ORCAS
ISLAND
.
ORCAS ADVENTIST
FELLOWSHIP
CHURCH
107 Enchanted Forest Road
Eastsound · (360) 376-6683
please note:
Concerts at 5:00 PM
Suggested Donation:
$20 to $30
(a
free will offering - everyone welcome!)
•
18
and under FREE •
SSEMF presents outstanding
early chamber music on
Orcas Island
thanks to your support.
The
Salish Sea Early Music Festival is a
501(c)3 organization and all donations
are fully tax deductible in accordance
with the law. Your donations are
welcomed at
https://www.salishseafestival.org/donate
.
✣
With special thanks
✣
to
the Orcas Adventist Fellowship Church
|
2025 Salish Sea Early
Music Festival on Orcas Island
~
Period Instrument chamber music from six centuries
on Orcas Island and around the Salish Sea ~
~ Presented in
collaboration with the Orcas Adventist Fellowship
Church ~
~
All Wednesdays at 5:00 PM
★ download flyer here ~
Wednesday,
February 26 at
5:00 PM: — THE
CHACONNE with LES VOIX
HUMAINES
· Susie Napper,
viola da gamba & treble viol
· Mélisande
Corriveau, viola da gamba
& pardessus de viol
· Elisabeth
Wright, harpsichord
· Jeffrey
Cohan, baroque and
renaissance flutes
Les
Voix humaines, the
widely celebrated prize-winning duo
of viols from Montreal joins us for
a program demonstrating the chaconne
at it's most poignant, transporting
three important works by Johann
Sebastian Bach to an entirely new
level through their own
transcriptions, and presenting other
remarkable but rarely heard
repertoire for two viola da gambas,
pardessus de viol, flute and
harpsichord.
The
hypnotic French chaconne that
developed during the reign of Louis
XIV brings the listener from one
emotional realm to the next in a
regular procession of episodes that
transition gently in an emotional
direction or leap suddenly with
emotion and stark contrast, now
uplifting or sad, majestic or
introspective, hopeful or
questioning. The pulse may feel
broader, then more angular, then
running with abandon or pregnant
with poise, always cleverly evolving
in the presentation of a musical
story.
Bach
and Telemann succeed in bringing this
chaconne to a whole new level, as
we'll experience with "Les Voix
Humaines" in their very own
transcription of Bach's Chaconne
in D Minor for 2 viola da
gambas, originally for solo violin,
and in the chaconne entitled Modéré
from Telemann's Paris Quartet No.
12 in E Minor for flute,
pardessus de viole, viola da gamba and
harpischord. Two outstanding quartets
for two viola da gambas, flute and
harpsichord celebrating this unusual
combination of instruments will be
heard alongside two additional
transcriptions: for flute, pardessus
de viol and harpsichord of Bach's Organ
Trio Sonata in D Minor, and for
solo harpsichord of the Allemande from
Bach's D Major Suite No. 6
for solo cello.
From
the standpoint of the Salish
Sea Early Music Festival
and as Tobias Hume asserted in
1605, "Now to use a modest
shortness, and a brief expression
of my self to all noble spirits":
Les Voix Humaines is simply
phenomenal!
In
1676, Thomas Mace accurately
expressed their sentiments: "I
have been more Sensibly,
Fervently, and Zealously
Captivated, and drawn into Divine
Raptures, and Contemplations, by
Those Unexpressible Rhetorical,
Uncontroulable Perswasions, and
Instructions of Musicks Divine
Language."
A perfect description of their
vision of music making, Sloane
wrote c.1794: "There must be an
Order and just Proportion,
Intricacy with Simplicity in the
Component parts, Variety in the
Mass, and Light and Shadow in the
whole, so as to produce the varied
sensations of gaiety and
melancholy, of wildness and even
surprise and wonder…"
And as Thomas Mace says in 1676:
"…When we come to be Masters… we
can command all manner of Time, at
our own Pleasures; we Then take
Liberty for Humour and good
Adornment-sake, to Break Time;
sometimes Faster, sometimes
Slower, as we perceive, the Nature
of the Thing Requires, which…adds
much Grace and Luster to the
Performance."
Wednesday,
March 12 at 5 PM:
— TRIO
SONATAS
· Anne
Röhrig,
violin
· Bernward
Lohr, harpsichord
· Susie Napper,
viola da gamba
· Jeffrey
Cohan, baroque flute
Trio sonata mastierpieces by Georg
Philipp Telemann, Louis-Gabriel
Guillemain and Jean Baptiste Quentin
le jeune with our Musica
Alta Ripa friends.
