Chatham Baroque Presents: A Garden of Harmony - Austrian & German Music for Strings at Chatham Baroque

Chatham Baroque opens its 2024/2025 Concert Series with A Garden of Harmony, a captivating journey through the vivid and expressive music for strings from 17th-century Austria and Germany on September 27-29, 2024. This program, designed for a resonant array of string instruments, will showcase the virtuosity and harmonic invention of some of the Baroque era’s most ingenious composers, including the renowned Johann Heinrich Schmelzer. The concerts will be performed at local venues including Calvary Episcopal Church in Shadyside and Teutonia Männerchor in Deutschtown.

The concert will feature a lineup of exceptional musicians, including Andrew Fouts (violin), Carmen Johnson-Pájaro (violin), Keats Dieffenbach (viola), Paul Miller (viola), Patricia Halverson (viola da gamba, violone), Justin Wallace (harpsichord), and Scott Pauley (theorbo, baroque guitar). Together, the musicians will explore the kaleidoscopic soundscapes and prismatic sonority characteristic of Baroque string music with their resonant array of string instruments.

In a nod to the brilliance of composer Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, a key figure in the development of violin technique and instrumental music in Austria, the ensemble will perform some of his most inventive and harmonically rich compositions. Schmelzer, a prominent court composer and violinist, significantly influenced the musical landscape of his time, and his works remain a testament to the ingenuity and artistic mastery of the Baroque period.

"I can't wait to gather together with this amazing roster of musicians to perform fantastically vivid, colorful, and expressive music from 17th-century Austria and Germany,” says co-artistic director Andrew Fouts. “Together with our audience, we'll explore kaleidoscopic soundscapes, rich and bright with vibrant, prismatic sonority, harmonic invention, and virtuosic flair, crafted by some of the most ingenious composers of the Baroque." 

Much of the music performed in A Garden of Harmony comes from areas that were under the rule of the Habsburg Court, which included parts of Austria, Bohemia, and Germany. Well-known musical cities such as Vienna and Salzburg are featured, showcasing music and composers from a century or more before those cities became synonymous with classical luminaries such as Mozart and Beethoven.

Tickets are now on sale. Early bird pricing for the performance will be offered through September 12, with full-price tickets available starting September 13. More information about the performance can be found here: https://www.chathambaroque.org/concert/chatham-baroque-a-garden-of-harmony-austrian-german-music-for-strings/.
 

A Garden of Harmony - Austrian & German Music for Strings can be seen on:

●  Friday, September 27, 7:30 PM at Calvary Episcopal Church, Shadyside

●  Saturday, September 28, 7:30 PM at Teutonia Männerchor, Deutschtown

●  Sunday, September 29, 4:00 PM at Calvary Episcopal Church, Shadyside

The Chatham Baroque 2024/2025 Concert Series upcoming performances include Twelfth Night Ensemble: Love & Laurels – Handel’s Apollo e Dafne, October 20; In the Loop with Fouts & Pauley – Popular Music Across the Centuries, November 16 & 17; Chatham Baroque: Louis, Louis – Songs & Dances of the French Baroque, December 6-8, Piffaro: The Bassanos – From Renaissance Italy to Tudor England, February 8, Quintessential Chatham Baroque, March 14-16; and the World Premiere of Bach’s Markus Passion with The Sebastians, Chatham Baroque, & Joseph Marcell, April 11.

Newly announced special program: Tales & Tunes of the BOO-roque, Halloween-themed concerts celebrating the spooky season, to be held at The Original Pittsburgh Winery on October 27 & 30. For tickets and information, please visit https://bit.ly/46MqjAM

Chatham Baroque’s 2024/2025 Season is made possible in part by the Allegheny Regional Asset District, Calvary Episcopal Church, Classical WQED-FM 89.3, Heinz Endowments, Laurel Foundation, Opportunity Fund, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Benter Foundation, and the support of many generous individuals and volunteers.

About Chatham Baroque

Each year, Chatham Baroque presents a series of captivating, historically informed performances, drawing from a vast repertoire of classical music styles, eras, and locales from the Medieval Period through the early 19th Century.

 As one of the country’s leading period instrument ensembles and early music presenters, each season features several concerts with the distinguished Chatham Baroque ensemble with co-artistic directors Andrew Fouts (violin) and Scott Pauley (theorbo and baroque guitar) with co-founder Patricia Halverson (viola da gamba), as well as concerts by renowned touring ensembles specializing in music of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque, and early Classical period.

Chatham Baroque concerts are performed with period instruments, which are restored or replica versions from the time when the music was written. Concerts are held in a variety of settings across Pittsburgh from churches to concert halls, and performers actively engage audiences with lively commentary and insights into the music.  To learn more, please visit www.chathambaroque.org. 

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