Mountainside Baroque is eagerly anticipating the final three concerts of its 2022-2023 season, spanning a weekend that will feature a brand-new approach for the group that includes intimate performances at local pubs & cafes.
“Purcell’s Pub: Catch of the Day,” leads off the weekend on April 21 at 7:30pm at the Dig Deep Brewing Company in Cumberland, MD (capacity 85) and the following evening, April 22, at 7:00pm at Clatter Café in Frostburg, MD (capacity 40). Henry Purcell, the focus of this weekend’s performances, was well known for not only serious music but also the many catches (a type of simple round) and other bawdy music enjoyed by those patronizing seventeenth-century English pubs. Many of these, as well as ballads, glees, drinking songs, and fiddle tunes, will be performed by Mountainside singers and instrumentalists, promising an evening of toe tapping and laughter. Refreshments will be available for purchase from the venue before each performance.
Purchases for “Purcell’s Pub” can only be made online: www.mountainsidebaroque.org/shop. Admittance is age limited due to the venue requirements, so no student tickets are available for these performances. Also, because of limited seating at the venues sales will close once capacity has been reached at each location. Note that because of seating limits those who intend to use FlexSaver tickets must email mountainside@mountainsidebaroque.org to reserve a space on their chosen date.
“Hark, How the Songsters: Purcell’s Music for Court and Chapel” will round out the weekend at 4:00pm on April 23 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, in Cumberland. Included are Henry Purcell’s birthday ode for Queen Mary, “Come ye Sons of Art,” and the “Jubilate Deo” written for Westminster Abbey. Both works include music for the Baroque trumpet performed by Nashville resident Kathryn Adduci, considered one of the best baroque trumpeters in the nation. She will be joined by orchestra, soloists and choir in recreating this wonderful music. First half treats will be selections from his theatre music, including “King Arthur” and “The Fairy Queen.”
Audience members are invited to come early on Sunday around 3:30pm to hear the pre-concert talk designed to put the music in context. Tickets for “Hark, How the Songsters” may be purchased online at the Mountainside website or in person at the Allegany Arts Council.
“One of the most interesting things about this weekend of performances is the contrast we hear in the various styles of music,” remarked MBQ Artistic Co-Director Ryan Mullaney. “Not only are the ‘pub’ concerts an opportunity to reach a different audience with a vastly different type of music, but the Sunday concert is really a bookend to our ‘Gather Ye Rosebuds’ program from this past November.” [That concert focused on the English court music prior to the execution of Charles I. This concert will focus on the music after the restoration of the Monarchy under Charles II after 1660.]
Featured in the performances are an exceptional quartet of vocal soloists, three of whom are making their return to Mountain Maryland. Appearing most recently were baritone Corbin Phillips, a gifted interpreter of 17th century music residing in the DC Metro area, as well as the world-renowned countertenor Nathan Medley from Atlanta, Georgia. Seattle-based countertenor Joel Bevington returns for his 5th appearance with the ensemble, having last appeared in our Venetian Vespers of 2021. Joining Mountainside for the first time is soprano Jaely Chamberlain. Chamberlain, who is based in, Northern Virginia has recently been featured in an all-Purcell program with the Washington Bach Consort and, as an experienced musical theater artist, is sure to delight in both types of performances.
Consult the website at https://www.mountainsidebaroque.org/april-weekend for additional performance details and updated program information, as well as an early look at a pdf of the printed program.
