While Italy was busy acquiring its status as the center of the baroque musical world, composers and performers in northern Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and England were busy developing their own unique sound, blending Italian influences with a distinctly rich northern sensibility and style. Baroque violinist Tekla Cunningham, viola da gamba player Tess Roberts, and harpsichordist Henry Lebedinsky offer up this program of fiery, bold, and inventive works by Buxtehude, Westhoff, Sidon, Butler, and Roman.

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A tour of baroque works for baroque violin and organ with Tekla Cunningham and Dr. Stephen Price, Paul B. Fritts Faculty Fellow and Artist-in-Residence in organ performance at the University of Washington. Works by Bach, Telemann and more!

“Dr. Stephen Price's performance at the 2019 Regional Convention was inspiring, exciting, brilliant, and he beautifully interpreted each composer that spanned nearly 300 years of repertoire from JS Bach to Herbert Howells.”

- Priscilla Wiedl, member of the Buffalo Niagara 2019 AGO Convention Committee

Tekla Cunningham will lead a master class for violin students of Professor Maria Sampen at the University of Puget Sound.

Invention of Modern Music
Madrigals of Claudio Monteverdi & Sigismondo D'India

A collaboration with GRAMMY award-winning lutenist and conductor Stephen Stubbs; Claudio Monteverdi’s music broke the rules of Renaissance polyphony and created the foundations of modern music. Like Shakespeare, Monteverdi’s genius lay in his ability to communicate the full compass of human emotions, especially the most mysterious, tragic, and magical of them all–love.

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Teresa Wakim, Soprano
Danielle Reutter-Harrah, Mezzo-Soprano
Jason McStoots, Tenor
Aaron Sheehan, Tenor
John Buffett, Bass
Tekla Cunningham, Violin
Aaron Westman, Violin
Stephen Stubbs, Lute
Maxine Eilander, Harp
Adrienne Hyde, Lirone
Shanon Zusman, Gamba
Michael Sponseller, Harpsichord

Invention of Modern Music
Madrigals of Claudio Monteverdi & Sigismondo D'India

A collaboration with GRAMMY award-winning lutenist and conductor Stephen Stubbs; Claudio Monteverdi’s music broke the rules of Renaissance polyphony and created the foundations of modern music. Like Shakespeare, Monteverdi’s genius lay in his ability to communicate the full compass of human emotions, especially the most mysterious, tragic, and magical of them all–love.

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Teresa Wakim, Soprano
Danielle Reutter-Harrah, Mezzo-Soprano
Jason McStoots, Tenor
Aaron Sheehan, Tenor
John Buffett, Bass
Tekla Cunningham, Violin
Aaron Westman, Violin
Stephen Stubbs, Lute
Maxine Eilander, Harp
Adrienne Hyde, Lirone
Shanon Zusman, Gamba
Michael Sponseller, Harpsichord

In the first half of this program, the Chamber Singers (Geoffrey Boers, director) and singers from the UW Opera Workshop perform Marc-Antoine Charpentier's Les arts florissants. In the second half of the program, the Chamber Singers and University Chorale (Giselle Wyers, director) present “Scatter, Gather,” a celebration of choral music traditions of the Pacific Rim and beyond.

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Telemania

The UW Baroque Ensemble explores the world of Telemann and his contemporaries.

A musical tribute to love gone right, love gone wrong, love gone mad, and love just plain gone. From the heartwarming to the heartbreaking, enjoy music by Purcell, Handel, Strozzi, and more, performed by acclaimed soprano Danielle Reutter-Harrah, violinist Tekla Cunningham, cellist Adaiha MacAdam-Somer, and harpsichordist Henry Lebedinsky. Complementary Valentine's Day-themed refreshments will be provided.

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Baroque violinist Tekla Cunningham ("not only impresses with a flawless technique, but also with her deep understanding of the rhetorical and gestural nature of this repertoire." review), harpsichord player and organist Henry Lebedinsky (“There was nothing but intimacy and warmth in Lebedinsky’s playing. The audience leant in to listen." - Review Vancouver) and baroque cellist and viola da gamba player Adaiha MacAdams-Somer ("provide[s] vibrant and sensitive support at every turn, proving much more than mere accompanists." review) will explore music from early and baroque Germany and how cross-border exchange of music and musicians influenced both the Nordic region and Northern Germany. Come for the exquisite music, expect to be entirely entertained and educated.

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Between Heaven and Earth: A Year with Brahms

Violinist Tekla Cunningham and pianist Sheila Weidendorf return to their pandemic project and share a survey of the Brahms violin sonatas, exploring 19th century performance practices. Tekla and Sheila spent the first year and more of the pandemic immersed in the violin sonatas of Johannes Brahms, meeting weekly during the pandemic to form a micro-music pod. The lockdown has forced all of us indoors and inwards, and this time of reflection and deepening has been transformative one both personally and musically for this project. What began as personal exploration quickly became a chrysalis for transformation as the musical journey deepened over the course of the year together.  

