San Francisco’s Sizzling Baroque Ensemble Announces Fall 2012 Northern California Season

 

Having recently wowed the crowds at the 2012 Berkeley Festival with “300 Years On – A Dance Collection from the Reign of Louis XIV,” Baroque ensemble Musica Pacifica, is pleased to present concerts in Stockton, Palo Alto, Berkeley and San Francisco on November 11, 30, and December 1 -2, 2012. Concerts will feature Judith Linsenberg, recorder; Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin; Josh Lee, viola da gamba; Charles Sherman (Nov. 30-Dec. 2), Katherine Heater (Nov. 11) organ & harpsichord; Nov. 30, Dec 1-2 concerts also include guests Clara Rottsolk, soprano; and Washington McClain, oboe.

 

Friends of Chamber Music
“Continental Breakfast”: Music by Bach, Vivaldi, Rameau, Telemann, Falconieri, Castello, Handel, and English Country Dances. 

Sunday, November 11, 2012, 2:30 PM
Faye Spanos Concert Hall, UOP Conservatory of Music, Stockton, CA
Tickets $10-25. Visit http://chambermusicfriends.org for tickets and information

San Francisco Early Music Society (SFEMS): Noël, Noël! — Christmas Music from 18th-century Italy, France and Germany

Friday, November 30, 8pm
First Lutheran Church, 600 Homer St. at Webster, Palo Alto, CA

Saturday, December 1, 7:30pm
First Congregational Church, Dana St. between Durant & Channing, Berkeley, CA

Sunday, December 2, 7:30pm
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 1111 O’Farrell St., San Francisco, CA

Tickets $12-35. Visit http://www.sfems.org for tickets and information

More on Noël, Noël! — Christmas Music from 18th-century Italy, France and Germany: In a refreshing change from the usual holiday fare, Musica Pacifica presents a wide variety of Christmas music from 18th-century Italy, France, and Germany. The ravishing “Christmas Cantata” of Alessandro Scarlatti, heartfelt arias from Bach’s cantatas, virtuosic chamber works of Vivaldi and Telemann, and familiar carols in unusual settings, arranged by Musica Pacifica, are featured in this program celebrating the spiritual and festive moods of the season. Works by Vivaldi, Heinrich Biber, Michel Delalande and Claude Daquin, D. Scarlatti, Telemann, and Boismortier will be featured along with arrangements of traditional Christmas Carols.

Described by the press as “some of the finest baroque musicians in America” (American Record Guide) and “among the best in the world” (Alte Musik Aktuell), Musica Pacifica performs 17th- and 18th-century music on varying combinations of recorder, violin, cello/gamba, harpsichord, and percussion. Their very recent Dancing in the Isles CD has continued to get rave reviews from music journals all over the world, including American Record Guide; the German magazine Concerto; Early Music Today from the UK, and the prestigious Gramophone from the UK, who called it “one of the zestiest recordings of recent vintage to present works that once had them dancing and listening with joy.” The online journal, musica Dei donum said: “The playing is first-rate: full of bounce, stylish, and technically immaculate.”

Core Members of Musica Pacifica perform with Philharmonia Baroque and American Bach Soloists, and also appear with prominent early music ensembles nationally and abroad. They have performed on such prestigious concert series as The Frick Collection and Music Before 1800 (NYC), the Getty Museum (LA), Tage Alter Musik (Regensburg), Cleveland Art Museum, and the Berkeley Early Music Festival (four times), among others. They have performed at festivals in Germany and Austria and have been featured on German National radio as well as on National Public Radio’s “Performance Today” and “Harmonia.” Musica Pacifica’s eight CD releases on the Virgin Classics, Dorian, and Solimar labels have won national and international awards, including Chamber Music America/WQXR’s 2003 Record Award, being featured on Minnesota Public Radio, and being chosen as “CD of the Month” by the early music journal Alte Musik Aktuell (Regensburg). Full bios of all musicians are at www.musicapacifica.org.