Late
March: —
HARPSICHORD
MYSTERY
(only
in Seattle,
Vancouver and Tacoma
- please see those
pages on our site)
· Elena
Zhukova,
harpsichord
The Ukrainian harpsichordist
deciphers mysterious and elusive
rarities as well as standards
for solo harpsichord by Byrd,
Couperin, Rameau and Scarlatti
alongside Ukrainian gems
including a harpsichord sonata
by Dmitry Bortnyansky. [only in
certain locations]
Wednesday,
April 9 at 5:00 PM: — EUROPEAN
TOUR 1690-1790
· Elena
Zhukova, harpsichord
· Jeffrey
Cohan, baroque flute
An excursion through a century of
transformation and diversity by
decade and culture within the
baroque and classical periods,
through the perspective of composers
for harpsichord and flute from
France, Italy, Scotland, Germany and
Ukraine.
Wednesday, May 7 at 5:00 PM:
— The
MUSIQUE DE LA CHAMBRE of LOUIS XIV
· Caroline
Nicolas, viola da gamba
· William
Simms, theorbo &
baroque guitar
· Jeffrey
Cohan, baroque and
renaissance flutes
The SUn King's court musical
establishment is to be represented
by Jean-Baptiste Lully, Élisabeth
Jacquet de La Guerre, Marin Marais,
Jacques Hotteterre, etc., including
music designated for the king's
bedtime, evening concerts and
banquets, with our special guests
from New York and Baltimore.
Wed., May 21 at 5 PM: — CONCERTI from
the COURT of FREDERICK THE GREAT
· David
Schrader, harpsichord
· Jeffrey
Cohan, baroque flute
· Elizabeth
Phelps, baroque violin
· Courtney
Kuroda, baroque violin
· Lindsey
Strand-Polyak, baroque
viola
A completely new assortment of
concerti for harpsichord and flute
from the illustrious members of the
musical establishment of flutist
Frederick the Great, King of
Prussia, including Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach, Johann Joachim Quantz,
and Frederick himself.
Wednesday, June 11 at 5:00
PM: — BEETHOVEN'S
FLUTE, VIOLA & GUITAR
· Elizabeth
Blumenstock, viola
· Oleg
TImofeyev, 7-string
guitar (Moscow, 1820)
· Jeffrey
Cohan, 8-keyed flute
(London, 1820)
Repertoire abounds for this popular
ensemble of guitar, viola and flute
during Beethoven's time. With
outstanding violinist and violist
Elizabeth Blumenstock.
Late
July: — THE
18TH-CENTURY HARPSICHORD
IN SPAIN
(Seattle,
Vancouver and Tacoma only - please
see those pages on our site)
· Irene
Roldàn,
harpsichord
Step into the heart of
18th-century Iberia, where the
vibrant court of Madrid stood as a
focal point for the flourishing of
the rich keyboard music of
Domenico Scarlatti, Sebastian de
Albero, Jose de Nebra, and the
Portuguese Carlos Seixas.
[only in certain locations]
Wednesday,
July 16 at 5:00 PM: — JOHANN
SEBASTIAN BACH
· Irene Roldàn,
harpsichord
· Jeffrey Cohan,
baroque flute
Spanish harpsichordist Irene Roldàn
from Basel and Jeffrey interpret
Bach's phenomenal music for flute
and harpsichord.
|
~
Earlier concerts this 2025
season
~
Wednesday,
January 22, 2025 at
5:00 PM: — THE
CANZONA
· Vicki
Boeckman, renaissance
recorders
· Tina Chancey,
tenor viol
· Jeffrey
Cohan, renaissance
transverse flutes
· Anna Marsh,
dulcian (renaissance bassoon)
Featuring
special guest renaissance
specialist and innovative
improviser Tina Chancey from
Hesperus in Washington, DC, this
in-depth exploration of the
Italian four-part canzona, which
blossomed in print from 1577
through the mid 1600’s, traces
its development from 1533, when
commercial music printing was in
its infancy in Europe, through
1636 at which point more
“baroque” stylistic forms such
as the sonata and the suite had
begun to emerged. Canzonas by
Florentino Maschera (1582),
Floriano Canale (1600), Giovanni
Dominico Rognoni Taegio (1605),
Antonio Troilo (1606), Giovanni
Gabrieli (1608), Girolamo
Frescobaldi (1608), Giovanni
Antonio Cangiasi (1614), Giacomo
Biumi (1624), Nicolo Corradini
(1624), Giovanni Buonamente
(1636) and others are to be
included in the program along
with examples of the earlier
French and Flemish songs of the
early 1500's that inspired them,
including well known chansons
published specifically for
instrumentalists in 1533, 1577
and 1588, among them Clement
Jannequin’s “Song of the Birds”.
