Vanguards ~ Leaders & Followers in the European Musical Tradition

Handel and Haydn Society

The Connecticut Early Music Society is gearing up for its annual festival beginning June 15 and continuing for the next two weekends.  This summer’s festival explores the work of composers who led the way to new styles, sometimes at their own peril, and those who followed them.  Weekend One includes Rebel on Saturday June 15, 7:30pm with Barroco – Musical Treasures of the 17th and 18th Centuries performed at Evans Hall at Connecticut College (New London).  Sunday, June 16 at 5pm, Connecticut Early Music Ensemble presents Venit Lumen – Music in the Age of Aravaggion at the Wadsworth Atheneum (Hartford).  Weekend Two all happens at Connecticut College.  The June 22, 7:30pm performance features Wayward Sisters performing The Naughty List:  Music by Braggarts, Hotheads, Curmudgeons, and Snobs (Evans Hall) and Sunday, June 23, 4pm The Play of Daniel will take place at Harkness Chapel performed by Gotham Early Music Scene. The final weekend features Tenet, Francois Couperin’s Leçons de Ténèbres de Mercredi saint on June 29, 7:30pm in Christ the King Church (Old Lyme) and at 4pm on June 30 members of the Handel and Haydn Society will offer a performance of Vivaldi and his Followers.  For tickets click here or call 860-439-2787.  For concert details and to hear audio excerpts click here.

Founded in 1982, the New London-based Connecticut Early Music Society presents an annual festival of between six and nine concerts each June. The term “early music” refers to both a repertory (European music written before about 1800, including medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical music) and an approach to performance (“historically-informed performance,” including the use of period instruments). Performers and scholars of early music seek to discover and present music from times past and to explore a repertory of music that is otherwise little known. From Gregorian chant to the music of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, the repertory spans a millennium, from roughly 800 to 1800. Early music specialists also aim to recreate the sound-worlds of earlier times through the use of period instruments and techniques. They base their interpretations on the accumulated evidence of original instruments, manuscripts, first editions, and the remarks of theoretical and instructional treatises rather than on “received tradition” passed on by previous generations of performers and teachers.

CEMF is a major annual festival for southeastern Connecticut and surrounding areas. Concerts are presented in Old Lyme, New London, Stonington, and occasionally in other regions in the state. The Festival is especially celebrated for the intimacy of its venues and for the remarkable rapport between its audience and musicians. The ensembles and individual musicians presented are nationally and internationally known in the field. The Festival is organized around a central theme, and the repertory includes both beloved and undiscovered masterworks. Innovative programming and pre-concert talks serve to broaden the audience’s understanding. In addition, school concerts are regularly presented by Festival musicians, engaging students in the region in dialogue with practitioners in the field.