The following is a news release and does not necessarily reflect the views of Andover News.
The Society for Historically Informed Performance (SoHIP) presents eight weeks of concerts of early music in Andover beginning June 12.
Concerts are Wednesdays at 7:30pm, June 12 – August 7 (no concert July 3) The Chapel at West Parish, 210 Lowell Street, Andover, MA Tickets $5-35, children free
A Virtual Series is offered free of charge on YouTube. Premieres are on Fridays at 7:30pm.
ABOUT SOHIP The Society for Historically Informed Performance grew out of the local early music community’s desire for more performance opportunities as interest in early music grew during the 1980s. Members of seven ensembles collaborated on a summer concert series in 1987, endeavoring to share in the work, and later to give a helping hand to other groups that were trying to get a start in the field. In the years since, the SoHIP Summer Concert Series has become a beloved tradition which continues to provide opportunities for new projects by New England musicians. SoHIP’s mission is to promote and enrich public appreciation and understanding of historically informed performance of early music in New England, and to support the development of new projects and ensembles with ties to the region.
For more information, contact Karen Burciaga at administrator@sohipboston.org.
CONCERT SERIES – Wednesdays at 7:30pm
- June 12 “So Far From Home” Voices and viols mingle in 16th-c. polyphony from Spain, France, Holland, Italy, England, and Germany on themes of exile and migration. Music of Dowland, Rossi, Camphuysen, and Cavendish connects us across time with people who sought hope through music just as we do today. Nota Bene Viol Consort: Joanna Blendulf, Wendy Gillespie, Sarah Mead, Emily Walhout, viols; Anney Barrett and Michael Barrett, voices
- June 19 “Shir Levi’im: A Song of Levites” MIRYAM gives us a glimpse into the rich musical life of the Portuguese Jews of 17th-c. Amsterdam. The program features music of Baroque composers Caceres and Lidarti, mystical poems by the 11th-c. Yehuda Halevi, and a new setting of the Kaddish Shalem, a central prayer of thanksgiving and praise. MIRYAM: Alicia DePaolo, soprano, Hilary Anne Walker, mezzo-soprano, Marika Holmqvist, violin, Emily Hale, violin, Sarah Freiberg, cello, Juan Mesa, harpsichord
- June 26 “Hildegard Reanimated: Vision in Vision” Medieval polymath Hildegard von Bingen’s music is inextricably linked with the revelations she experienced from the age of three. This multimedia concert features music and illuminations from Hildegard’s vast oeuvre accompanied by artist Cate Duckwall’s new artistic animations of the four most famous visions. The Pandora Consort: Kendra Comstock, Angie Tyler, Shea Brown, voices
- July 10 “Fantasticus!” 17th-c. virtuoso Italian musicians traversed the Alps to Germany and Austria, bringing with them the stylus fantasticus–an improvisatory style of early Baroque instrumental music. Guts Baroque makes their SoHIP debut with varied, fantastical works of Bertali, Frescobaldi, Schmelzer, and Biber. Guts Baroque: Sylvia Schwartz, violin, Rebecca Shaw, viola da gamba, Andrus Madsen, harpsichord
- July 17 “The 18th-c. Salon: Music by Bach’s Son” C.P.E. Bach’s distinctive quartets for flute, viola, and fortepiano mark the transition from the late Baroque to early Classical eras. Their elegant motives and virtuosic embellishments embody the innovations of composers linked to King Frederick the Great, himself an accomplished musician. The Berlin Trio: Mary Oleskiewicz, baroque flute, Georgina McKay Lodge, viola, David Schulenberg, fortepiano
- July 24 “Let’s Make Arrangements” Four virtuoso recorder players perform 15th-c. Franco-Flemish masters, Baroque keyboard works, Ligeti’s Bagatelles, Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, a Medieval estampie, a Romantic tango, and more. This music is so compelling, Sempervirens just had to make arrangements to play it! Sempervirens: Heloise Degrugillier, Daniel Meyers, Emily O’Brien, Roy Sansom, recorders
- July 31 “Cantos y Suspiros” (Songs and Sighs) Explore the sumptuous sound world of 17th-c. Spain with songs about the joys and treacheries of love. Poetic works of master composers Juan Hidalgo, Juan de Návas, José Marín, Cristóbal Galán, Santiago de Murcia, and others are illuminated by voice, plucked strings, winds, and percussion. Xacarilla: Camila Parias, soprano, Christa Patton, Baroque harp, Jason Priset, Baroque guitar, Heloise Degrugillier, recorder, Dan Meyers, percussion
- August 7 “Blistering Passions” In this SoHIP debut, voice and lute intertwine beautifully to tell of love’s blistering heat and icy rejection. Lute songs of Strozzi, Caccini, Purcell, Lawes and others illustrate stories ranging from pastoral idylls to militaristic conquests to the occasional discordant organ–the heart itself. Kim Leeds, mezzo-soprano, Dani Zanuttini-Frank, lute
- VIRTUAL SERIES – Fridays at 7:30pm on YouTube www.youtube.com/@SoHIPBoston Free to watch, donations encouraged, videos remain available to watch later