Taxes, Cornetti, & Sackbuts: Oh my!

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Tax season: so fun, beautiful, and revelatory! The answer to life! Yep, working on taxes always puts me in such a calm and reflective mood, especially during Easter week, when church-singers pretty much live at their respective churches. 

Also fun, beautiful, and revelatory: the Notre-Dame concert from late March. The guys did great (even when given a starting pitch that was a minor 3rd too high—way to use that technique, basses!) Many, many, many kudos and thanks to Dr. Rebecca Baltzer for her suggestions, guidance, and music transcriptions. We hope to revisit this rep soon. Or something similar. Machaut? Stay tuned!

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But, you know, sometimes you just have to pause and take a look in the mirror and think calmly to yourself, "Holy moly! We're doing the Monteverdi Vespers in 3 weeks!!! Batten down the hatches! All hands on deck! Trim the mainsail! Find a can-opener! 

As Schroeder exclaims, "Monteverdi is IT, clear and simple!" The Vespero della Beata Vergine of 1610 is amazing and monumental and I'm thrilled that TEMP is in a position to take on such a stupendous project! We have several distinguished guests joining the equally wonderful core group for this concert. Cornetti, sackbuts, strings, 3 theorbos, harp, organ, and more! And this will mark cornettist Douglas Kirk's (former Clearlight Waites and UT Early Music Ensemble director's) first concert with TEMP in a decade. Cornetti? What are they, you ask?  Watch Meredith's informative and fun video about the cornetto! 

Have I mentioned that it's gonna be a doozy to celebrate Monteverdi's 450th birthday? (He was born May 9, so we'll be a few days late...) This is the last doozy of the season and the wise concert goer should get tickets soon!

Oh, and there's this raffle thing! Check it out! Invite TEMP to perform for your private event!

Read more about the Vespers below...with audio teasers....Holy moly!!
-Danny

Monteverdi 1610

Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 7PM, with pre-concert lecture at 6PM
Sunday, May 14, 2017 at 3PM, with pre-concert lecture at 2PM
Both performances at Northwest Hills United Methodist Church
7050 Village Center Drive, Austin, TX 78731

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

TEMP rounds out its season of musical transition and innovation with the monumental Monteverdi Vespero della Beata Vergine of 1610 and it’s just in time to celebrate the composer's 450th birthday—May 9, 1567.

Claudio Monteverdi was a major power in the transition from the Renaissance to the Baroque, and his Vespers of 1610 includes elements of both musical eras. The Vespers is a powerhouse of widely diverse styles from beginning to end, ranging from virtuosic solos and duets to exuberant double-choir pieces in a glorious fusion of late Renaissance and early Baroque styles. Enjoy these audio teasers from the Andrew Parrott/Taverner Consort recording:

The 27-voice chorus includes guest soloists tenor Ryland Angel, bass Peter Walker, and tenor Temmo Korisheli. The rest of the many soloists are part of TEMP’s core singers, including Gitanjali Mathur, Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Brett Barnes, and others.

The expanded early Baroque orchestra includes 3 cornetti, 3 early trombones, bowed strings, and an amazing continuo section of 3 theorbos, harp, portative organ, and harpsichord.

Don’t miss the pre-concert lecture 1 hour before each concert by KMFA's Sara Schneider!

Come celebrate Monteverdi's 450th birthday with a concert that would have lit all the candles on his birthday cake!

Click on the image to purchase tickets now!

Amplify the Notre-Dame doozy while re-setting your clocks

I don't know if it was the invitation to watch kolaches being cooked in Meredith's kitchen or what, exactly—but we exceeded our $7500 goal for Amplify Austin by more than $800!! Thanks to all who donated, of course, and thanks to the team that helped with publicizing and working to get this together, not only in the TEMP team but also the Amplify team! Please watch our thank-you video on our Gallery page! You're brilliant! The funds will go to the Monteverdi 1610 Vespers concert and it will be a doozy!

But first—a more subtle, relaxed, transparent doozy. (That's a technical term I learned in musicology classes: If something is really good and special, no matter the size of the event, it's a doozy!) The Notre Dame concert coming up on March 25 & 26 is one that we present with pride and joy, partly because no one else in this area does this rep, but also because we get the joy of collaborating with Dr. Rebecca Baltzer, renowned scholar and musicologist who has uncovered many doozies from the Notre Dame repertoire as well as much more. By the by, the acclaimed ensemble Anonymous 4 profited manyfold by collaborating with her. We're lucky because she's right here in Austin and comes to our concerts as well as concerts by other local groups. She raises the bar on how to be a supporter of real 'live' early music, right here in the Violet Crown. 

And the music? It's a beautifully transcendent [sometimes rousing] experience. Doozy to the max! There are toe tappers—don't worry! Learn more about our Notre Dame concert below and listen to some audio teasers!

More soon. Change your clocks this Sunday morning. . .
-Danny

Notre Dame Cathedral, c. 1200

Saturday, March 25, 2017 at 8PM
St. Mary Cathedral, 203 East 10th Street

Sunday, March 26, 2017 at 3PM
First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

Special note about parking for St. Mary Cathedral on Saturday, March 25:
Where: Capital Towers parking garage immediately behind (south of) the church. The entry is on San Jacinto Street. The other option is metered street parking.
Details:
* Take a ticket to park. Keep your parking ticket with you!
* Take the elevator to LEVEL 2 (also labeled PG).
* Validate your ticket at the table with the self-serve validation machine. 
* Follow signs to the church entrance at the front of the Cathedral on 10th St.
* Enjoy the concert!
* As you leave the parking garage, insert validated ticket at the garage exit.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

From meditative chant to rousing polyphony, TEMP explores the groundbreaking music of Léonin and Pérotin of the 12th-century School of Notre-Dame, whose musical innovations are the foundation for almost all the music we enjoy today in the Western world. TEMP is proud to collaborate with Dr. Rebecca Baltzer, recognized worldwide as an expert on the music of Notre-Dame Cathedral during the Middle Ages.

