MARCH 2021
COMING EVENTS
MPRO’s next online rehearsal using Zoom will be held on Wednesday, March 10. See Fred Palmer’s column in this issue for detailed information.
The San Francisco Early Music Society’s only remaining livestream concert for Spring 2021 is scheduled for March 13. The Los Angeles- based ensemble Tesserae Baroque will perform “La Selva Selvaggia,” a collection of early Italian Baroque music. SFEMS also has different virtual classes scheduled for each weekend in March. See the Concerts and Workshops/Classes links at the top of the main sfems.org web page for more information.
The Bay Area ensemble Voices of Music is sponsoring a virtual lecture by Rotem Gilbert on Sunday, March 7 on the Renaissance wind instruments that she plays. For more information and a linked video of Rotem playing bagpipes with a recorder accompaniment, see: American Recorder Society.
The San Francisco Recorder Society workshop with Rotem Gilbert and Hanneke van Proosdij that was scheduled for Presidents Day has been postponed to April 25. For more information, see: The San Francisco Recorder Society (SFRS).
CONDUCTOR’S CORNER
Dear members of the Mid-Peninsula Recorder Orchestra,
Ray White and I will be co-hosting a virtual MPRO meeting via Zoom on Wednesday, March 10, at 7:30 P.M. Those attending will be admitted to the meeting starting at 7:15 P.M. We will be working on the following music:
Scarlatti: Sinfonia to Su le sponde del tebro
Binchois: De plus en plus
Mozart: Ave Verum
Anonymous: Rex
Zielenski: Offertorium XLIII
I have sent PDF files of this music to all MPRO members in the event that some may not have copies. Please remember that I will be conducting each of the selections scheduled. This means that the music will not appear on the screen, and those attending will need to read from hard copies they have downloaded when playing along with the sound files. I will also be including instructions on how to log into and participate in a Zoom meeting that the orchestra’s Assistant Director, Greta Haug-Hryciw, has generated for those taking part in the virtual meetings that she directs. Finally, Ray White has sent out invitations to all MPRO embers with a link to the virtual Zoom meeting and other information. Please contact him at <rayhwhite@yahoo.com> if you did not receive an invitation.
Best wishes, stay healthy and I look forward to seeing those that will be attending the meeting on March 10. -Sincerely, Fred Palmer
MORE COMING EVENTS
The Santa Cruz Baroque Festival has scheduled two virtual concerts in March. The Sunday, March 7 event, “Northern Virtuosity” features Ida Kuhn Riegel, who plays recorder and cello. The March 20 concert is titled “Bach and More for 1 & 2 Violins.” For more information, see: scbaroque.org.
For “Play the Recorder Month” the British Columbia Recorder Society is sponsoring a “Photo/Video/Meme” competition, open to anyone, with some valuable prizes. Entries should show recorders in public or “some aspect of recorder life.” The deadline for submissions is March 20. For the rules and other information, see:
The American Recorder Society’s website has a new page for workshops and early music festivals planned for later in 2021. The address is: Workshops & Festivals in 2021.
ROYAL COMPOSERS
The February 22 broadcast of the public radio program Harmonia featured early music composed by European royalty. You can listen to the entire 59-minute program at: Royal Composers | Harmonia Early Music. The royals and their music include:
Frederick II (a.k.a. Frederick the Great) of Prussia (1712-1786): several movements from flute sonatas
Henry VIII of England: motets and the song Hey Trolly Lolly Lo
“Roy Henry” (probably Henry V of England): two Mass movements, a Gloria and Sanctus composed about 1410
Tsar Ivan IV (a.k.a Ivan the Terrible) of Russia (1530-1584): Kuimi pokhvalienui mi (Russian Orthodox church music)
John IV of Portugal (1604-1656): Crux Fidelis.
SMITHSONIAN FOLKWAYS RECORDINGS
Folkways Records was one of the first companies to offer albums of what is now called “world music.” Between 1948 and 1986, it produced 2,168 albums including traditional, ethnic and contemporary music from around the world. The Smithsonian Institution bought Folkways Records in 1987 and developed Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, a non-profit label involving new recordings and releases of archival material. You can listen to free audio clips from specific albums online and purchase audio tracks or entire albums from the Smithsonian website. This link has more detailed information on the background of the new label: A Sound Legacy : Folkways Records at the Smithsonian. The Playlists page allows searches for albums using several different filters.
The Board: President: Judith Unsicker; Treasurers: Chantal Moser and Mary Ashley; Recording Secretary: vacant; Membership: Chris Flake and Tom Granvold; Publicity: vacant; Graphics: Mary Ashley; Newsletter Editor: vacant; Workshop Coordinator: vacant; Hospitality: vacant; Music Sales: Laura Gonsalves; Historian: vacant; Webmaster: Dan Chernikoff; Music Director: Fred Palmer. MPRO website: http://www.mpro-online.org
Past Months' Issues: http://www.mpro-online.org/MPROArchives.htm
