Folger Consort Presents THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, MUSIC AND POETRY OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAY Tonight

Folger Consort, the early music ensemble in residence at Folger Shakespeare Library, presents a one-night only performance of The Merchant of Venice: Music and Poetry of Shakespeare's Play at the Music Center at Strathmore tonight, February 27, 2015 at 8pm. The concert is the fourth production in Folger Consort's 2014/15 season, Pictures at an Exhibition.

Folger Consort artistic co-directors Robert Eisenstein (viol, violin) and Christopher Kendall (theorbo, lute) will be joined by acclaimed actors of stage and screen- Derek Jacobi (I, Claudius/King Lear), Samantha Bond (Downton Abbey), Richard Clifford (Kenneth Branagh's Henry V), and Shirine Babb (Folger's Julius Caesar), along with musical performers Emily Noël (soprano), members of London's Gabrieli Consort (recorder, shawm, dulcian), Risa Browder (violin) and Brent Wissick (cello).

This is the third musical and dramatic collaboration between Folger Consort, Derek Jacobi, Richard Clifford and others. They previously presented The Fairy Queen at the Folger in 2006 and The Tempest at the Music Center at Strathmore in 2010.

Individual tickets are $35-$85 and may be purchased by calling the Strathmore ticket office
(301) 581-5100 or online at www.folger.edu/consort. Discounts are available for groups.

Following the performance at Strathmore, Folger Consort will take The Merchant of Venice to London for performances at The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, the new candlelit indoor theatre at Shakespeare's Globe. Performances will be March 7 and 8, 2015.

About the music: Though Shakespeare's time in Venice is questionable, it is certainly true that musicians moved back and forth between Italy and London. Most notably were the extraordinary wind players of the 16th century Venetian Bassano family. Their remarkable music is heard here in a musical celebration of The Merchant of Venice along with work by Dowland, Rossi, Monteverdi. With strings, winds, soprano, and actors.