Though solemn, a sense of joy and celebration permeate this music, echoing the ecstasy of the Marian movement during the 12th and 13th centuries. Rhythmically complex polyphonic pieces known as organum act as a wonderful complement to the dance-like conductus and the even older plainchant. Enjoy these audio teasers:

We also include a few works that reveal the lighter sides of the lives of the monks with semi-secular works featuring vielle player, Mary Springfels, and harpist, Therese Honey.

Our a cappella choir of fifteen male voices perform in the beautifully renovated St. Mary Cathedral and the quietly intimate space of First Presbyterian. Guest artists Temmo Korisheli (California) and Ryland Angel (New York) join some of Austin’s best singers, including Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Steve Olivares, David Lopez, Tim O’Brien, and others.

Join us in celebration of early polyphonic music that provided the impetus for generations of composers to come.

Click on the image to purchase tickets now!

Life is a subliminal suggestion, old chum

Baroque Opera is fun! Our singers and players came away from Love's Grand with new ear worms and an appreciation for a lot of music that was new-ish to them! We hope you enjoyed it also!

You know what else is fun? Chant & polyphony from the Cathedral of Notre-Dame! It may not be quite as immediately evident, but just let it wash over you and envelope you in a dessert of sound. Low-fat. Gluten free.  

Hmmm. High fat kolaches!

Somewhat less low-fat will be the kolaches that Meredith will be making during the Amplify Austin (& Amplify TEMP) fundraiser. (Get the deets below!) You'll be able to watch Meredith live-stream during the night of March 2 as she reports on the progress of TEMP's fundraising and as she reports on the progress of her newest culinary obsession! We're trying to raise some funds—$7,500— in support of our season finale concert, the 1610 Vespers by Monteverdi! It's a big ’un!

So remember: Kolaches = Amplify TEMP = Monteverdi!
And Paris! c.1200! Notre-Dame Cathedral!
-Danny

AMPLIFY TEMP!

Our goal is to raise $7,500 in support of our Monteverdi 1610 program, May 13-14. We have a LOT of new and exciting programs in store for 2017-2018 as well as the familiar ones you know and love, and we need your help to make this possible. Go to our Amplify page here to read more about it.

Here’s how you can help:

You can donate $25 (or more!) on TEMP’s page on Amplify Austin. Any Amount Helps! Here are some suggestions:

• $25–$199 Helps with office supplies and program printing 

• $200–$499 Helps cover venue rental costs 

• $500–$999 Assists with artist compensation 

• $1,000–$4,999 Assists in Director compensation 

• $5,000 + Sponsors a concert

SCHEDULE YOUR PLEDGE NOW!

You don't have to wait until March 2 to participate! You can schedule your pledge now, and it will post on March 2! Just click on the "Donate now" button on the TEMP campaign page. Be sure the little box for "This is an Amplify Austin Day Donation" is checked on the donation form.  THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!  If the box is not checked, the donation will process immediately and will not count towards Amplify Austin Day.

CREATE YOUR OWN CAMPAIGN PAGE!

You can also become an individual fundraiser for TEMP by creating your own campaign page on the Amplify Austin website and inviting family, friends, and colleagues to donate to your TEMP campaign. Go to the TEMP campaign page and click on "Create a Fundraising Campaign." 

BE A MEDICI - BUT NICER! AMPLIFY TEMP AND AMPLIFY AUSTIN!

Visit TEMP’s Amplify Austin page by clicking on the  button below and schedule your gift by checking the box for "This is an Amplify Austin Day Donation."

We thank you for your generous support!

30 days hath September . . .

© Anatol Kovarsky, The New Yorker, 11/26/1960

January doesn't have nearly enough!

I know that it may look like TEMP has a month off, since we aren't in a concert hall or doing a recording or something sort of public, but January has been filled to the brim with school outreach concerts at TSVBI and this week at the UT Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, preparing the music for the upcoming opera concert (see details below), transcribing the monumental score for the Monteverdi 1610 Vespers concert in May, and planning for next season. And that's the tip o' the iceberg! At any rate, Happy New Year and, for a little fun but informative documentary, be sure to catch Meredith's epic 3-minute vid about the viola da gamba! It's fret-worthy!

-Danny

Love's Grand: The Sweet Delights of Baroque Opera

Saturday, February 18, 2017 at 8PM
&
Sunday, February 19, 2017 at 3PM
First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa Drive

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

The best opera tells a story that is one that we can connect with through the characters and the music. In our upcoming concert, TEMP creates an opera experience in which beloved arias and songs from the first 200 years of opera’s history are performed by some of your favorite singers.

Popular works from the world of Baroque opera are on the musical menu, including the Handel aria “Ah, mio cor” (Alcina), Monteverdi’s sensual duet, “Pur ti miro”, (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Vivaldi’s “Vedro con mi diletto” (Giustino), and more.

In true TEMP fashion, we also explore some of the lesser-known gems during this exciting period of development, including works by Cavalli, Cesti, Charpentier, and others. This concert of beautiful, captivating, and spellbinding arias—with precious few recitatives—reminds us why opera became so popular and remains one of our most cherished art forms.

