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✣
With special thanks
✣ to
Grace Episcopal Church
2025
Salish
Sea Early Music Festival on Lopez Island ~
Period Instrument chamber music from six centuries
on Lopez Island and around the Salish Sea ~
~ Presented in
collaboration with Grace Episcopal Church ~
~ ferry alert: Please
note that we start at 4:30 PM on July 12 ~
~
All Saturdays
★ download newly
updated
flyer here
~
Saturday
afternoon, July
12,
2025 at 4:30
PM:
—
JOHANN
SEBASTIAN BACH
& DOMENICO
SCARLATTI
· Irene
Roldàn,
harpsichord
·
Jeffrey
Cohan,
baroque flute
Irene Roldàn
and Jeffrey
interpret
Bach's
phenomenal
music for
flute and
harpsichord
alongside
works by
Domenico
Scarlatti
including
works both for
solo
harpsichord
and with
flute.
Award-winning
harpsichordist Irene
Roldán
(www.ireneroldan.com)
was born in
southern Spain
in 1997.
Described by the
press as one of
the most
prominent
Spanish
harpsichordists
on the
international
scene (ABC
Sevilla), Irene
currently lives
and works in
Basel,
Switzerland. She
gained
international
recognition in
2021, when she
won first prize,
never previously
awarded in this
competition, as
well as the
audience prize
at the III.
International
Harpsichord
Competition
«Città di
Milano». In the
same year, her
ensemble Flor
Galante secured
the first prize
at the IV.
International
Bach Competition
in Berlin. One
year later,
Irene was
honored with the
prestigious Bach
Prize and an
additional
special award at
the XXXIII.
International
Bach Competition
held in Leipzig,
Germany
Irene
Roldàn’s
participation
in these
performances
has been made
possible with
help from the
Honorary
Consulate of
Spain in
Seattle and
from to the
Programme for
the
Internationalisation
of Spanish
Culture (PICE)
of Acción
Cultural
Española
(AC/E), which
seeks to
promote
Spanish
culture
through the
inclusion of
Spanish
artists and
creators
residing in
Spain in the
programming of
cultural
events outside
of Spain.
~
2026 next
season
~
UKRAINE
Olena
Zhukova
It is a great honor
to feature Ukrainian
harpsichordist Olena
Zhukova of
Kyiv, Ukraine, a
leading
harpsichordist and a
tireless ambassador
of
early music in
her country and
abroad
during this
difficult period.
She has performed
since the outbreak
of full-scale war in
prominent
performances
sponsored by
distinguished
institutions all
around Ukraine,
Poland, Austria,
France, Switzerland
and Czech Republic
for international
festivals and in
collaboration with
major artists,
orchestras and opera
productions. Ms.
Zhukova is also an
accomplished scholar
who published and
presented more than
20 articles, while
devoting herself to
her harpsichord
class and chamber
music students as
Associate Professor
at both the National
Music Academy of
Ukraine and
the Gliére
Academy of Music
(Kiev), where she
founded the
harpsichord class.
Recent engagements
during the past few
months alone include
Bach's Goldberg
Variations in the
prestigious Organ
Hall in Lviv,
Ukraine; the first
major classical
performance for the
public in Chernihiv,
Ukraine since
the outbreak of war
entitled French
Music in Times
of War
and sponsored by the
Ambassador of
France, in a newly
rebuilt performance
hall in Chernihiv
that had previously
been extensively
damaged by a Russian
strike at the
beginning of the
conflict; and an
involved program,
consisting
exclusively of new
music in part
composed for her by
today's Ukrainian
composers, for
Columbia
University’s Global
Center in Paris
and its Institute
for Ideas and
Imagination.
Ms.
Zhukova will appear
in the following two
programs:
Dates
to be announced: —
HARPSICHORD
MYSTERY
(Seattle,
Vancouver and
Tacoma only)
· Elena
Zhukova,
harpsichord
The Ukrainian
harpsichordist
deciphers mysterious
and elusive rarities
as well as standards
for solo harpsichord
by Byrd, Couperin,
Rameau and Scarlatti
alongside Ukrainian
gems including a
harpsichord sonata
by Dmitry
Bortnyansky. [only
in Seattle,
Vancouver and
Tacoma]
Dates
to be announced:
— EUROPEAN
TOUR 1690-1790
· Elena
Zhukova,
harpsichord
· Jeffrey
Cohan,
baroque flute
An excursion through a
century of
transformation and
diversity by decade
and culture within the
baroque and classical
periods, through the
perspective of
composers for
harpsichord and flute
from France, Italy,
Scotland, Germany and
Ukraine.
