Arts & Entertainment

Drew Concert Series Brings Early Music to Madison

The da Camera series will feature musical styles that range from Baroque to Renaissance.

The Concert Hall at will play host to an exciting season of early music performed by some of the most prominent musicians and notable new artists in the field.

The da Camera series, which will run from September 2012 to April 2013, will feature musical styles that range from Baroque to Renaissance, including performances of 19th-century pieces for fortepiano and 16th-century European chamber compositions.

“This is a great opportunity to explore a variety of musical styles performed by some of the most celebrated musicians in the scene,” said Vivian A. Bull, university president. “The quality of the programs will be outstanding, worthy of the spectacular acoustics of our concert hall.”

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The da Camera Series includes the following performances (subject to change), all of which will be held in Drew’s Dorothy Young Center for the Arts Concert Hall:

  • Bridget Kibbey (Harp) – Fri., Sep. 14, 2012, 8:00 p.m.

Harp soloist Bridget Kibbey is a past recipient of the Avery Fisher Career Grant and the 2007 winner of the Concert Artist Guild’s International Competition and Astral Artist Audition. Her original performances have been lauded by the New York Times, which wrote that “her instrument had been waiting all its life to explode with the gorgeous colors and energetic figures she was getting from it.”  

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  • Elizabeth Baber & Charles Weaver (Soprano and Lute) – Sat., Oct. 26, 2012, 8:00 p.m.

Elizabeth Baber and Charles Weaver, who are both faculty members at the New York Continuo Collective, have been performing since 2004 at Renaissance song venues nationwide. The Washington Post has called their work “impeccable” and praised their “imagination in programming.”

  • Roman Rabinovich (Piano) – Sun., Nov. 18, 2012, 3:00 p.m.

Twenty-five-year-old Roman Rabinovich, an Israeli pianist and avid chamber musician, was the winner of the 2008 Arthur Rubenstein International Piano Competition. He has been praised by critics for his “vivacity and virtuosity” and for his “mature, self-assured playing.” Rabinovich’s performance at Drew will include works by Prokofiev and Ravel.

  • Quicksilver (Baroque Ensemble) – Wed., Jan. 30, 2013, 8:00 p.m.

Early Music America calls the individual members of Quicksilver “virtuoso soloists in their own right,” and goes on to say that “together their playing is drop-dead gorgeous.” The group’s latest album, “Stile Moderno,” was recorded in Drew’s concert hall in 2011 and received critical acclaim from the Huffington Post, which called it the “breakthrough of the year.” The ensemble will perform its “Fantasticus” program at Drew, which features an exploration of German chamber music from the 17th century.

  • Piffaro (Renaissance Band) – Wed., Feb. 20, 2013, 8:00 p.m.

Piffaro, a highly acclaimed wind ensemble, will present “Los Ministriles in the New World,” an all-instrumental program of Spanish music interspersed with compositions from early America. The program will include secular songs, sacred motets, dances and instrumental fantasias—all of which will be played on the group’s period instruments.

  • Merynda Adams & Christopher Collins Lee (Harp and Violin) – Wed., Mar. 20, 2013, 8:00 p.m.

Merynda Adams was the winner of the 1994 Artists International Competition and has been described by the Star-Ledger as playing with “color and great facility.” Christopher Collins Lee has served as an official musical ambassador of the U.S. Department of State and has offered concerts worldwide as a representative of the United States. Together, they will offer a performance of works by Elgar, Grandjany, De Falla and Saint-Saens.

  • Sylvia Berry (Fortepiano) – Sat., Apr. 6, 2013, 8:00 p.m.

Sylvia Berry is an expert on historical keyboard performance. This expertise comes to life in her fortepiano concerts, which feature her playing a fully restored 1806 Broadwood piano. Her program at Drew, “The London Scene,” will include popular works by Haydn and Clementi.

Most da Camera programs will feature a pre-concert talk that will begin 45 minutes prior to the main performance. Single-event tickets and series subscriptions are available at the Drew University Box Office, located in the F.M. Kirby Shakespeare Theatre on the school’s Madison campus. The Box Office can also be reached by phone at 973-408-3917. Subscribers will enjoy all seven concerts for the price of five.


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