New Chamber Music Series at Trinity Continues with the Valencia Baryton Project Concert at Trinity Church

Music of the baryton will be showcased at the next concert on the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO)'s new chamber music series at Trinity Church in Princeton. The Valencia Baryton Project performs works for baryton trio by Joseph Haydn on Thursday, February 27 at 7pm.

The baryton is an ancient and little-known 17th- and 18th-Century string instrument, a cross between the viol da gamba and lirone, with 10 resonating and plucked strings down its back. The baryton gives the traditional string trio an entirely new dimension. The Project's trio consists of Matthew Baker on baryton with violist Brett Walfish and cellist Ismar Gomes.

In addition to traditional trios by Haydn, the ensemble will also perform works by modern-day composers. Written specially for the Valencia Baryton Project, John Pickup's Dragonslayer's Lament (2023) and Steven Zink's three-movement Baryton Trio No. 1 (2023) demonstrate the versatility of the instrument.

The Valencia Baryton Project was founded by Valencia-based barytonist Matthew Baker, one of only a handful of baryton performers in the world, with the vision of performing the nearly 160 works written by Franz Joseph Haydn for the baryton, as well as compositions by other composers, both modern and classical. At the heart of the repertoire is the traditional baryton trio—baryton, viola, and cello—for which Haydn wrote 123 works of outstanding beauty during his time as court composer for Prince Esterhazy of Austria.

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