Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Bach Orchestral Suites (Performed on Period Instruments) Set for Strathmore November 8th

The Academy of Ancient Music

From our friends at the Strathmore...

Strathmore Presents Academy of Ancient Music

Rare listening experience as first-edition Bach works faithfully performed on period instruments

The Academy of Ancient Music will recreate Johann Sebastian Bach’s Orchestral Suites as the composer wanted the world to hear them, using first-edition prints of the musical scores and period instruments in the Music Center at Strathmore on Saturday, November 8, 2014 at 8 p.m. The Academy of Ancient Music has distinguished itself with historically-informed performances of baroque and classical music of the highest caliber - using rare first-edition prints, historic instruments, a tight ensemble, and playing techniques that mimic their early predecessors, resulting in “playing of irresistible colour and exuberance... [by] a crack team of superb baroque stylists" (The Telegraph, UK). For more information or to purchase tickets, call (301) 581-5100 or visit www.strathmore.org.

This concert includes a free Pre-concert Lecture at 6:30 p.m. in Education Center Room 402 (Music Center) with Daniel Abraham of American University. Dr. Abraham is a choral/orchestral conductor and musicologist, and a specialist in 17th and 18th-century music. He is the Music and Artistic Director of the Bach Sinfonia and Bach Sinfonia Voci. This event is free with concert ticket. Seating is first-come, first-served.

Strathmore Presents
Academy of Ancient Music
Saturday, November 8, 2014
8:00 PM
Tickets: $25-$55

Johann Sebastian Bach: Suite No. 4 in D major, BWV 1069
Johann Sebastian Bach: Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067
Johann Sebastian Bach: Suite No. 1 in C Major, BWV 1066
Johann Sebastian Bach: Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068

Pre-Concert Lecture with Daniel Abraham
Saturday, November 8, 2014
6:30 p.m.
Education Center Room 402 (Music Center)
Admission: Free with concert ticket

Music Center at Strathmore
5301 Tuckerman Lane
North Bethesda, MD 20852

About the Academy of Ancient Music:
Tired of the world’s orchestras performing old music in a thoroughly modern style, Christopher Hogwood founded the Academy of Ancient Music in 1973. The works of Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart were shrouded by the accumulation of centuries of shifting tastes and incremental developments in instrument building and design. Hogwood envisioned a group that approached music as it was originally conceived.

Centuries of convention were cut away as baroque and classical masterworks were heard anew. The faithful recreation of historic works begins with the instruments, which are originals or faithful replicas. Strings are made of animal gut, not steel; the trumpets have no valves; the violins and violas don’t have chin-rests; and cellists cradle their instruments between their legs rather than resting them on the floor. The result is a sound which is bright, immediate and striking.

Additionally, the orchestra is small by modern standards, meaning that every instrument shines through and the original balance of sound is restored. Where possible the Academy of Ancient Music plays from first-edition scores, stripping away the later additions and annotations to get back to composers’ initial notes, markings and ideas. Finally, the ensemble often doesn’t have a conductor, and are rather directed by one of its musicians, making for spontaneous and engaged performances.

In its 40-year history the Academy of Ancient Music has performed on all six inhabited continents and recorded an unrivaled catalogue of over 300 CDs. Planned recordings for AAM Records in 2014-2015 include JS Bach’s Orchestral Suites. The ensemble’s 2014-2105 Season includes stops at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and Carnegie Hall in New York.

About Strathmore:
Strathmore presents and produces exemplary visual and performing arts programs for diverse audiences; creates dynamic arts education experiences; and nurtures creative ideas and conversations that advance the future of the arts. The hallmark of the arts center is the Music Center at Strathmore, a 1,976-seat concert hall and education complex. The Music Center at Strathmore is located at 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, MD, one half-mile north of the Capital Beltway and immediately adjacent to the Grosvenor-Strathmore station on Metro’s Red Line. For those attending a ticketed performance at the Music Center at Strathmore, parking in the Metro garage is complimentary with your ticket.