The TEMP regulars in the cast are sopranos Meredith Ruduski, and Jenifer Thyssen, with alto Sean Lee, tenor Jeffrey Jones Ragona, baritone Brett Barnes, and Peter Walker, our frequent guest baritone from New York. The period instrument orchestra will include violins, viola, cello, harpsichord, and theorbo.

Experience the beauty, brilliance, and passion of opera, from its intimate beginnings in the early 17th-century works of Monteverdi and Cavalli through the High Baroque virtuosity of Handel and Vivaldi. Be treated to intimate opera in an intimate space.

Click or tap on the image to purchase tickets now!

The *Less-Early* Early Christmas from TEMP

Tune in to KMFA 89.5 FM on Thurs. 12-15-16 at 6pm!

I always feel big pangs of nostalgia when our Christmas concerts end; we have so much to accomplish in so few days, it's very bonding (in the good way, not the oh-my-gosh-the-zombies-are-here way) and we're always sad when it's over.

Sara Schneider, host of Ancient Voices, KMFA 89.5 FM

Except that we all have so many other gigs'o'the season, we can't linger in that sentimental feeling. And these last few days I've stayed right in the concert mode by working with KMFA to present a one hour version of the concert for their Listen Local series. (Yes, 12 minutes of wonderful music had to be left behind due to time constraints.) So if you didn't get to come to the concerts or if you would just like to revisit them, then listen this Thursday, December 15, at 6pm to 89.5 FM or catch it on the interwebs at www.kmfa.org. Sara Schneider will be your M.C. for the program, so you know she'll have the best hits lined up!

Download the TEMP An Early Christmas program notes to follow along while listening!

Joyeux Noël!
-Danny

Join us for our next concert, Feb. 18 & 19, 2017!

Today is the first day...

of TEMP's "Year of Christmas," in which we we have a different blog post daily about some aspect of Christmas/music/life through December 25, 2017. Yes, a whole year of musical jokes and little-known-facts along with suitable graphics and musical links. Hold on, my phone is ringing. In the meantime, try to come up with suitable lyrics for the 316th day of Christmas—I'm kind of stuck on that one . . .

Hmmm—according to our webscribe and also our graphics guy, there will, in fact, "not" be a year of Christmas with a daily blog/graphics/jokes/links! And they ’splained it to me real well why, in fact, there will not be a year of Christmas with a daily blog/graphics jokes/links.

So, maybe the best thing is just for us all to treat the rest of the year like we do the Christmas season: Be kind and thoughtful and helpful and loving. And go to lots of TEMP concerts! 

On the 388th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . . 

-Danny

An Early Christmas

Friday, December 9, 2016 at 8PM
First English Lutheran Church, 3001 Whitis Avenue

Saturday December 10, 2016 at 8PM
First English Lutheran Church, 3001 Whitis Avenue

Sunday, December 11, 2016 at 3PM
First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa Drive

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

It’s time for another Early Christmas! We explore music and the intangible essence of Christmas from the cultural capitals of Europe from the 13th through 18th centuries. TEMP puts its unique stamp on joyful carols and lullabies from Western Europe and the British Isles, with arrangements for solo voices, small chorus, harp, violin, flute, mandolin, viols, and lute.

The familiar theme of the Nativity from the shepherds’ perspective figures prominently in most early music Christmas repertoire, as does the motif of Mother and Child. We present several works with this focus, including our original arrangement of two Nativity pastorals from 1684 by Marc-Antoine Charpentier and the choral masterpiece for 8 parts, Nesciens mater, by French composer Jean Mouton.

There are lively works from Spain, thoughtful, pensive works from France, and of course, a little taste of Celtic and English influences! Our popular versions of the Carol for St. Stephen’s Day and Gaudete! are featured this year, as well as other Celtic favorites.

Nationally acclaimed historical harpist Therese Honey joins TEMP's troupe of soloists, choir and chamber orchestra.

Enjoy this audio teaser from our CD Noël: An Early Christmas:

Enjoy more audio samples from our other Christmas CDs: Stella splendens and Swete was the Songe.

Join Texas Early Music Project for a splendid and enriching evening of music. Encompassing six hundred years of festive creativity and beauty, this music is sure to delight your ears and warm your heart.

I voted. . .

for TEMP to go on a Pilgrimage to College Station!

But first, thanks to all of who came to the Sephardic concerts last week. We really love doing that rep. . .so many old favorites and some new pieces that will eventually be old favorites! It was terrific to have Peter Maund with us again and new-to-us oud player Josh Peters. And thanks to all for coming to hear us at Congregation Beth Israel; it was a welcoming venue and they were very gracious! 

At any rate, concerning the upcoming pilgrimage to College Station: We are preparing for our annual (since 2010) pilgrimage to St. Thomas Episcopal Church in College Station to present a shorter version of last October's popular concert Medieval Pilgrimage in Iberia. (It was nominated for Best Chamber concert for last season by the Austin Critics Table, btw ...) If you're in the vicinity and want to re-visit the concert or if you missed it the first time around, then check out the info below and come see us!  Or you could recommend it to your friends in College Station and environs.... News about the Christmas concert is coming up ... 

–Danny

Medieval Pilgrimage in Iberia:
Music on the Way to Santiago de Compostela

Sunday, November 13, 2016, 6:00 p.m.

