Press Releases
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 27, 2011
CONTACT: Kathleen Fay, Executive Director
617-661-1812 | kathy@bemf.org
MEDIA ALERT: Boston Early Music Festival opens its 2011–2012 Season with beloved soprano Dame Emma Kirkby and lutenist Jakob Lindberg.
| ARTIST: | Dame Emma Kirkby, soprano Jakob Lindberg, lute |
| WHEN: | Friday, October 21, 2011 at 8pm First Church in Cambridge, Congregational 11 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA |
| PROGRAM: | Love Songs, Lute Solos, and Laments John Danyel: Like as the lute John Danyel: Dost thou withdraw thy grace John Danyel: Grief, keep within Daniel Bacheler: Mounsiers Almain Robert Johnson: Do but look on her eyes Robert Johnson: Woods, rocks and mountains Robert Johnson: As I walked forth Robert Johnson: Almain Robert Johnson: Pavan Robert Johnson: Almain: Hit and take it Thomas Morley: Come, sorrow, come Thomas Morley: Thyrsis and Milla Henry Lawes: Ariadne's Lament | The Lark Henry Lawes: Chloris, now thou art fled away Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger: Toccata Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger: Gagliarda Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger: Corrente Claudio Monteverdi: Voglio di vita uscir Sigismondo D'India: Torna il sereno Zefiro Barbara Strozzi: L'Eraclito amante |
| TICKETS: | Tickets priced at $19, $38, $49, and $66 each can be purchased at WWW.BEMF.ORG and 617-661-1812; a $5 discount for students, seniors, and groups is offered by calling 617-661-1812. Subscription discounts of 10% are available with the purchase of three or more programs. |
ABOUT THE PROGRAM:
By popular demand, soprano Dame Emma Kirkby makes a triumphant return to the Boston Early Music Festival for the opening performances of its 22nd concert series. Recipient of the Queen’s Medal for Music for 2010, Kirkby has thrilled audiences around the world with her intensely expressive singing and her pure, bright tone. She is joined by renowned lutenist and frequent collaborator Jakob Lindberg in an intimate program of 17th-century love songs and laments from Britain and Italy, with masterpieces by Danyel, Bacheler, Johnson, Morley, Lawes, Kapsperger, Monteverdi, D’India, and Strozzi. The artists describe their program thusly: “For this recital, we have avoided the two most famous composers honored with the accolade of ‘Orpheus’, John Dowland and Henry Purcell, to celebrate others around them whose voices contributed to Britain’s Golden Age of song; and also some of the Italian masters, whose new dramatic “recitative” style found its way into our music-making from the Cavalier period onwards, informing the distinctive British blend of renaissance and baroque.”
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
British soprano Dame Emma Kirkby has enjoyed a long career as one of early music’s pioneering and most successful performers. This past June, Queen Elizabeth II presented her with the Queen’s Medal for Music for 2010 in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the music of the United Kingdom. Her other accolades include being appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in November 2007; placing tenth in BBC Music Magazine’s 2007 critics’ survey of “The greatest sopranos”; being voted Artist of the Year by Classic FM Radio listeners in 1999; and receiving an honorary doctorate from Oxford University in June 2008. Kirkby began her singing career with the groundbreaking early music ensembles The Taverner Choir and The Consort of Musicke in the 1970s, and has since worked with nearly every preeminent early music organization. She has made hundreds of recordings, and currently records exclusively for the BIS label in Sweden.
Swedish lutenist Jakob Lindberg is one of the most prolific performers in his field, performing with such esteemed ensembles as The English Concert, Taverner Choir, The Purcell Quartet, Monteverdi Choir, Chiaroscuro, The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and The Academy of Ancient Music. He first developed an interest in music through the Beatles, who inspired him to learn to play the guitar. At the age of fourteen he began studies with Jörgen Rörby, who introduced him to the lute, which led him to pursue music at Stockholm University and then the Royal College of Music under the guidance of Diana Poulton. Lindberg has made numerous recordings for BIS, many of which present a wide range of music on CD for the first time, and is the first lutenist to have recorded the complete solo lute music by John Dowland. He has given recitals in many parts of Europe and in Japan, Mexico, Russia, Australia, Canada, Korea, China, and the USA. Lindberg teaches at the Royal College of Music in London, where he succeeded Diana Poulton as Professor of Lute in 1979. He will perform on a 10-course Renaissance lute by Sixtus Rauwolf, Augsburg, ca. 1590.
RESOURCES:Download artist photos: http://www.bemf.org/pages/press/images.htm
ABOUT THE BOSTON EARLY MUSIC FESTIVAL:
Recognized as the preeminent early music presenter and Baroque opera producer in North America, the Boston Early Music Festival has been credited with securing Boston’s reputation as “America’s early music capital” (The Boston Globe). Founded in 1981, the Boston Early Music Festival offers diverse programs and activities, including three Grammy-nominated opera recordings, an annual concert series that brings early music’s brightest stars to the Boston and New York concert stages, and a biennial week-long Festival and Exhibition recognized as the “world’s leading festival of early music” (The Times, London). The 17th Boston Early Music Festival is planned for June 9–16, 2013. The 2011–2012 Boston Early Music Festival Boston Concert Series is presented with support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, National Endowment for the Arts, ConstellationCenter, 99.5 All Classical, Harpsichord Clearing House, Zuckermann Harpsichords International, The Gregory E. Bulger Foundation, U. S. Trust/Bank of America Private Wealth Management, and GTC Law Group.
For more information, images, press tickets, or to schedule an interview, please contact Kathleen Fay at 617-661-1812 or email kathy@bemf.org.
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