Renaissance winds of three
distinct families along with the
fretted viols provide an
exciting blend and a distinct
character to each of the four
intertwining musical lines.
|
✣
✣
✣ Wednesday,
JANUARY 24, 2024 at 5:00 PM in
Eastsound ✣
✣
✣
THREE
CENTURIES:
GUITAR,
THEORBO & FLUTE
Michael
Freimuth
~
renaissance guitar & theorbo ~
Jeffrey Cohan
~
renaissance & baroque flutes ~
16th
Century
Diego
Ortiz • William Byrd
Giovanni
Bassano
Girolamo
Dalla Casa
17th
Century
Giovanni
Paulo Cima
Girolamo
Frescobaldi
Giovanni
Battista Fontana
Giovanni
Battista Buonamenti
Bartolomé
de Selma y Salaverde
18th
Century
Arcangelo
Corelli
• André Chéron
Robert
de Visée
|
Join
us for the opening 2024 Salish Sea Early
Music Festival and an unusual and
expansive journey through the music for
guitar, lute and flute of the 16th, 17th
and 18th centuries, including elaborate
jazzed-up versions of well known songs
of the time, published by the incredible
wind instrument virtuosi of the late
16th century, along with canzonas,
sonatas and suites from Spain, Italy,
England and France. The instruments
include the renaissance guitar, which is
considerably smaller and more
mellow-toned than its modern descendant,
theorbo (an extremely long-necked lute),
the one-piece cylindrical renaissance
flute along with the bass renaissance
flute, and the one-keyed baroque flute.
|
✣
✣
✣ Wednesday,
February 14, 2024 at 5:00 pm on
Orcas ✣
✣
✣
SIMPHONIE
NOUVELLE:
LOUIS
XIV & J.S. BACH
Stephen
Stubbs
~ baroque
guitar ~
Susie
Napper
~
viola da gamba ~
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
baroque flute ~
guitarists
Diego
Francesco Corbetta (1615-1681)
Robert
De Visée (c.1655-1733)
viola
da gambists
Monsieur
de Sainte Colombe (c.1640-c.1700)
Marin
Marais (1656-1728)
Jacques
Morel (c.1680-c.1740)
flutist
Michel
de la Barre (c.1675-1745)
composers
Élisabeth
Claude Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729)
François Couperin (1668-1733)
Johann
Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Louis
XIV gathered the finest musicians of France at
his court in Versailles and this program
features many of the late 17th and early
18th-century guitarists, viola da gambists,
flutists and other composers associated with
his illustrious musical establishment,
alongside the Sonata in E Minor, BWV 1034 of
Johann Sebastian Bach.
✣
✣
✣ Wednesday,
February 28, 2024 at 5:00 pm on
Orcas ✣
✣
✣
GEORG
PHILIPP TELEMANN:
PARIS QUARTETS
David
Greenberg
~
baroque
violin ~
Elisabeth
Wright
Susie
Napper
~
viola da gamba ~
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
baroque flute ~
Quadri
a violino, flauto traversiere, viola da
gamba
o violoncello, e fondamento (1730):
Concerto
II in D Major
Sonata
II in G Minor
Nouveaux
quatuors en six suites (1738):
Premier
Quatuor in D Major
4e.
Quatuor in B Minor
|
Having been invited by several of
the most prominent French musicians
to visit Paris, Telemann composed
and published the first set of his
remarkable "Paris Quartets" in 1730,
and left Hamburg for Paris seven
years later, where all 12 of the
quartets were performed, almost
surely with Teleman himself on the
harpsichord. The second set of
quartets was published in Paris
during this visit in 1738. Two years
later Telemann related the
following:
"The admirable performances of these
quartets by Messrs Blavet
(transverse flute), Guignon
(violin), the younger Forcroy [i.e.
Forqueray] (viola da gamba) and
Edouard (cello) would be worth
describing were it possible for
words to be found to do them
justice. In short, they won the
attention of the ears of the court
and the town, and procured for me in
a very little time an almost
universal renown and increased
esteem."
|
✣
✣
✣ Wednesday,
March 20, 2024 at 5:00 PM in
Eastsound ✣
✣
✣
FRANZ
JOSEPH HAYDN
TRIOS
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
8-keyed flute ~
Lindsey
Strand-Polyak
~
baroque
violin ~
Franz
Joseph Haydn
Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart
Franz
Anton Hoffmeister
François
Devienne
|
As the most celebrated
composer in all of Europe for
much of his career, Franz
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was
Mozart’s mentor and friend as
well as Beethoven’s tutor. The
program will include three
trios for flute, violin and
cello by Haydn, selections
from a 1795 arrangement for
these instruments of Mozart’s
opera “The Magic Flute”, and a
trio by Franz Anton
Hoffmeister, a friend of
Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven
who published music by all
three.