St. Thomas Episcopal Church
906 George Bush Drive, College Station

A company of eight female singers explores the music of pilgrimage in Medieval Spain. This music celebrates the richly transparent timbre of treble voices in unison or in polyphonic settings, making the most of sweet consonances and pungent dissonances.

There was never a more popular time for religious pilgrimage than during the Middle Ages. In those times, people made long and dangerous trips, lasting months or years, in a search for spiritual meaning or fulfillment or as an act of penance.

Several of the most important sites of pilgrimage during the Middle Ages were located in what is now northern Spain, along the route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.  TEMP performs music from the Llibre Vermell, from the monastery at Montserrat in Catalonia, which was intended to be sung by the pilgrims themselves. We also feature music from Ms. Las Huelgas, from  the Cistercian convent in Burgos; Las Cantigas de Santa Maria from the royal court of Alfonso X;  and the Codex Calixtinus from the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.  All of these places are stops along the route to Santiago de Compostela;  Santiago is Galician for the Latin Sanctus Jacobus, St. James.   Many people continue to make this walking pilgrimage, even today. 

Featured soloists include Jenifer Thyssen, Stephanie Prewitt, Cayla Cardiff, and more, along with the TEMP Medieval orchestra of vielles, harps, oud, psaltery, and gittern.

Whether you are focusing on the music with closed eyes or silently clapping your hands and tapping your feet, the long-lasting beauty of our Medieval Pilgrimage will delight you.  We invite you to join us for this Concert! 

The Concert is supported by generous grants from the Gilbert and Thyra Plass Arts Foundation and the Joe and Florence Ham Charitable Trust and TEMP is happy to be supported by the Texas Commission on the Arts.

Admission is $10/$5 students, at the door

For more information, please contact Bonnie Harris-Reynolds, Organist & Music Director, St. Thomas Episcopal Church

St. Thomas: music@stthomasbcs.org
Phone: (979) 696-1726 or the church office at (979) 696-0452

Veni, Vidi, Mastercard!

Ok, we dodged the worst of a couple of viruses (physical, not virtual) that threatened to make last week even more interesting than it was going to be anyway! Whew, because I would have hated to have missed the party that Meredith put together last Saturday at Wally Workman Gallery! It was fun, a lot of folks donated (and bought) both goods and services (recorder lessons, for example) and good eats and drinks were had by all! Priceless!

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Scott Horton & Meredith Ruduski

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Scott Horton & Daniel Johnson

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Scott Horton, Daniel Johnson, Cayla Cardiff, Jenifer Thyssen, & Stephanie Prewitt

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Bruce Colson, John Walters, Scott Horton, & Daniel Johnson

Many thanks to those who came to the fundraiser and also to those who couldn't come but who made donations that were extremely helpful! Thanks! And thanks to the TEMP musicians & Board members who made it a fun late-afternoon soirée!

We're heading into preparations for the Sephardic concert (see info below!)  and the rest of the season! It's non-stop from now until May ... Calgon, anyone?

-Danny

---

Songs of the Sephardim: Love, Lament, and Loss

Saturday, October 29, 2016 at 8PM
Congregation Beth Israel, 3901 Shoal Creek Boulevard

Sunday, October 30, 2016 at 3PM
St. Martin's Lutheran Church, 606 West 15th Street

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

Take advantage of preferred seating by purchasing Season Tickets
through Oct. 28!

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Expelled from Iberia in 1492, the Sephardim created haunting music that reflected their longing for return to Iberia while adapting their traditions and music to their new homelands.

Sephardic music is at once beautiful and haunting, fun and poignant. TEMP’s performances of these songs of love, jealousy, loss, and comedy are one of Austin’s not-to-be-missed events. Most of us are familiar with the effects of love and its cousins, pain and jealousy, but to hear music from the last 500 years deal with this subject in simple, yet excruciating beauty, illustrates how our emotions aren’t so very different from those of the Sephardic exiles.

TEMP’s unique and creative arrangements, soulful vocal solos, and ensemble pieces explore this music, accompanied by the exotic textures of a hybrid Medieval/Middle Eastern instrumental ensemble. The program includes some favorites from the TEMP Sephardic repertoire (La serena, La rosa enflorece, Puncha, puncha, and the erotically charged song Noches, noches) and many newly-arranged songs and dances. Listen to these audio samples from our CD Night and Day: Sephardic Songs of Love and Exile:

International recorder player and world music specialist Nina Stern (New York) joins us for this concert, along with Bay Area’s Peter Maund, specialist in early and ethnic percussion. Houston’s Therese Honey (harp) joins oud player Josh Peters, Scott Horton, John Walters, Kit Robberson, Bruce Colson, and Stephanie Raby in the instrumental ensemble. Our singers are Gitanjali Mathur, Stephanie Prewitt, Jenifer Thyssen, Cayla Cardiff, Gil Zilkha, and Daniel Johnson.

From the passionate, tragic love songs to songs of fantasy and gaiety, this alluring musical genre will capture your imagination and captivate your heart.

We followed the Pathway! What's next?!

Pathways to Bach! That was fun in so many ways, not the least of which was the knowledge that we were finally back where we belong: On “stage” performing great music for you! There were several new performers in our troupe this time and they all did mighty fine. We hope to include them in future projects. And there were many new "audients" there also—and we definitely hope to see them again!

It’s almost two months until the next full concert, but we do have a small but important event on Saturday, October 1.

Come and enjoy the art and ambiance of the intimate Wally Workman Gallery with wine, light hors d'oeuvres, and a little music by TEMP artists while placing your bids on items in the silent auction. It’s on 6th Street, but it’s early enough in the evening (5pm-7pm and there’s an “away” game) that traffic will be relatively light.