Spotless Rose, Mother of God, Star of the Sea, Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of Heaven… Over the centuries, the Virgin Mary has come to represent the Feminine Divine with a thousand faces, and nowhere more so than in Latin America, where a unique blending of Indigenous, African, and European religious and cultural traditions has come together to create works of unmatched joy, reverence, and beauty. Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte and percussionist Antonio Gomez join Stephen Stubbs and Pacific MusicWorks’ band of strings, harp, guitar, percussion, and organ for a festive holiday celebration of music devoted to Mary from Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Brazil, and Peru, from exquisite Renaissance motets to boisterous folk dances.

Sunday, December 17th at 3 pm
St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church

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Spotless Rose, Mother of God, Star of the Sea, Virgin of Guadalupe, Queen of Heaven… Over the centuries, the Virgin Mary has come to represent the Feminine Divine with a thousand faces, and nowhere more so than in Latin America, where a unique blending of Indigenous, African, and European religious and cultural traditions has come together to create works of unmatched joy, reverence, and beauty. Acclaimed mezzo-soprano Cecilia Duarte and percussionist Antonio Gomez join Stephen Stubbs and Pacific MusicWorks’ band of strings, harp, guitar, percussion, and organ for a festive holiday celebration of music devoted to Mary from Mexico, Cuba, Guatemala, Brazil, and Peru, from exquisite Renaissance motets to boisterous folk dances.

Saturday, December 16 – 7:30pm Seattle Town Hall

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Join us for a Bach Festival, featuring three of J.S. Bach’s most enduring works – the Orchestral Suite in B minor featuring Anthony Allen on baroque flute (which includes the “badinerie”), the beloved A minor violin concerto, and the joyful fireworks of the 5th Brandenburg Concerto.

Join us for a Bach Festival, featuring three of J.S. Bach’s most enduring works – the Orchestral Suite in B minor featuring Anthony Allen on baroque flute (which includes the “badinerie”), the beloved A minor violin concerto, and the joyful fireworks of the 5th Brandenburg Concerto.

The Countess makes her West Coast debut with music inspired by Shakespeare and Pepys. This rollicking season opener premieres at Pike Place Market’s treasured theater, The Rabbit Box. Get your tickets now for two opportunities to join bass-baritone John Taylor Ward, dancer Tshedzom Tingkhye, and the Pacific MusicWorks ensemble.

The Countess makes her West Coast debut with music inspired by Shakespeare and Pepys. This rollicking season opener premieres at Pike Place Market’s treasured theater, The Rabbit Box. Get your tickets now for two opportunities to join bass-baritone John Taylor Ward, dancer Tshedzom Tingkhye, and the Pacific MusicWorks ensemble.

Boston Early Music Festival - Baroque violin masterclass.

Tekla Cunningham will be teaching a Baroque violin masterclass. Performance Masterclasses by distinguished Festival musicians will be offered throughout the week. BEMF masterclasses allow students, as well as avocational and professional musicians, to receive a public coaching by some of the top performers in the field today. Auditors are encouraged to attend; their admission is included with a Festival Week Pass or Day Pass.

Little is remembered about the enigmatic Zoé de la Ruë - a celebrated French harpist and composer in the turbulent years of the early 19th century who has been nearly forgotten by history. Her music for solo harp as well as harp and violin was published in her lifetime, but only recently found again in the collection of the Bibliothèque National of France. Discover this brilliant and sensual repertoire in a collaboration between two of Early Music’s most accomplished instrumentalists, harpist Maxine Eilander and violinist Tekla Cunningham.

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The Glorious Mysteries
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s Rosary Sonatas

A soulful journey into the heart of the Baroque

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 Also known as the Rosary Sonatas, these three sets of 5 sonatas for violin and continuo (plus a concluding Passacaglia for solo violin) were completed around 1676. Dedicated to the Archbishop Gandolph in Salzburg, these sonatas are as compelling, affecting and moving as they were when they were written almost 350 years ago. Scored for a single violin supported by continuo, Biber employs a different tuning for each sonata. Only the first sonata (the Annunciation) and the final Passacaglia share the standard G-D-A-E tuning. This technique of mistuning the violin, called scordatura, gives a tremendous range of affects and emotions to this music. Retuning brings the violin into different key areas and creates a kaleidoscope of overtones and sonic effects, helping Biber to create specific feelings or affects in the listener.

