PORT TOWNSEND — Two internationally known early music soloists will come from Germany and Montreal to perform French works from the reign of Louis XIV and XV at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The concert, “Immortal French Baroque: Viola da Gamba and Friends,” will be the first of three performances planned for the Salish Sea Early Music Festival at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1020 Jefferson St.
Admission is by free-will offering. A donation of $15, $20 or $25 is suggested, with those 18 and younger admitted free.
Susie Napper of Montreal is, according to many, the most highly regarded interpreter of music for the viola da gamba in the United States and Canada, said Jeffrey Cohan, artistic director.
She currently teaches in Montreal and Copenhagen.
Harpsichordist Hans-Jürgen Schnoor teaches at the Music Conservatory in Lübeck, Germany.
He recently performed in Indonesia and was organist at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Lübeck, “one of the most coveted positions for organists in the world, formerly held by Buxtehude and visited by Bach in 1705,” Cohan said.
Cohan, a flutist, will join Napper and Schnoor for the program, which will include a prelude for solo viola da gamba by Sainte Colombe, the Suite in D minor for solo harpsichord by François Couperin, Jacques Hotteterre’s Suite in G Major for flute with harpsichord and viola da gamba, Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Troisième Concert from Pièces de Clavecin en Concert, Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Trios de la Chambre, the Tombeau pour M. De Lully for viola da gamba and harpsichord by Marin Marais, and Pieces en Trio by Marin Marais.
The next program will be at 5:30 p.m. March 8.
“Georg Philipp Telemann: 250 Years” will honor the baroque composer with two special guests from Hannover, Germany: harpsichordist Bernward Lohr and violinist Anne Roehrig, joined by Cohan.
The third program will be at 5:30 p.m. May 17.
“A Century of New Perspective: 1600-1700” will feature 17th-century trios on both late Renaissance and early baroque instruments with violinist Ingrid Matthews, founder of the Seattle Baroque Orchestra; harpsichordist Elisabeth Wright, professor of harpsichord at Indiana University; and Cohan.
The Salish Sea Early Music Festival, now in its seventh year, presents chamber music from the Renaissance through the time of Beethoven on period instruments.
Additional information is available at www.salishseafestival.org/porttownsend or by calling the church at 360-385-0770.
Hans-Jürgen Schnoor
Susie Napper