I mean, yes, we’re still in Austin and it’s not 1980, but it should be great for a little outing before your evening activities! We hope to see you!

Back to work now, preparing for the Sephardic concert . . . and the Christmas concert!

-Danny

To Purchase Tickets, please visit our Fundraiser page!

Help us slay it this season!

Follow the Yellow Brick Pathway . . .

That Schütz & Buxtehude built!

Howdy! It's been a busy summer. TEMP had a concert of Medieval music at the Mt. Carmel Hermitage Monastery near San Angelo at the end of June and it was really well-received. It was about 80 miles from where I grew up and the afternoon light was unmistakably that of west Texas. This was sandwiched between the Texas Toot workshop in June and the Amherst Early Music Festival/Workshop in July and season preparations in August and ... well, you see where we're going with this: It's already time for concert season!! Our 19th concert season? Could that be true? It takes almost all my fingers and toes to count up the years, so it must be!

We start off with a revised version of our 2005 concert, "Pathways to Bach," which won the Critics Table Award for Best Choral Concert that year.  This year we're doing a different cantata by Dieterich Buxtehude than the one we did in 2005 because Sara Schneider requested it! And it's truly extraordinary; I hope you'll love it! And speaking of Sara Schneider: She will be giving a wonderful pre-concert lecture about 1 hour before concert time both days: "Strange Tones: What Bach Learned from Buxtehude" — don't miss it! 

And be sure to watch the latest broadcast of Meredith Ruduski's Music History Shorts in which she interviews Sara Schneider.

So join us in about 2 weeks! And don't let the start time catch you by surprise on Saturday: lecture at 6pm and concert at 7pm (and lecture at 2pm and concert at 3pm on Sunday!)

Bis bald! (Till soon!)
-Danny

Pathways to Bach

Saturday, September 3, 2016 at 7PM (with pre-concert lecture at 6pm)
Northwest Hills United Methodist Church, 7050 Village Center Drive

Sunday, September 4, 2016 at 3PM (with pre-concert lecture at 2pm)
Northwest Hills United Methodist Church, 7050 Village Center Drive

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

Take advantage of preferred seating by purchasing Season Tickets!

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

Don’t miss the pre-concert lecture by Sara Schneider 1 hour before each concert:
Strange Tones: What Bach learned from Buxtehude

J.S. Bach didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Dieterich Buxtehude heavily influenced Bach; before that, Buxtehude was influenced by Heinrich Schütz, who is considered one of the most important German composers of the 17th century.

Heinrich Schütz, rightly called the ‘father of German music,’ brought Germany into the forefront of the musical world in the mid-17th century, establishing a trend that lasted more than two hundred years. Dieterich Buxtehude was one of the most important composers in Germany at the end of the 17th century and he was a primary influence for J.S. Bach’s sacred cantatas and organ music. For its opening concert of the season, Texas Early Music Project performs some of the most technically and emotionally powerful music by both of these composers, featuring Schütz’s Musikalische Exequien and Buxtehude’s magnificent cantata Herzlich lieb hab’ ich dich, o Herr.

TEMP's season starts with a 26-voice choir and small orchestra performing major works by Schütz & Buxtehude. Featured soloists include Gitanjali Mathur, Jenifer Thyssen, Shari Alise Wilson, Cayla Cardiff, Nina Revering, Erin Calata, Ryland Angel, Stephanie Prewitt, Paul D'Arcy, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, David Lopez, Thann Scoggin, Peter Walker, Steve Olivares, and Brett Barnes. The period orchestra includes period strings (violins, viola, and cellos) and a continuo band of theorbo, harp, and organ.

Join us for our opening concert! Glorious and revelatory music
by both Schütz and the composer known to J.S. Bach as Buxte-Dude!

Season Subscriptions and Single Tickets are on sale now!

Summertime, and the livin' is . . .

. . . busy!!!

And way too early we've come to the end of our 2015-2016 season: the Eurotour was a whole lot of work and a whole lot of fun. The music of Iberia, England, the Lowlands, France, and Christmas produced a lot of memorable musical moments. We hope you enjoyed it and are eager to join us for the next season and music from Germany, the Middle East, Italy, and ... Christmas! Season subscriptions are already on sale and there's at least 6 reasons to join us as a subscriber! Get your season subscriptions now! Single tickets are also available online!

Meanwhile, we will be busy with the Texas Toot workshop at Concordia University (June 12-18, with faculty concerts June 14 & June 17), TEMP's tour to San Angelo and environs to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Mount Carmel Hermitage (we're performing a shorter version of last October's Medieval Pilgrimage concert), and the annual trek to New England for the Amherst Early Music Workshop for almost all of July. 

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Speaking of the Medieval Pilgrimage concert, it was nominated as one of the top 5 chamber concerts for the season by the Austin Critics' Table. Also, TEMP was nominated as one of the top ensembles, and we're in good company with La Follia Austin Baroque, ensemble viii, Conspirare, and Line Upon Line Percussion Ensemble! The awards are in a couple of weeks, so we'll keep you informed!

We hope to see you in September (Labor Day weekend) at our Pathways to Bach concert. Below are some audio teasers of what you can expect to hear. These pieces and more are on our Pathways to Bach CD.

Have a good summer and say hi if we run into each other at the air-conditioned movies, the air-conditioned grocery store, or the air-conditioned air conditioner store! 

-Danny

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message, or email info@early-music.org.