~
Earlier concerts this 2025 season
~
Saturday,
January 18,
2025 at
6:30 PM: — THE
CANZONA
· Vicki
Boeckman,
renaissance recorders
· Tina
Chancey,
tenor viol
· Jeffrey
Cohan,
renaissance transverse
flutes
· Anna
Marsh,
dulcian (renaissance
bassoon)
Featuring special
guest renaissance
specialist and
innovative
improviser Tina
Chancey from
Hesperus in
Washington, DC,
this in-depth
exploration of the
Italian four-part
canzona, which
blossomed in print
from 1577 through
the mid 1600’s,
traces its
development from
1533, when
commercial music
printing was in
its infancy in
Europe, through
1636 at which
point more
“baroque”
stylistic forms
such as the sonata
and the suite had
begun to emerged.
Canzonas by
Florentino
Maschera (1582),
Floriano Canale
(1600), Giovanni
Dominico Rognoni
Taegio (1605),
Antonio Troilo
(1606), Giovanni
Gabrieli (1608),
Girolamo
Frescobaldi
(1608), Giovanni
Antonio Cangiasi
(1614), Giacomo
Biumi (1624),
Nicolo Corradini
(1624), Giovanni
Buonamente (1636)
and others are to
be included in the
program along with
examples of the
earlier French and
Flemish songs of
the early 1500's
that inspired
them, including
well known
chansons published
specifically for
instrumentalists
in 1533, 1577 and
1588, among them
Clement
Jannequin’s “Song
of the Birds”.
Renaissance winds
of three distinct
families along
with the fretted
viols provide an
exciting blend and
a distinct
character to each
of the four
intertwining
musical lines.
Saturday,
February
22, 2025
at 6:30 PM:
— THE
CHACONNE with
LES VOIX
HUMAINES
· Susie
Napper,
viola da gamba
& treble
viol
·
Mélisande
Corriveau,
viola da gamba
&
pardessus de
viol
·
Elisabeth
Wright,
harpsichord
·
Jeffrey
Cohan,
baroque and
renaissance
flutes
Les
Voix humaines,
the widely
celebrated
prize-winning
duo of viols
from Montreal
joins us for a
program
demonstrating
the chaconne
at it's most
poignant,
transporting
three
important
works by
Johann
Sebastian Bach
to an entirely
new level
through their
own
transcriptions,
and presenting
other
remarkable but
rarely heard
repertoire for
two viola da
gambas,
pardessus de
viol, flute
and
harpsichord.
The
hypnotic
French
chaconne that
developed
during the
reign of Louis
XIV brings the
listener from
one emotional
realm to the
next in a
regular
procession of
episodes that
transition
gently in an
emotional
direction or
leap suddenly
with emotion
and stark
contrast, now
uplifting or
sad, majestic
or
introspective,
hopeful or
questioning.
The pulse may
feel broader,
then more
angular, then
running with
abandon or
pregnant with
poise, always
cleverly
evolving in
the
presentation
of a musical
story.
Bach
and Telemann
succeed in
bringing this
chaconne to a
whole new
level, as
we'll
experience
with "Les Voix
Humaines" in
their very own
transcription
of Bach's Chaconne
in D Minor
for 2 viola da
gambas,
originally for
solo violin,
and in the
chaconne
entitled Modéré
from
Telemann's Paris
Quartet No. 12
in E Minor
for flute,
pardessus de
viole, viola
da gamba and
harpischord.
Two
outstanding
quartets for
two viola da
gambas, flute
and
harpsichord
celebrating
this unusual
combination of
instruments
will be heard
alongside two
additional
transcriptions:
for flute,
pardessus de
viol and
harpsichord of
Bach's Organ
Trio Sonata in
D Minor,
and for solo
harpsichord of
the Allemande
from Bach's D
Major Suite
No. 6 for
solo cello.
From
the standpoint
of the Salish
Sea Early
Music Festival
and as Tobias
Hume asserted
in 1605, "Now
to use a
modest
shortness, and
a brief
expression of
my self to all
noble
spirits": Les
Voix Humaines
is simply
phenomenal!
In
1676, Thomas
Mace
accurately
expressed
their
sentiments: "I
have been more
Sensibly,
Fervently, and
Zealously
Captivated,
and drawn into
Divine
Raptures, and
Contemplations,
by Those
Unexpressible
Rhetorical,
Uncontroulable
Perswasions,
and
Instructions
of Musicks
Divine
Language."
