Connecticut Early Music Festival Kicks Off

Saturday, June 15, 7:30 p.m. – REBEL

Barroco – Musical Treasures of the 17th and 18th Centuries

Evans Hall, Connecticut College, New London 

Works by Boyce, Corelli, Mancini, Marini, Mealli, Schmelzer, Telemann, and Vivaldi

The trailblazing violinist and composer Arcangelo Corelli exercised  an unparalleled influence both during his lifetime and long after, profoundly affecting form, style, and instrumental technique. His influence was most closely felt in Italy, but soon spread to become a European phenomenon that touched nearly all of the composers on this rich and varied program, which REBEL imbues with what The Los Angeles Times has called “astonishingly vital music-making.”

Sunday, June 16, 5 p.m. – Connecticut Early Music Ensemble 

Venit Lumen – Music in the Age of Caravaggio 

Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford (in conjunction with the exhibition Burst of Light: Caravaggio and His Legacy)

Works by Gesualdo, Marenzio, Monteverdi, and others

This program explores the new methods painters and composers used ca. 1600 to create drama and contrast. The program consists of passionate motets and madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi, Luca Marenzio, and Carlo Gesualdo — composers whose lives and activities parallel those of Caravaggio — performed by eight singers and instruments of the period: lute, theorbo, viola da gamba, and violin. Eric Rice offers a pre-concert talk discussing the program and works in the Wadsworth’s exhibit at 3 p.m., allowing patrons to view the show at 4:00 before the concert at 5:00.

Saturday, June 22, 7:30 p.m. – Wayward Sisters

The Naughty List: Music by Braggarts, Hotheads, Curmudgeons, & Snobs

Evans Hall, Connecticut College, New London

Works by Locke, Merula, Brade, Matteis, and Castello

A program of music by difficult men who left evidence of both challenging temperaments and prodigious musicianship. The ensemble, which was the winner of the 2011 Early Music America/Naxos 

Competition, brings the music of these centuries-old composers vividly to life.

Sunday, June 23, 4 p.m. – Gotham Early Music Scene

The Play of Daniel

Harkness Chapel, Connecticut College, New London

This 12th-century play of the story of Daniel in the lion's den is sung  entirely in Latin. The production includes dance and performances by many of New York’s finest period instrumentalists and singers.  

Acclaimed by The New York Times, the fully-costumed liturgical drama was commissioned and presented by The Cloisters in 2008, the 50th anniversary of its first modern performance by Noah Greenberg.