I would trade my beret for a café au lait

Or is it the other way around?

Ok, Dutch Treat was so much fun! Scary, but fun. All those cognates and words that look like they should be pronounced German style but they definitely shouldn't! Now it's on to Paris. There really is a story about the night train from Amsterdam to Paris—and maybe it'll appear on these pages before the concert...or maybe not! 

Anyway, what with our school concert at the TSVBI and taxes and preparations for next year and the Tallis Scholars [I'm sure you're all going to that!] and grant applications, it's a busy, busy week: So back to work for me!

More soon! 
-Danny

Paris City Limits: Chansons, Dances, and The Birds

Saturday, May 7, 2016 at 8PM
University Presbyterian Church, 2203 San Antonio Street

Sunday, May 8, 2016 at 3PM
First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa Drive

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

What better place to finish our 2015-2016 Eurotour than in Paris? Renowned for its popular music of France from the 16th and 17th centuries, Paris City Limits regales audiences with exciting dances, popular folksongs, dazzling chansons, and heartfelt songs of love and melancholy by the masters and by some relative unknowns!

Click on the birds!

There will be intimate chansons which deal with scenes of daily life: lovesickness, marital arguments, romantic friskiness, and more, and TEMP’s 19-voice chorus will perform large scale motets by masters such as Jean Mouton (Nesciens mater, for 8 parts) and Janequin’s spectacular musical chanson about the birds (Le chant des oyseaux) as well.

Lively dances by Attaignant and others feature our special guest artists Mary Springfels (viola da gamba), Peter Maund (percussion), and exhilarating Breton folk music rounds out the concert (yes, Cayla Cardiff will sing that song) as TEMP explores both the rustic and the sophisticated sides of Parisian and country life in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Our featured singers include countertenor Ryland Angel (New York), mezzo Erin Calata (Seattle), TEMP regulars Jenifer Thyssen, Meredith Ruduski, Cayla Cardiff, Stephanie Prewitt, Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, Thann Scoggin, Gil Zilkha, and more. The instrumental ensemble features our guest artists, as well as harpist Therese Honey, violinist Bruce Colson, our viol consort (Jane Leggiero, Stephanie Raby, John Walters), recorders (Susan Richter & Victor Eijkhout), and lutenist Scott Horton.

Venez, y’all!

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message, or email info@early-music.org.

Some call it Krokusvakantie

Happy Spring Break!

Once upon a time, a wise woman said to me, "Hey, Bub! Update your blog." She said that in the update, I should thank all the donors to our Amplify Austin campaign. (Did you know there were almost 70 donors who contributed between $10 and $500, totaling almost $6500, to TEMP? Incredible! Spectacular! Ongelooflijk!)

The wise woman (wijze vrouw) also mentioned that since our Dutch Treat concert is just around the corner, right after Easter, we should be practicing our Dutch/Flemish at every opportunity (kans), to which I said, "dat is de bedoeling" (that's the intention). 

Yep, a wise woman told me to do all that. So I did!

See you there! (Tot ziens!)
-Danny

Dutch Treat: The Golden age in the netherlands

Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 8PM
First English Lutheran Church, 3001 Whitis Avenue

Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 3PM
First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa Drive

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

The TEMP Eurotour continues in the Lowlands—what is now the Netherlands, Belgium, and northern France—which developed many of the foremost composers, musicians, and artists of the Renaissance and early Baroque.

The Lowlands were a scene of so many delicious things: Belgian waffles, for one, which are the summation of all things crispy, golden and delicious. But the Lowlands gave us much more than those golden delights of cuisine: They also made music that both guided and rivaled the rest of Europe in its artistry and appeal! With guests Mary Springfels (viola da gamba) and others.

From Amsterdam to Flanders and beyond, we’ll sample some of the best music from the courts and cathedrals, as well as street songs and dances that will have you tapping your toes!
Quietly. Inside your clogs. 

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message, or email info@early-music.org.

Has it already been a year? Amplify is already here!

Don't worry, though! Everyone can participate in Amplify Austin without much trouble at all! Tuesday, March 8, to Wednesday, March 9: 24 hrs, 6PM to 6PM—and the preferred time for giving to TEMP is 9:00–10:00AM Wednesday morning. Beat the rush! And, seriously, thank you for your support. We know there are many wonderful performing groups in Austin—thanks for including Texas Early Music Project in your list of groups to support! See below for instructions on how to help us get an early start on funding our next season.

Meanwhile, we are working on the upcoming concert of music by Dutch/Flemish/Franco-Flemish/Lowlands composers! So much fun! Dutch Treat: April 2 & 3. Het is zo leuk! Zulke mooie muziek!

More soon!
Danny

AMPLIFY TEMP!

Our challenge this year is twofold:

1. Funding: our goal is to raise $10,000 for the upcoming season. We have a LOT of new and exciting programs in store as well as the familiar ones you know and love, and we need your help to make this possible. Go to our Amplify page here to read more about it.

2. Social: We at TEMP have a personal goal this year: we want to reach at least 2,000 newcomers who have never heard of Texas Early Music Project. 
Here’s how you can help:

You can donate $25 (or more!) on TEMP’s page on Amplify Austin. Any Amount Helps! Here are some suggestions:

• $25-$199 can help cover program and ticket processing costs

• $200-$499 can help with travel expenses for visiting artists

• $500-$799 can provide a concert stipend for one of TEMP’s premier musicians

• $800-$1,999 can help us continue our educational outreach programs

• $2,000+ can help underwrite our 2016-2017 TEMP concert season and CD!

