Welcome back to our 2005-2006 Season. I hope that all of you had a good summer and have recovered from the hard work that resulted in such a good Spring Concert. This Season promises to be another good year, so put on your "Working Cap" and let's keep the momentum going.
Some of you may be surprised to see me back as President for the third season, but my hope is to complete some unfinished tasks that was started in prior seasons.
Because of the very hard work done by all, our June 5, 2005 Spring Concert was very successful. Fred Palmer, our Music Director and Myself had discussed the possibility of getting a Video Recording of that concert and luckily, the father of one the young PACO's musicians who had routinely been recording PACO's performances, agreed to do the same for the MPRO/PACO Concert.
The entire process of finalizing the Video requires some reviewing by our Music Director and further editing by the Producer. The Video will be completed in September. The price of each Video will be five-dollars ($ 5.00). The Producer of these tapes will be able to make as many copies as we need and I strongly suggest all of us get a copy of such a memorable performance.
Finally, while I have enjoyed serving as your President, the Organization and I need to make a change. A New President will be needed for next season. We need a Nominating Committee to assist with this task. As you know, all of the Officers of this organization are volunteers and I hope that 3 members, excluding current Officers, will volunteer for the Nominating Committee. Very little of time will be needed to carry out such an task.
Thank you very much for listening.
This year’s Christmas holiday party will be held Wednesday, December 7, at the home of Mary Ashley, 3114 Cowper St., Palo Alto, beginning at 7:30 P.M.
CONDUCTOR'S CORNER
Dear members of the Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra,
I want to thank all of those who took part in June 5 concert for all of the hard work and time they put in to make this performance possible. I was extremely pleased with the way the concert went, and I received very positive comments from the parents of the string players as well as members of the audience in general. I was also very happy to learn that the parents thought the joint concert was a wonderful and very positive experience for the young strings. Congratulations to all of those who performed on June 5.
As we begin MPRO’s forty-third season, I would like to share with you some of the highlights for 2005-2006: The holiday concert will include the Sonatella for recorders and continuo by the mid-17th century Italian composer, Antonio Bertali, a Largo from the Concerto Grosso Op. 3, No. 1 by Handel, a fugue by the 20th-century Russian composer, Dimitri Shostakovitch, a canzona by the early 17th-century Italian composer, Pietro Lappi, and three klezmer melodies arranged for recorders. There will also be encore performances of the Pass'emezzo della Paganina and Saltarello, the Allegro by Haydn and the chanson, A ma dame playsant et belle, by Hugo de Lantins. Featured on the Handel Largo will be soloists Nick Vigil, oboe, and Dan Chernikoff, recorder. The spring concert will feature a ballade by the 14th-century French composer, Guillaume de Machaut, and an anonymous early 16th-century Italian dance song for recorders and krummhorns.
I am pleased to announce that on Saturday, October 22, Cindy Beitmen will be presenting a workshop for MPRO entitled, "The Wedding of Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria and Renée of Lorraine." The workshop will focus on the elaborate celebrations that took place during the wedding of Duke Wilhelm and will feature music by the Bavarian court’s Kapellmeister, Orlande de Lassus, as well as some of his well-known contemporaries. The workshop’s director, Cindy Beitmen, has a background in both vocal and instrumental music and has directed, taught and performed throughout the United States. This will be a marvelous opportunity to work on some of the finest music produced during the 16thcentury with a leader who has extensive expertise in both the instrumental and vocal fields. Please see the workshop flier and Cindy Beitmen’s article that appear in this issue of Upbeat, save October 22 on your calendar and register early.
Listed below is the music for the first three meetings of the orchestra. Music can be purchased at these meetings. Those returning from last season can use their parts to A ma dame playsant et belle by Hugo de Lantins, the Haydn Allegro and the Pass'emezzo della Paganina and Saltarello. Please note that great bass and contrabass recorders will be needed at all three meetings, bass viola da gamba will be needed on September 7 and October 5, krummhorns will be needed on September 7 and oboe and dulcien will be needed on September 21.
| September 7 | MPRO Rehearsal Lappi: La Ghirardella Bertali: Sonatella Sher Pass'emezzo della Paganina and Saltarello |
| September 21 | MPRO Rehearsal Handel: Largo Haydn: Allegro Shostakovitch: Fugue No. 1 Sha, Shtil |
| October 5 | MPRO Rehearsal Bertali: Sonatella Hugo de Lantins: A ma dame playsant et belle Lappi: La Ghirardella Rumshinsky: A Bis’l Libe, un a Bisele Glik |
I look forward to working with you again in September and encourage you to let any of your friends who play early instruments know about the orchestra's varied activities this season and invite them to attend our upcoming meetings, workshops and concerts.
SFEMS affiliate Healing Muses presents its third season of fund-raising concerts at St. Alban's Episcopal Church, which evokes a charming and beautiful small country church from the past. Healing Muses, founded and directed by Eileen Hadidian, was formed to bring soothing music to hospitals, clinics, convalescent homes and retreat centers. Using a combination of medieval, Renaissance and Celtic music, as well as "crossover" repertoire from other cultural traditions, the musicians of Healing Muses create a peaceful sound environment, which promotes relaxation and reduces anxiety during stressful hospital stays and procedures. The program has been praised by doctors, hospital staff and patients at the facilities wherever it has been performed, as well as by members of the early music community. Concerts and CD sales help generate funds for this very special service project.