A perfect
description of
their vision
of music
making, Sloane
wrote c.1794:
"There must be
an Order and
just
Proportion,
Intricacy with
Simplicity in
the Component
parts, Variety
in the Mass,
and Light and
Shadow in the
whole, so as
to produce the
varied
sensations of
gaiety and
melancholy, of
wildness and
even surprise
and wonder…"
And as Thomas
Mace says in
1676: "…When
we come to be
Masters… we
can command
all manner of
Time, at our
own Pleasures;
we Then take
Liberty for
Humour and
good
Adornment-sake,
to Break Time;
sometimes
Faster,
sometimes
Slower, as we
perceive, the
Nature of the
Thing
Requires,
which…adds
much Grace and
Luster to the
Performance."
Saturday,
March
8,
2025 at 6:30
PM:
—
FRENCH
BAROQUE TRIO
SONATAS
with MUSICA
ALTA RIPA
·
Anne
Röhrig,
violin
·
Bernward
Lohr,
harpsichord
·
Susie
Napper,
viola da gamba
·
Jeffrey
Cohan,
baroque flute
French
trio sonatas
and quartets
spanning more
than 60 years,
through the
reigns of
Louis XIV and
Louis V,
alongside a
"Paris
Quartet" by
Georg Philipp
Telemann,
written for
Telemann's
visit to Paris
in 1738.
Marin
Marais (1656 –
1728)
—
Trio
C major (1682)
Jean-Baptiste
Quentin, the
young (before
1690 – ca.
1742)
—
Trio
in G minor
Opus 8 No. 1
(after 1729)
Louis-Gabriel
Guillemain
(1705 –
1770)
—
Trio
Sonata No. 3
in D Minor
(1743)
Jean-Marie
Leclair l'aîné
(1697 – 1764)
—
Violin
Sonata in A
Minor
Joseph Bodin
de Boismortier
(1689 – 1755)
—
Trio
Sonata Opus 37
No. 2 in e
minor (1732)
MUSICA
ALTA RIPA
Harpsichordist
BERNWARD LOHR
is director of
Hanover's
Musica Alta
Ripa, one of
Germany's most
active and
extensively
recorded
period
instrument
ensembles.
Baroque
violinist ANNE
RÖHRIG, leads
the
Hannoversche
Hofkapelle
(the "Hanover
Court
Orchestra"),
another of the
premier
baroque
orchestras
that
contributes to
the vibrant
early music
scene in
Hannover and
Northern
Germany.
“Hannover”
originally
evolved from
"Hohes Ufer",
meaning "high
riverbank" or
"Alta Ripa" in
Latin.
Bernward Lohr
and Anne
Röhrig are
professors at
music
conservatories
in both
Hannover and
Nuremburg,
Germany. Their
more than 30
recordings
have garnered
many of the
most important
awards in
Europe for
recordings
including the
Diapason Dòr,
the Cannes
Classical
Award, the
German
Recording
Critics'
Prize, and
several times
the coveted
Echo Klassik
Award. Both
were awarded
the 2002 Music
Award of Lower
Saxony.
Saturday,
May 3 at 6:30
PM: — The
MUSIQUE DE LA
CHAMBRE of
LOUIS XIV
· Caroline
Nicolas,
viola da gamba
· William
Simms,
baroque guitar
· Jeffrey
Cohan,
baroque flute
The
MUSIQUE DE LA
CHAMBRE of
LOUIS XIV
features music
by prominent
soloists, all
composers, who
frequently
played for
Louis XIV,
including the
king’s guitar
instructor
Robert De
Visée and his
Italian
predecessor
Francesco
Corbetta,
along with a
favorite viola
da gambist at
the court,
Marin Marais
and his
teacher
Monsieur de
Sainte-Colombe,
as well as
Élisabeth
Jacquet de La
Guerre, a
young
harpsichordist
and one of the
few famous
female
musicians of
her time whose
playing and
compositions
Louis deeply
admired and
subsidized.
This program
stands apart
in a variety
of ways.
Jeffrey Cohan
discovered the
earliest known
French solo
specifically
for the
transverse
flute by the
king’s court
music
librarian
André Danican
Philidor
L'Aisné in a
relatively
unknown and as
yet
unpublished
manuscript
which was
prepared in
1695 by
Philidor
himself as a
present from
Louis XIV for
the Duke of
Bavaria. Marin
Marais
asserted that
his music for
viola da gamba
might be
played on the
transverse
flute, as is
to be realized
in a Suite
from his first
book of pieces
for viola da
gamba.
Similarly a
sonata by
Jacquet de La
Guerre assumes
new resonance
in our
realization
for transverse
flute, gamba
and guitar.
Caroline
Nicolas and
William Simms
will perform
solos for
viola da gamba
and guitar by
De Visée,
Corbetta and
Sainte-Colombe.