Program

The Glorious Mysteries
The Resurrection
The Ascension
The Descent of the Holy Ghost
The Assumption of the Virgin
The Coronation of the Virgin Mary

Performers
Tekla Cunningham, baroque violin
Elisabeth Reed, baroque cello
Henry Lebedinsky, organ

The Glorious Mysteries
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s Rosary Sonatas

A soulful journey into the heart of the Baroque

BUY TICKETS

 Also known as the Rosary Sonatas, these three sets of 5 sonatas for violin and continuo (plus a concluding Passacaglia for solo violin) were completed around 1676. Dedicated to the Archbishop Gandolph in Salzburg, these sonatas are as compelling, affecting and moving as they were when they were written almost 350 years ago. Scored for a single violin supported by continuo, Biber employs a different tuning for each sonata. Only the first sonata (the Annunciation) and the final Passacaglia share the standard G-D-A-E tuning. This technique of mistuning the violin, called scordatura, gives a tremendous range of affects and emotions to this music. Retuning brings the violin into different key areas and creates a kaleidoscope of overtones and sonic effects, helping Biber to create specific feelings or affects in the listener.

Program

The Glorious Mysteries
The Resurrection
The Ascension
The Descent of the Holy Ghost
The Assumption of the Virgin
The Coronation of the Virgin Mary

Performers
Tekla Cunningham, baroque violin
Elisabeth Reed, baroque cello
Henry Lebedinsky, organ

The Glorious Mysteries
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s Rosary Sonatas

A soulful journey into the heart of the Baroque

 Also known as the Rosary Sonatas, these three sets of 5 sonatas for violin and continuo (plus a concluding Passacaglia for solo violin) were completed around 1676. Dedicated to the Archbishop Gandolph in Salzburg, these sonatas are as compelling, affecting and moving as they were when they were written almost 350 years ago. Scored for a single violin supported by continuo, Biber employs a different tuning for each sonata. Only the first sonata (the Annunciation) and the final Passacaglia share the standard G-D-A-E tuning. This technique of mistuning the violin, called scordatura, gives a tremendous range of affects and emotions to this music. Retuning brings the violin into different key areas and creates a kaleidoscope of overtones and sonic effects, helping Biber to create specific feelings or affects in the listener.

Program

The Glorious Mysteries
The Resurrection
The Ascension
The Descent of the Holy Ghost
The Assumption of the Virgin
The Coronation of the Virgin Mary

Performers
Tekla Cunningham, baroque violin
Elisabeth Reed, baroque cello
Henry Lebedinsky, organ

The Sorrowful Mysteries
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s Rosary Sonatas

A soulful journey into the heart of the Baroque

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 Also known as the Rosary Sonatas, these three sets of 5 sonatas for violin and continuo (plus a concluding Passacaglia for solo violin) were completed around 1676. Dedicated to the Archbishop Gandolph in Salzburg, these sonatas are as compelling, affecting and moving as they were when they were written almost 350 years ago. Scored for a single violin supported by continuo, Biber employs a different tuning for each sonata. Only the first sonata (the Annunciation) and the final Passacaglia share the standard G-D-A-E tuning. This technique of mistuning the violin, called scordatura, gives a tremendous range of affects and emotions to this music. Retuning brings the violin into different key areas and creates a kaleidoscope of overtones and sonic effects, helping Biber to create specific feelings or affects in the listener.

Program
The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging
The Crowning of Jesus with Thorns
Jesus Carries His Cross
The Crucifixion

Performers

Tekla Cunningham, baroque violin
David Morris, viola da gamba and lirone
Henry Lebedinsky, organ and harpsichord

The Sorrowful Mysteries
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber’s Rosary Sonatas

A soulful journey into the heart of the Baroque

BUY TICKETS

 Also known as the Rosary Sonatas, these three sets of 5 sonatas for violin and continuo (plus a concluding Passacaglia for solo violin) were completed around 1676. Dedicated to the Archbishop Gandolph in Salzburg, these sonatas are as compelling, affecting and moving as they were when they were written almost 350 years ago. Scored for a single violin supported by continuo, Biber employs a different tuning for each sonata. Only the first sonata (the Annunciation) and the final Passacaglia share the standard G-D-A-E tuning. This technique of mistuning the violin, called scordatura, gives a tremendous range of affects and emotions to this music. Retuning brings the violin into different key areas and creates a kaleidoscope of overtones and sonic effects, helping Biber to create specific feelings or affects in the listener.

Program
The Agony in the Garden
The Scourging
The Crowning of Jesus with Thorns
Jesus Carries His Cross
The Crucifixion

Performers

Tekla Cunningham, baroque violin
David Morris, viola da gamba and lirone
Henry Lebedinsky, organ and harpsichord