Our Programs

HIJINKS OF THE HIGH BAROQUE: Composers Behaving Badly

A fun and user-friendly concert that mixes humor and the High Baroque. Beautiful pieces are punctuated with hilarious stories of the composers' misdeeds and shenanigans. Consisting of pieces written by some of the greats —Handel, Telemann, Veracini, Rameau, Purcell, etc — it is an engaging approach to music that is often typecast as “too serious.”  

(Instrumentation: recorder, violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord)

Dancing in the Isles

Rousing Baroque folk and dance music from early England, Ireland, and Scotland. This program includes a little something for everyone! It features bespoke arrangements of traditional Irish and Scottish folk tunes, dance suites from the English theater, Jacobean masque music and more. 

(Instrumentation: recorder, 2 violins, and continuo. Optional lute/guitar and percussion)

A FAMILY AFFAIR: The Father, the Sons, and the Godfather

A program of solo/duo/trio sonatas and chamber concertos by one of the greatest musical families in history. Comprised of works by patriarch (J.S. Bach), his sons (W.F. and C.P.E. Bach), and godfather/close family friend (Georg Philipp Telemann), this concert also includes readings from personal letters of the composers which provides both a context for their works and offers an intimate glimpse into the lives behind them. *also available as an all J.S. Bach program

(Instrumentation: recorder, violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord. Optional oboe, lute/guitar, and additional violin)

ALLA RUSTICA

Experience the rhythmic and exotic flavors of Baroque folk music from Mexico, Spain, and Scotland. Alongside so-called "rustic" pieces by Vivaldi, Marais, Rameau, and Telemann, this program blends a natural and pastoral sound with the more genteel fashion of the popular music of their time and place. Featuring guest artist Peter Maund, virtuoso percussionist of Ensemble Alcatraz, Davka, and Alasdair Fraser's Skyedance. 

(Instrumentation: recorder, violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord, percussion. Optional oboe, guitar, and additional violin)

Stravagante! Virtuosic sonatas from 17th-century Italy and Germany

A collection of passionate, dazzling and infrequently heard music from one of the most innovative periods of western music. During this period, Italian and German virtuosi broke new ground with passionately expressive sonatas, vibrant dance rhythms and infectious ground-basses. So sit back and be transported as Musica Pacifica leads you gracefully through pieces by Tarquinio Merula, Antonio Bertali, Heinrich Schmelzer, Johann Rosenmüller, Dario Castello, and Marco Uccellini.

(Instrumentation: recorder, violin, cello, lute and/or harpsichord, and percussion)

Dolci di napoli

A program of music from Baroque Naples. You’ll hear rarely performed chamber concertos by Scarlatti, Mancini, and Fiorenza, along with trio sonatas by Matteis, a piquant harpsichord sonata by Scarlatti, an unusual duo for two violins without bass by Barbella, a sonata by Sarri, and more! 

(Instrumentation: recorder, 2 violins, viola da gamba, and harpsichord. Optional lute/guitar)

A VENETIAN CARNIVAL

This lively program evokes the festivity and magic of the historic Venetian Carnival. Through Vivaldi’s colorful chamber concertos La Notte (the Night) and Tempesta di Mare (Tempest of the Sea), as well as 17th-century sonatas by Uccellini, Cazzati, and Merula, the audience is granted a glimpse into the chaos and imagination of this whimsical time. A suite from Campra’s Les Festes Vénitiennes presents a foreigner’s take on Venice and Carnival, while eliciting the popular style and characters of the commedia dell’arte. Chamber music by other Venetian composers, such as Veracini, Albinoni, and Vitali, and amusing readings from the period round out the program.

(Instrumentation: recorder, violin, oboe or second violin, continuo. Optional bassoon)

In the gardens of spain

A colorful array of delicate passacalles, brilliant sonatas, and vibrant dances from Baroque-era Spain and its territories. Guitarist/theorbist Kevin Cooper joins the ensemble as we feature lively Spanish dance music with original arrangements of pieces by De Murcia and Santa Cruz, as well as more cosmopolitan music from Europe collected in the Eleanor Hague Manuscript. 

(Instrumentation: recorder, violin, viola da gamba, guitar/theorbo, harpsichord. Optional percussion)

Sounds of Christmas Past

In a refreshing change from the usual holiday fare, Musica Pacifica presents a wide variety of Christmas music from 18th-century Italy, France, and Germany. The ravishing Christmas Cantata of Alessandro Scarlatti, heartfelt arias from Bach's cantatas, virtuosic chamber works of Vivaldi and Telemann, and familiar carols in unusual settings (arranged by Musica Pacifica) are featured in this program celebrating the spiritual and festival moods of the season.

(Instrumentation: recorder, violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord.
Optional voice* and oboe)

*With guest vocalist from among sopranos Mary Wilson, Clara Rottsolk, Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, and tenor Aaron Sheehan.

CONTINENTAL Breakfast

A veritable smorgasbord of early music! In this popular program of Baroque gems, we visit the major artistic centers of Europe and sample some musical forms of the 17th and 18th centuries. Colorful suites by Rameau and Marais along with brilliant chamber concertos by Vivaldi and Telemann accompany virtuosic trio and solo sonatas by Handel, Purcell, Castello, Bach, and others. 

