education, and commissions. Katy was a co-founder of Seraph Brass, and is a founding member of Izula Horns, a quartet of horn players from the Washington, DC area who are dedicated to blending high quality performance with immersive community engagement.
Katy is especially interested in mentoring younger musicians and has taught for and developed programs and curricula for several education programs including the Philadelphia Orchestra School Partnership Program, Delaware Symphony school program and the “El-Sistema” inspired programs Tune-Up, Philly and Play On, Philly!
Katy earned a Doctor of Musical Arts at Temple University, an Artist Diploma from Yale University, a Master’s degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. She was the recipient of the prestigious William D. Revelli Award at University of Michigan and the Henry and Lucy Moses Fellowship at Yale.
Katy’s extensive orchestral experience includes positions with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra (current), Northeast Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Philly Pops!, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Lexington Philharmonic (KY), as well as substitute appearances with numerous orchestras including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Ballet, Hawai’i Opera Theater, Chamber Music Honolulu, Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Harrisburg Symphony, Vermont Symphony and the New Haven Symphony. In the realm of Historically Informed Performance Practice, Katy has performed on Baroque horn with the Washington Bach Consort, and on Classical horn at the Staunton Music Festival.
As a soloist and chamber musician she has commissioned and performed world premieres of pieces by Rene Orth, Sarah DuBois, Rachel Devorah Wood Trapp, Lucy Pankhurst, Katherine McMichael, Scott Boerma, and James Territo. She commissioned and performed the world premiere of Boerma’s “Isle of Skye” at the 2012 Edinburgh Easter Festival. Outside of the classical setting, Ambrose has played for Adele, Cee Lo Green, Andrea Bocelli, and as a recording artist for NFL Studios.
Katy is involved with the Boulanger Initiative, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC that promotes music by women through performance, education, and commissions. Katy was a co-founder of Seraph Brass, and is a founding member of Izula Horns, a quartet of horn players from the Washington, DC area who are dedicated to blending high quality performance with immersive community engagement.
Katy is especially interested in mentoring younger musicians and has taught for and developed programs and curricula for several education programs including the Philadelphia Orchestra School Partnership Program, Delaware Symphony school program and the “El-Sistema” inspired programs Tune-Up, Philly and Play On, Philly!
Katy earned a Doctor of Musical Arts at Temple University, an Artist Diploma from Yale University, a Master’s degree from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. She was the recipient of the prestigious William D. Revelli Award at University of Michigan and the Henry and Lucy Moses Fellowship at Yale.
Loren Ludwig is a scholar/performer based in Baltimore, MD. He researches what he describes as "polyphonic intimacy," the idea that music in the Western tradition is constructed to foster social
relationships among its performers and listeners. Current research/performance projects include the use of the viola da gamba in eighteenth-century British colonial America and the reconstruction of
a lost tradition of early Republic New England string ensemble playing. Loren’s article on a newly discovered source of chamber music from Colonial Virginia, the so-called James River Music Book, can be read in the May 2020 issue of Early Music America. As a performer, Loren is a co-founder of LeStrange Viols and Science Ficta and performs with ACRONYM, Ruckus and numerous ensembles in the US and abroad. He also serves as program coordinator for the program in the Arts, Humanities, & Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
relationships among its performers and listeners. Current research/performance projects include the use of the viola da gamba in eighteenth-century British colonial America and the reconstruction of
a lost tradition of early Republic New England string ensemble playing. Loren’s article on a newly discovered source of chamber music from Colonial Virginia, the so-called James River Music Book, can be read in the May 2020 issue of Early Music America. As a performer, Loren is a co-founder of LeStrange Viols and Science Ficta and performs with ACRONYM, Ruckus and numerous ensembles in the US and abroad. He also serves as program coordinator for the program in the Arts, Humanities, & Health at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.