The concert season opens on Sunday, October 30 at 4:00 pm, with The Passing of the Spirits. The program brings together Susan Rode Morris, soprano, Shira Kammen, vielle, and Peter Maund, percussion, three of the five founding members of Ensemble Alcatraz, for a medieval exploration of music for the All Hallow’d Eve (Halloween) season. They will serve up a tasty bunch of pieces concerning life and death and the human condition, which, during the middle ages, was particularly poignant and transitory. Come hear this amazing, mature and satisfying ensemble playing some of their favorite music.
The season continues on Saturday January 7 and Sunday January 8 with our annual winter concert, which has been a favorite sell-out in past years. On Saturday, March 25, we continue with a special program of Scottish music and a celebration of Robert Burns through actor Karl Goldstein. The season concludes on Saturday, May 6, withThe Dawning of the Day performed by another popular Bay Area group, Distant Oaks.
Please join us for our 2005-2006 season, as we offer you four eclectic programs of medieval, Renaissance, baroque, traditional and new chamber music in a lovely intimate setting, with plentiful nearby parking and close to Solano Ave. buses and El Cerrito BART. Concerts sell out early, and advance ticket orders are recommended. St. Alban’s Episcopal Church is located at 1501 Washington St. (at Neilson), one block north of Solano Ave., Albany. Concerts take place in the sanctuary (which is wheelchair accessible) or the Parish Hall. Individual tickets are $18 and $15 and Full Series subscriptions are available at discounted prices. If you are not already on the mailing list and would like to receive our brochure, please contact Healing Muses: telephone 510-524-5661,*3; email: healingmuses@comcast.net; website: www.healingmuses.org.
On Saturday, October 22, 2005, The Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra will present a workshop entitled, The 1568 Wedding of Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria & Renée of Lorraine. The workshop will be held at the Union Church of Cupertino, 20900 Stevens Creek Boulevard in Cupertino from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.
In 1556 Orlande de Lassus received and accepted an invitation to join the court of Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria in Munich. He was engaged as a tenor in the chapel along with a half-dozen other newly hired Flemish singers. Their appointment was a deliberate plan by Duke Albrecht to 'Netherlandize' a chapel that had perhaps come to seem too provincially German in character. Lassus took over leadership of the chapel in 1563, a position he was to hold for 30 years. During this period the chapel’s makeup changed as more and more Italians were recruited. The number of singers and instrumentalists fluctuated greatly, and the highpoint was reached in 1568, the year young Duke Wilhelm married. At that time, the Bavarian court had a musical staff of about ninety members, sixty vocalists and thirty instrumentalists.
The workshop will focus on the elaborate celebrations that took place during Duke Wilhelm’s wedding. These were organized principally by Massimo Troiano, an Italian poet, singer, and composer, and included processions, feasts, games of skill, dancing, theatrical performances, and fireworks. The music was composed largely by Kapellmeister Orlande de Lassus, who directed the vocal and instrumental ensembles, and is said to have had a performing role in the Italian comedies presented. Troiano wrote a detailed account of the musical and dramatic festivities at this wedding in his Discoursi. This workshop will present music written for the wedding by Lassus as well as composers mentioned in Troiano's account. These include Ciprano de Rore, Alessandro Striggio, and Annibale Padovano. Through the music, copies of paintings, and readings from Troiano's accounts, the workshop will be a small re-creation of this very spectacular and extravagant event.
Cindy Beitmen began her career singing opera in Washington, D.C. After conducting instrumental music in Vienna, Austria for six years, she moved to Seattle where she began specializing in early music. She received her Master of Music degree in vocal performance from the University of Washington, during which time she performed as soloist with the Vancouver Early Music Festival. Performance opportunities led her to New York City where she became a member of the New York Ensemble for Early Music and performed in the Resurrection Play of Tours at the New York Cloisters. She taught voice and vocal diction at Northern Arizona University and currently conducts early vocal ensembles at Mills College.
Workshop fees are as follows: MPRO and SFEMS members, $32 by October 14, $35 after October 14; non-members, $35 by October 14, $39 after October 14. Advanced registration is encouraged as space is limited. To register or for further information please contact Mary Carrigan, 420 Crestlake Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132, telephone 415-664-9050. The Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra is an affiliate of the San Francisco Early Music Society. For information about the workshop or MPRO membership please phone Mary Carrigan or visit the orchestra's website at http://www.sfems.org/mpro.
You are invited to be our guest at the next meeting of the Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra
Bring your instruments and a music stand or just come and listen.
The Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra 2005-2006 season rehearsals begin on Wednesday, September 7 from 8:00 to 10:00 P.M. at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School, Room 060; 480 East Meadow Dr., Palo Alto. The orchestra is open without audition to recorder, early wind or early string players who are able to read and play the music provided at meetings.
2005-2006 meetings will be held on the following dates:
Sept. 7, 21; Oct. 5, 19; Nov. 2, 9;
Nov. 29 (Tuesday) & Dec 3 (Saturday) at Grace Lutheran Church in Palo Alto;
Jan. - June; To be announced. (Normally the first and third Wednesdays of each month.)
Concerts on Dec. 3, 2005 and June, 2006.
For further information please contact: Frederic Palmer, Music Director (650) 591-3648
or Tony Jackson, President (510) 845-8229 or visit our web site at www.sfems.org/mpro.
MPRO is an affiliate of the San Francisco Early Music Society.
A reminder that your dues for the 2005-2006 season is due: $80.00 for Participating Member, $20.00 for Associate Member. Make your check to MPRO and give to Chris at the September 7 meeting, or mail to Christopher Flake.
Please enclose an updated application form with your payment. (See previous page.) If the info hasn't changed from last year, just write your name. Be sure Chris has your latest e-mail address. Please do fill in any consort requests and your preferred instrument choices.
You may also order a copy of the video tape made of last spring’s (June 5) concert. Add $5.00 to your check.