Spring 2011 Season: The Spendor of Music
The sixth season features three very exciting concerts with some of the Bay Areas most admired and respected artists.
New Venue for 2011!
All concerts will be in the new venue, the Barbara Fracisco Mertes Center for the Arts, Building 4000.
Archetti Baroque Strings
April 2, 2011
7:30 preconcert talk
8:00 concert
The last concert of the 2011 season, on April 2, 2011 will honor Dr. Philip Manwell who is retiring at the end of this academic year. Dr. Manwell has served the college and the community as an instructor of both music and humanities and as dean of Arts and Communications. Read the Press Release
Archetti Baroque Strings perform Italian Baroque Concerti for Multiple Violins. This popular and dynamic 8-member ensemble brings performances of stunning character and exciting virtuosity to the concert hall. Featured works will be concerti grossi by Corelli and Handel, as well as concerti for four violins by Vivaldi and Torelli. Archetti was founded by violinist/leader Carla Moore and viola da gambist John Dornenburg, and its members include some of the finest early music performers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Archetti (pronounced “ar-keht'-tee”) means “bows” in Italian and naturally alludes to the dominance of Italian string music in the Baroque concerto repertory.
San Francisco Examiner: “a performance of dazzling clarity...Bach at his best.”
Farallon Recorder Quartet: The Morning Star - music from Northern Europe
February 12, 2011
7:30 preconcert talk
8:00 concert
Farallon will perform works from medieval England through Renaissance Germany and the Low Countries to the courts of Versailles and the Thomaskirche of Leipzig. Bach and Dornel, Dowland and Byrd, music of the German Lochamer and Glogauer Lieder books, and that all important composer, Anonymous - all these will come together to form a splendid program that will enchant, exhilarate and inspire listeners.
The Farallon Recorder Quartet will play on a myriad of recorders in all sizes and several shapes (medieval recorders, renaissance recorders, baroque recorders), delighting the ear amazing the eye.
The Lure of London:
Jay White ~ Counter Tenor
Yuko Tanaka ~ Harpsichord
March 12, 2011
7:30 preconcert talk
8:00 concert
A voice of exquisite and delicate beauty, accompanied gracefully on harpsichord for an evening of arias by Purcell, Bononcini, and Handel with solo harpsichord music of Handel, Blow, Dieupart, and Bach.
Countertenor and Grammy award-winning artist Jay White has performed works from Bach to Britten and appeared with ensembles such as the Washington Bach Consort, the Folger Consort, Santa Fe Pro Musica, the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and at the Carmel Bach Festival. He is highly recognized for his interpretation of medieval, renaissance, and baroque repertoire. He has also been heard on National Public Radio and Public Radio International programs such as Harmonia, St. Paul Sunday, Around New York, Weekend Edition Sunday, and Performance Today.
Yuko Tanaka has been the featured harpsichordist on the Early Music Concert Series at Las Positas College since the first season in 2006. She has performed internationally as both a soloist and ensemble player. She has performed locally with Musica Pacifica, San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, Philharmonia Baroque Chambers Players, and Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra and is a soloist at the annual Carmel Bach Festival. Yuko received a doctorate in early music from Stanford University and has studied with Margaret Fabrizio at Stanford University, Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam, and Ketil Haugsand in Oslo, Norway.
The concert on March 12 will feature solo harpsichord pieces by John Blow, George Frederick Handel, J.S. Bach, and Charles Dieupart as well as Jay White, countertenor, accompanied on harpsichord in the music of Purcell, Bononcini, and Handel.
In the pre-concert talk, Bruce Lamott will enhance the audience’s concert experience by providing insight into the program and by exploring the unique qualities of the counter tenor. Mr. Lamott is director of the Philharmonia Chorale--the professional chorus of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, and was formerly choral director of the Sacramento Symphony Chorus and Carmel Bach Festival. He has had a distinguished career in conducting vocal and instrumental works of the Baroque period, and has performed as a harpsichordist with the San Francisco Opera, the Sacramento Symphony, and the Carmel Bach Festival. He has provided pre-concert talks at Davis Symphony Hall, Live at Mission Blue, and the San Francisco Opera, among others.
Tickets are $15 for individual concerts or $40 for the season. The venue is wheelchair accessible.
These concerts are sponsored in part by the Las Positas College Foundation, the Alameda County Arts Council, and the generous support of our donors.