|
✣
✣
✣ Wednesday,
April 10, 2024 in
Eastsound ✣
✣
✣
 Myers">
SPRINGTIME
BAROQUE:
AIRS for SPRING
Arwen
Myers
~
soprano
~
Elisabeth
Wright
~
harpsichord
~
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
baroque
flute ~
Johann
Sebastin Bach
Seele,
deine Spätzereien
(from
the Easter Oratorio)
Louis-Nicolas
Clérambault
Orphée
(Cantata)
George
Frideric Handel
Singe,
Seele & Flammende Rose
(from
9 German Arias)
Toussaint
Bordet
Recueil
D'Airs Avec Accompagnement de Flute
(selections)
Francois Couperin
Les
Fauvétes Plaintives & La
Linote-éfarouchée
(harpsichord
solo)
✣
✣
✣
Wednesday,
May 8, 2024 at 5:00
PM in
Eastsound ✣
✣
✣
RENAISSANCE
PSALMS,
IRISH
BAROQUE & FOLK
Oleg
TImofeyev
renaissance
lute, English guitar
&
7-string guitar (1820)
Jeffrey Cohan
renaissance
& baroque flutes
&
8-keyed flute (1820)
17th
Century
Nicolas
Vallet
Jacob
Van Eyck
Girolamo
Dalla Casa
18th
Century
James
Oswald
Francesco
Barsanti
Turlough
O'Carolan
19th
Century
Mauro
Giuliani
Louis
Drouet
Charles
Nicholson
|
This
program, in
three parts,
opens with
settings of
Psalms and
variations on
folk melodies by
early
17th-century
flutist Jacob
Van Eyck,
lutenist Nicolas
Vallet and
others performed
on renaissance
descant, tenor
and bass
transverse
flutes
and lute. Then,
baroque flute
and the rare
but once quite
popular
wire-strung
English Guitar
of the 18th
century is to be
heard performing
the folk tunes
of Scotland and
Ireland as
interpreted and
varied by the
early
18th-century
composers
Francesco
Barsanti,
Turlough
O'Carolan, James
Oswald and
others. Finally,
an Eastern
European
7-string guitar
made in 1820 in
Russia alongside
an eight-keyed
flute made in
London in the
same year bring
to life
variations on
popular tunes by
Mauro Giuliani,
Louis Drouet,
Charles
Nicholson and
other virtuoso
flutists and
guitarists of
Beethoven’s day.
|
✣
✣
✣
May 22,
2024 at 5 PM in
Eastsound ✣
✣
✣
BAROQUE
CONCERTI
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
baroque flute ~
Elizabeth
Phelps
~
baroque
violin
~
Victoria
Gunn
~
baroque
viola
~
JACQUES
AUBERT
Concerto
in D Major, Opus
26 No. 3
ANTONIO
VIVALDI
Flute
Concerto "La
Notte", Opus
10 No. 2
GEORG
PHILIPP TELEMANN
Quatuor
in D Major
(1752)
JOHANN
MELCHIOR MOLTER
Concertino
in G Major
✣
✣
Wednesday,
July 3, 2024
at 5:00 PM in
Eastsound ✣
✣
BACH
Faythe
Vollrath
~
harpsichord ~
Jeffrey Cohan
~
baroque flute
~
|
Harpsichordist
Faythe
Vollrath from
Sacramento, CA
will join
baroque
flutist
Jeffrey Cohan
for this
mostly-Bach
extravaganza
in the eighth
and final 2024
Salish Sea
Early Music
Festival
performance
demonstrating
the
unparalleled
mystery and
emotional
intensity of
Bach’s
compositional
abilities,
featuring
transcriptions
of his works
originally for
viola da gamba
and another
for violin,
both with
obbligato (or
fully
written-out)
harpsichord in
addition to
sonatas
originally
written for
flute by Bach
both with
continuo (a
bass line with
numbers
denoting
harmonies from
which the
harpsichordist
improvises)
and with
obbligato
harpsichord.
Faythe
Vollrath will
play
variations for
solo
harpsichord by
Johann Adam
Reinken
(1643-1722) on
the popular
German folk
tune
“Schweiget mir
von
Weibernehmen”
(‘shush, no
more talk
about
womanizing”).
Reinken was
greatly
admired by
Bach, who made
arrangements
of several of
his works.
|
~ updated
February 14, 2025 ~
Do you receive our
email announcements and flyers?!
Please sign our MAILING LIST (please specify Orcas)
by sending your
address and any other comments to
salishseafestival@aol.com
~ thank you!
SSEMF banner: detail
from "The Last Time it
Reached Zero" by James C.
Holl.
SSEMF presents
outstanding early
chamber music
on period instruments thanks
to your support. |
|