SCHEDULE YOUR PLEDGE NOW!

You don't have to wait until March 8 to participate! You can schedule your pledge now, and it will post on March 8! Just click on the "Donate now" button on the TEMP campaign page. Be sure to check the "Schedule for Amplify Austin Day" box on the donation form.  THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT!  If you don't indicate this, the donation will process immediately and will not count towards Amplify Austin Day!

BONUS TIME:  9:00 AM ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, IS OUR PRIME TIME HOUR TO RAISE THE MOST MONEY OUT OF ALL THE NONPROFITS PARTICIPATING IN THIS CAMPAIGN! IF WE SUCCEED, WE GET OUR DOLLAR AMOUNT DURING THAT HOUR MATCHED BY AMPLIFY AUSTIN!

CREATE YOUR OWN CAMPAIGN PAGE!

You can also become an individual fundraiser for TEMP by creating your own campaign page on the Amplify Austin website and inviting family, friends, and colleagues to donate to your TEMP campaign. Go to the TEMP campaign page and click on "Create a Fundraising Campaign." 

BE A MEDICI - BUT NICER! AMPLIFY TEMP AND AMPLIFY AUSTIN!

Visit TEMP’s Amplify Austin page by clicking on the  button below and schedule your gift by checking the box for "Schedule for Amplify Austin Day."

We thank you for your generous support!

And then after the opera, TEMP Goes to the Blanton!

When: Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016, at 5:30pm
Where: Blanton Museum of Art, UT Austin
             200 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.,
             Austin, Texas 78701
Admission: FREE!

Paid parking is available in the Brazos Garage on Brazos Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Parking is $4, bring your ticket with you to the museum.

The Blanton Museum of Art's Beat the Rush is a series of gallery concerts in which musicians perform in response to the paintings, drawings, and sculptures on display. This month, Texas Early Music Project presents a program of music from and about 12th- and 13th-century Europe, in conjunction with the Blanton's exhibition The Crusader Bible. An ensemble of vocalists and musicians performing on instruments from the time period (vielle, rebec, harp, gittern, psaltery, and percussion) will perform troubadour works from southern France and trouvère songs from northern France (including one written by Richard the Lionheart after he was kidnapped while returning home from the Third Crusade) as well as music from northern Iberia, Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, and the original Carmina Burana manuscript.

Codex Buranus ("Songs of Benediktbeuern"), f94.

Enjoy these audio teasers from our newest CD, Unrequited Love: Troubadours of France & Spain:

For more information, visit the Blanton Third Thursday page and the Crusader Bible page.

Y'all come!
-Danny

On the 50th Day of Christmas my true love gave me ...

An opera for St. Valentine's weekend!

Image: A promotional graphic for Dido & Aeneas, courtesy of SDSU Opera.

And it's not just any opera; it's created (by Purcell, et al.) for 17th-century England and then re-purposed for you! You'll understand when you see it. Meredith (Ruduski) is the producer (and one of the six singers) and we have been planning a lovely and loving tribute to Purcell's music in a very non-intimidating manner. 

We hope you had a sweet, lively, restful, meaningful, I-just-want-some-time-off, tasty, football-filled (or not), Force-filled (or not) musical, let's-get-on-with-the new-year-already, enchanting Holiday season, no matter what you call it!

Thank you for your support with those end-of-year donations! You keep us going, you know!

Here is more news about the February opera!

-Danny

London City Limits: Opera on the Thames

Saturday, February 13, 2016 at 8PM
&
Sunday, February 14, 2016 at 3PM
Both at First Presbyterian Church, 8001 Mesa Drive

Admission $30 general; $25 seniors (60+); $5 students (at the door only)
Tickets available in advance online or by cash, check, or credit card at the door.

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message,
or email info@early-music.org.

The next stop on our Eurotour includes the stages and opera houses of 17th-century London as we pay homage to Henry Purcell, one of the most important composers in the history of music, with a comedic-yet-tragic, dramatic-yet-hilarious pastiche of beautiful Purcellian operas as well as some extraordinary gems from his predecessors Robert Johnson and Nicholas Lanier, who were pivotal composers in the earlier 17th century. Our tale, which will surely touch both your heart and your funny-bone, will be performed by a small period orchestra and six of TEMP's acclaimed soloists.

The best opera tells a story that is, if not totally (or even the slightest bit) believable, at least is one that we can connect with—either through the characters or the music. With this in mind, we weave a plot around music from Purcell’s operas The Fairy Queen, King Arthur, Dido & Aeneas, The Tempest, and some of his songs and dialogues. Our lively, witty, and loving pastiche of beautiful music contains some of the most popular and should-be-popular works from the world of early Baroque opera.

Some of the leading lights of early music, rising stars from New York Peter Walker (baritone) and renowned countertenor Ryland Angel, join TEMP core members Jenifer Thyssen & Meredith Ruduski (sopranos), tenor Jeffrey Jones-Ragona, and baritone Brett Barnes for this unique production. Violinists Stephanie Raby, Bruce Colson, violist Bruce Williams, Jane Leggiero (cello), Scott Horton (theorbo), and Austin Baroque Orchestra director Billy Traylor (harpsichord) comprise the period orchestra.

As an early Valentine present, treat yourself and your sweetie(s) to the beauty, brilliance, and passion of some of the most accessible opera excerpts in an intimate setting. We’ll tell a story that will warm your heart, make you laugh, and put your toes to tapping. The passion! The jealousy! The love! Will there be a happy ending? We aren’t sure, but there will be no recitatives and there will be super-titles!