The French
musical
perspective
emulated
reason and
moderation,
with sensory
perception
serving
comprehension.
French
musicians
aspired to
thrill the
senses via the
intellect, in
a continual
search for
grace and
elegance.
Dance was
viewed as the
consummate
expression of
the mastery of
body and mind
and the
epitome of
aristocratic
art, as
evidenced by
Louis XIV's
daily dance
lessons for 20
years
alongside
frequent
guitar
lessons. Every
French court
and church
musician
reflected
musically
their
determination
to depict
refinement and
true
sentiments,
while
dispensing
with excessive
turbulence and
contrast. All
of this
contrasted
greatly with
the Italian
focus on the
direct
expression of
emotions via
their virtuoso
and flamboyant
approach,
which was
indeed admired
in some
circles in
France.
Sat.,
May 24
at 6:30 PM: —
CONCERTI
from the COURT
of FREDERICK
THE GREAT
· David
Schrader,
harpsichord
·
Jeffrey
Cohan,
baroque flute
·
Elizabeth
Phelps,
baroque violin
·
Courtney
Kuroda,
baroque violin
·
Christine
Moran,
baroque viola
· Susie
Napper,
baroque cello
A concerto by
Frederick II,
the monarch of
Prussia from
1740, will be
included
alongside the
Suite in B
Minor by
Johann
Sebastian
Bach, whose
visit to the
king's court
in 1747 is
legendary, and
concerti by
Frederick's
keyboardist
Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach
for both
harpsichord
and flute.
Saturday,
June
14,
2025 at 6:00
PM (not
June 7 at
6:30):
—FOLK
SONG FROM
THREE
CENTURIES II
Renaissance
Psalms,
Scottish
Baroque &
Folk
· Oleg
Timofeyev,
renaissance
lute, English
guitar &
7-string
guitar (1820)
·
Jeffrey
Cohan,
renaissance,
baroque &
8-keyed flutes
(London, 1820)
Renaissance
Psalms
(~1620), Irish
and Scottish
baroque
(~1720) and
folk music as
interpreted
during
Beethoven's
lifetime
(~1820) in
part II, a
100% new
program of
innovative
renditions of
settings from
three
centuries
based on
popular and
folk music,
performed on 5
transverse
flutes and
three plucked
instruments.
In the early
17th century
Flutist Jacob
Van Eyck and
lutenist
Nicolas Vallet
both wrote
settings of
and variations
on many of the
Psalm tunes
from the
Geneva Psalter
of the
mid-16th
century that
were widely
sung in
churches 100
years later.
These are
juxtaposed
simultaneously
in a manner
that sheds new
light on early
17th-century
practice.
James Oswald's
"Airs for the
Seasons"
consists of
four
collections,
one for each
season, of
about 24 airs
or
multi-movement
suites, each
dedicated to a
particular
flower of the
season and
radiating the
charming
character of
the folk
melodies of
Oswald's
native
Scotland. The
wire strung
English
guitar, so
rarely to be
heard today,
emerged around
this time as
one of the
most prominent
instruments of
home life in
England, and
Oswald's airs
beautifully
suit Oleg's
instrument
made in 1767
alongside the
one-keyed
baroque flute.
Likewise,
settings of
the popular
tunes written
specifically
for the
English guitar
by Scotsman
Robert Bremner
and others are
to be heard,
following
settings from
several
decades
earlier of
Irish and
Scottish
popular
melodies by
Burk Thumoth
and Francesco
Barsanti on
baroque flute
and lute.
Finally, an
Eastern
European
7-string
guitar made in
1820 in Russia
and an
eight-keyed
flute made in
London in the
same year
resonate to
variations on
popular tunes
by Englishman
Charles
Nicholson,
American
Joseph
Kennedy,
Austrian Anton
Diabelli and
other virtuoso
flutists and
guitarists of
Beethoven’s
day.
LISTEN:
Oleg
Timofeyev and
Jeffrey Cohan
play Drouet's
God Save
the Queen
on SoundCloud:
Fantasia
11 by Giovanni Bassano (1585)
January 11, 2021
~
updated
June 19, 2025 ~ Do you receive our email
announcements and flyers?!
Please sign our MAILING LIST (please specify Lopez
Island)
by sending your address
and any other comments to salishseafestival@aol.com
~ thank you!
SSEMF
banner: detail from "The Last Time it Reached
Zero" by James C. Holl. SSEMF presents outstanding
early chamber
music
on period instruments thanks
to your support.
LOPEZ ISLAND
Sat.,
May 24
at 6:30 PM: —
CONCERTI
from the COURT
of FREDERICK
THE GREAT
17th
Century