EMAg Features

Early music brings us together, since exploring long forgotten or ignored repertoire requires communities of knowledge and of specialized practice. The late soprano Deborah Roberts took this ideal to the highest level, connecting amateurs and professionals on both sides of the Atlantic.

He was born into slavery, described as a fiddler when he tried to escape, and was emancipated in his mid-20s. Sawney Freeman's Musician's Pocket Companion may be the earliest published music by a Black composer in the United States.

At an early EMA board meeting, Thomas Forrest Kelly recalls 'serious discussion of whether we wanted to be the American Dairy Council (lobbying association for the professional field), or the Rah-Rah Association of Enthusiasts (focused on amateurs). EMA, after 40 years, has still perhaps not quite figured that out, and creative discussions continue.'

Restoration means bringing an instrument back to a playable condition. Conservation is about preserving an instrument in its current state and ensuring its survival. Is "restorative conservation" the solution, or just the latest trend?

How we educate future early musicians is among the most essential challenges facing the field. In historical performance, perhaps no two institutions represent the extremes of the scholarship vs performance continuum more than Cleveland's Case Western Reserve and New York's Juilliard School.

It all started in the basement of Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, where a collection of historical instruments had languished for decades. Seventy years later, the Boston Camerata's artistry and its attitudes about 'early music' and multicultural repertoire has influenced the entire field.

'There’s certainly a lot to celebrate in terms of visibility of the field and the respect we’ve earned in the larger classical music world. Yet there's still so much vital work to be done. It’s important to beg the question: What do we want the world of historical performance to look like 40 years from now?'

North American singers chase their ambition to join Britain's professional early-music choral scene. They navigate obstacles in musical styles and sight-singing, in salaries and immigration. They balance career satisfaction with a longing for home.

Every two years, REMA — the Réseau européen de musique ancienne (European Early Music Network) — spotlights the projects and activities that reflect the vision and versatility of today's early-music sector. It's a celebration of Europe's whole early-music sector.

'A great many musicians have listened to, and been inspired by the birds...It's a sort of natural music far beyond our ability to understand or reproduce. Our attempts at repeating birdsong may be poor imitations, but at the same time we have been moved to compose, perform, and hear music that would not be what it is were it not for avian inspiration. Birds represent nature, spring, love...'