For more information, call 512-377-6961 and leave a message, or email info@early-music.org.

On the 12th Day of Christmas: Parting is such sweet sorrow; time for hot chocolate!

A Loth to depart was the common term for a song sung, or a tune played, on taking leave of friends in Elizabethan times. The popular tune, of unknown origin, was treated to a number of settings, both vocal and instrumental, and the tune and text were referred to in a number of plays in the 17th century. In modern times, the New York-based early music group Ex Umbris sang an arrangement of Loath to depart by Grant Herreid at the end of their performances. Our friend and colleague Tom Zajac was a co-founder of Ex Umbris; about thirty musicians and two hundred congregants sang and played Loath to depart for Tom at his memorial service in New York City, November 6, 2015. We are including Loath to depart near the end of the concert as a tribute to Tom and also as a reminder that we love the Christmas concert and are loath that it's coming to a close!

c. 1600 Cambridge University MS Dd.2.11 fol 9 (lute tab).

Sing with thy mouth, sing with thy heart,
Like faithful friends, sing Loath to depart;
Though friends together may not always remain,
Yet Loath to depart sing once again.

And, I’m loath to say, we are the end of our 12 Days of Christmas factoid per day thing; it has been fun. We think you’ll enjoy the concerts even more, of course.

Please join us at An Early Christmas. www.early-music.org

Click to buy tickets to our Christmas concerts on Dec. 11, 12, & 13!

On the 11th Day of Early Christmas: A Favorite Through the Centuries

And here we are: It’s time to talk about the Lady Greensleeves, beloved cousin to the beloved Mr. Green Jeans, from “Captain Kangaroo.” They made popular the immortal hit, It’s not easy being green. Raise your hands if you believe this.

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The earliest source of the song we know as Greensleeves was a broadside ballad by Richard Jones in 1580; several more versions appeared shortly, with variants of title and text. There are references to the song in Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor and, by the end of the 17th century, the song had developed many variants in melody, harmony, and meter in versions by William Cobbold, John Playford, and others. Of course, the popular version for Christmas is What Child is This with lyrics by William Dix written around 1865. Our version is based around the mid-17th century version, The old yeare now away is fled and variations by Playford and Cobbold. Here is a excerpt of the song from our CD Stella splenends: An Early Music Christmas:

There are modern versions/variations by performers as varied as Jacques Brel, Leonard Cohen, Elvis Presley, Alvin and the Chipmunks, and…well, lots more.

An Early Christmas in 2 days. In Austin.
Alas, my love: Be there!

Click to buy tickets for our Christmas concerts on Dec. 11, 12, & 13!

On the Tenth Day of Early Christmas We Went to Ireland Again. A Little.

This has become one of the most popular of the pieces we do an a regular basis; we haven’t done it since 2013 so here it comes again with slightly newly arranged parts…

It is known as The Enniscorthy Christmas Carol to much of the world except that when it was first printed in the Oxford Book of Carols in 1928 it was called The Wexford Carol. Things get really confusing in the world of traditional / aurally transmitted music sometimes. (Shhh. It might also be that the text is of English origin; I think I would be careful where I spread such rumors, though.) The melody is indeed of traditional Irish origin and is probably not very old: mid-19th century, maybe? Our arrangement goes through stages: from quietly meditative to a sort of early 19th century string quartet / or trio with voice style  to a reel with harp, flute, mandolin, violin, continuo, and voice. Really fun.

But the real reason we’re talking about this today is that I first arranged it in 2010 for Cayla Cardiff to sing and, man, does she ever sing the ifreann out of it! Here's a teaser audio from our CD Swete was the Songe:

As coincidence would have it, today is Cayla's birthday! Wish her  Lá breithe shona duit and come hear her sing!

In 3 more days. TEMP: An Early Christmas.

Click to buy tickets to our Christmas concerts on Dec. 11, 12, & 13!

On the 9th Day of Early Christmas my Director Gave to Meee: A Weather Forecast?

All hail to the days that merit more praise
Than all the rest of the year…

Loreena McKennitt sings it; and it’s on virtually every Anglophile Christmas or Solstice or Winter-related recording. I know of no reason we shouldn’t do it also! This traditional tune, first known as When Phoebus did rest, was set and arranged by John Playford for his country dance primer, The English Dancing Master, in 1651. Related versions of it are also found in the Samuel Pepys collection of broadsides under the title A pleasant Countrey new ditty: Merrily shewing how To drive the cold winter away and a version is also found in d'Urfey's multi-volume set Wit and Mirth, or Pills to Purge Melancholy. It remains one of the more popular English ballads in its several incarnations.

December is seene apparel’d in greene
And January, fresh as May…

Considering where we live, I for one am not so eager to drive the cold winter away, though I don’t have to deal with 6-foot snow-storms, either. At any rate, it’s a great song, David Lopez sounds wonderful in his solo verse (listen to the audio teaser below!), the choral parts are fresh, playful, and a little innovative, and evocative visions of hot chocolate and hot cider and maybe a hot toddy or two prevail!

The old and young doth carol this song,
To drive the cold winter away.

This song is also available on our CD Swete was the Songe: An Early Music Christmas in Northern Europe and the British Isles.

Drive the Cold Winter Away, just not too quickly, ok?

TEMP: An Early Christmas. In 4 Days.

It’s still early in the week, but the Friday forecast is 79F. In Austin. We must have some cold winter before we can drive it away, no? 

Click to buy tickets for our Christmas concerts on Dec. 11, 12, & 13!