(Instrumentation: recorder, violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord)

Programs with Guest Artists

Salon à la mode—Les gouts reunis

A program of late French and Italian cantatas and chamber music of the 1720s-1740s. Musica Pacifica and guest soprano Sherezade Panthaki, Michele Kennedy, or Mary Wilson recreate the musical delights of an 18th-century aristocratic Parisian salon, where works by fashionable native French composers were heard alongside bravura sonatas by the most exciting visiting foreign virtuosi. There are superbly sung vocal selections, the passionate “Medée” by Clérambault and Montéclair’s charming “Pan et Syrinx” as well as an exciting Italian cantata by Handel, coupled with Musica Pacifica’s elegant execution of the instrumental pieces, including a sparkling “Paris” quartet by Telemann and a brilliant chamber concerto by Vivaldi. 

(Instrumentation: soprano, recorder, violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord)

SUCH SWEET ACCENTS: In Praise of Harmony

Grammy award-winning tenor Aaron Sheehan joins Musica Pacifica in a varied program of vocal and instrumental masterworks of the High Baroque. Program highlights include Rameau's dramatic cantata "Orphée," one of the Pièces de claveçin en concert, a delightful Paris Quartet by Telemann, and inspiring vocal music by Bach, Handel, and Lambert.

(Instrumentation: tenor, recorder, violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord. Optional oboe, guitar/lute, and additional violin)

MY HEART’S SWEET DESIRE:
Virtuoso Vocal and Instrumental Music from 17th-century Italy

Grammy-nominated countertenor Ryland Angel joins Musica Pacifica in an exploration of sacred and secular music from Italy’s middle Baroque period. Enjoy sacred motets and seldom-performed cantatas by Scarlatti and Stradella, Caccini’s haunting Amarilli mia bella, instrumental works by Handel, Corelli, Fontana, Merula and more!

(Instrumentation: countertenor, recorder, violin, viola da gamba/violoncello, theorbo, and harpsichord/organ)

AIRS OF CALEDONIA: Scottish Baroque and Traditional Music

David Greenberg, Baroque violinist and Cape Breton-style fiddler extraordinaire, joins Musica Pacifica for a program of exciting traditional and Baroque music from 18th-century Scotland. In this high-energy, foot-tapping program, Cape Breton’s driving strathspeys and reels, soulful airs and merry jigs are heard alongside more studied compositions of Purcell, Rebel, Corelli, Muffat, and Vivaldi. The music of ancient Scottish composers James Oswald, “Red Rob” Mackintosh, and Niel Gow will delightfully blur distinctions between classical and folk music. *also available as a Christmas program

(Instrumentation: solo violin, recorder, violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord)

CROSSING THE CHANNEL:
Baroque Airs and Dances from France and England
(with the New York Baroque Dance Company)

This enchanting program exhibits evocative French dances in the noble style, from dreamy musettes to lively entrees de bacchantes in charming pastoral scenes. Musica Pacifica collaborates with noted Baroque dance authority Catherine Turocy and her dancers to present virtuosic choreographies from the London stage and elegant ball dances created for Queen Anne’s court, all costumed in elegant, period-style costumes and wigs. It features dances set to music by Handel, Lully, Marais, and Campra, as well as instrumental selections by Couperin, Purcell, Rameau and others. Program can also be adapted to include German music by Telemann and Bach, and is available with a lecture-demo by director Catherine Turocy.

(Instrumentation: recorder, violin, viola da gamba, harpsichord. Optional oboe, percussion, and additional violin)

Brandenburgs and More!
Musica Pacifica and Friends parts 1, 2, and 3

Welcome to a captivating collection of concerts by Musica Pacifica and their accomplished associates. Program Part 1 includes two of Bach’s beloved Brandenburg concertos: #4 featuring solo violin and 2 recorders, and #5 featuring harpsichord, flute, and violin. Also featured are concertos by Telemann, Vivaldi, and an usual double concerto for recorder, violin, and strings by Johann Gottlieb Graun. 

Companion program Brandenburgs and More! Part 2 includes Bach’s iconic Brandenburg Concerto #2 BWV 1047 with recorder, violin, oboe, and trumpet soloists; as well as the Concerto for Violin and Oboe BWV 1060 and Concerto for Harpsichord in A Major BWV 1055. Rounding out the program are Johann Friedrich Fasch’s rarely heard recorder concerto, two concerti for multiple soloists by Telemann, and a chaconne by George Frideric Handel.

Brandenburgs and More! returns for Part 3 with virtuosic concertos for multiple instruments by Bach and his German contemporaries. Includes Bach's lush Brandenburg Concerto #6 BWV 1051 for violas, gambas, and continuo, his charming Suite in B minor BWV 1067 (originally for flute and strings but uniquely transcribed for recorder), as well as the virtuosic Violin Concerto in A minor BWV 1041 performed by the inimitable Elizabeth Blumenstock. Program also includes a delightful chamber concerto in A major from Telemann's Tafelmusik, a Schmelzer sonata for strings, and concludes with the gorgeous and haunting Passacaglia by Muffat.

(Instrumentation: flute, 2 recorders, 3 violins, viola, violoncello, violone, and harpsichord)