Early Music Missouri’s Mainstage Series opens on October 6, with a concert by St. Louis’s recorder virtuoso Anne Timberlake and Chicago’s Jeremy Ward on baroque cello. Their program, Ground & Fire examines the act of improvisation as reflected in repertoire ranging from the Middle Ages into the late 17th century. Improvising over a structured musical framework is an ancient art and by the early Baroque, this pairing of constancy and fantasy had evolved to include rich, often spectacularly virtuosic variations, some written down and some played ex tempore. The duo explores this exciting repertoire, bringing urgency and vitality to Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music focused on the art of improvisation and variation. Composers include William Byrd, Arcangelo Corelli, Jacob van Eyck and others and the repertoire ranges from Medieval dances to Baroque sonatas.
Anne Timberlake is one of this country’s foremost recorder players, with multiple recordings and performances across the country. Jeremy Ward is a mainstay of Chicago’s Early Music scene and performs regularly as a soloist and with many of that city’s top ensembles. They met as classmates at Oberlin College where they both studied in the school’s famed Early Music program. Since that time, each has gone on to performing careers that have taken them around the world. Their work as a musical duo is a recent development and EMMo is thrilled to bring these two spectacular performers to St. Louis listeners.
EMMo’s six-concert Main Stage Series takes place at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Ladue MO. The space offers an exquisite sound and a beautiful setting for this music. Parking is free and both parking and the space are handicapped accessible.
Early Music Missouri is the foremost presenter and promoter of Early Music performance in the St. Louis region, offering eight concerts of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque music each season. Informed by historical documents and original scores and guided by modern research, EMMo offer performances that reflect an Historically Informed approach to technique, interpretation and performance. To meet this end, EMMo presents both performers and performer/scholar specialists from our region alongside guest artists from across the country.
For more information, visit earlymusicmissouri.net or call (314) 368-0382.
