La Follia

Abendmusik (“Evening music”) was a famous sacred music series begun in the 17th century and held at St. Mary's Church, Lübeck, Germany, during the Advent season.

We perform instrumental and choral music of Franz Tunder (its founder) and Dieterich Buxtehude (his successor and Bach's idol).

See program here.

The Ospedale was an institution for orphans and abandoned girls (often of noble parentage), many of whom remained at the Ospedale for life. By the 18th century, it became internationally famous for its all-female musical ensemble and chorus.

We perform the music of Antonio Vivaldi, who directed and composed music for the Ospedale for many years . In keeping with the spirit of the venue, we will use an ALL FEMALE cast!

Dr. Guido Olivieri, professor of musicology at the University of Texas, will provide commentary during the concert explaining the activities of the Ospedale and Vivaldi’s influence there.

See program here.

What better way to begin the new year than this concert with Anton Nel and director Keith Womer on organs and harpsichords.

Music by Clementi, Boccherini, Krebs, Handel, Rameau, and others.

See program here.

Johann Christian Bach (the youngest son of J. S. Bach) and his friend and musical collaborator Carl Friedrich Abel, instituted this enormously popular concert series in London in 1764, five years after the death of Handel.

Although many famous composers, such as Haydn, were featured in the series, we will focus on the music of Abel and JC Bach (the latter was passionately admired by Mozart).

Anton Nel is featured in two concertos, one for harpsichord and one for fortepiano.

See program here.

[Note: We regret to announce that the Ars Longa chorus will not be joining us for this concert as originally planned, due to COVID concerns. Instead, we will be performing vocal music with a chorus of soloists.]

The Concert Spirituel was begun in 1725 in Paris to offer entertainment when other venues such as the opera were officially closed for religious holidays. It soon became one of the most popular concert series throughout Europe. Because the programs were preserved, we know what pieces were performed , and we will perform some of the most popular of these in this program.

Featured are the Corelli Christmas concerto, excerpts from Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, grand motet movements by Mondonville and De Lalande, Telemann, Mozart, and Haydn.

Click here to view the program.

Zimmermann’s Coffee House was the largest of several fine establishments in Leipzig, Germany, offering weekly secular music entertainment. During the residency of the Leipzig Collegium Musicum at Zimmermann’s, Johann Sebastian Bach was its director. It was, effectively, Bach’s secular gig that supplemented his sacred music duties at St. Thomas and St. Nicolai.

Although music from many composers was featured at the Coffee House, we will focus exclusively on J. S. Bach’s secular music works, most notably, his famous “Coffee Cantata”.

Click here to view the program.